The Uncanny In Edgar Allan Poe’s Gothic Fiction

Edgar Allan Poe（1809～1849）is widely acknowledged as a poet, critic and short-storywriter, an inventor of the modern detective story and science fiction genre. Poe has devotedall his life to the creation of Gothic fiction. His Gothic creations not only contain traditionalgothic elements such as the supernatural, doom and death, also, they are full of horror andmystery, turning the external fear to the inside thus developing the gothic tradition by probinginto deep recesses of the human psyche. In light of this fact, Edgar Allan Poe is regarded asone of the most indispensable giants of literature.On the basis of the literature review, this thesis aims at interpreting the uncanny in Poe’sGothic fiction and trying to locate its source in terms of Freud’s theory of the uncanny. Thispaper first discovers that the double, the evil eye and madness lead to the fear of protagonistsand become the main causes for their inner conflict and split self. Second, the live burial andthe repetition are two prevalent themes found in Poe’s Gothic fiction，which are closelyrelated to the “return of the repressed”. Third, this thesis finds that most of Poe’s Gothicfiction takes place in a gloomy castle or illogical spatial dimensions, which symbolizesprotagonists’ equal psychological distortion. All in all, this thesis proves that the uncanny doesnot comes from fear for the material world, but from the inner struggle and self-conflict.This thesis includes six chapters. Chapter one first gives an introduction to Edgar AllanPoe and his works, then explores relevant researches from both home and abroad, providing abroad critical background for the interpretation to be conducted; Chapter two traces thedevelopment of Gothic fiction and gives a brief introduction to the theory of the uncanny,laying a theoretical foundation for the interpretation of Poe’s works. Chapter three analyzesseveral components Freud mentioned most in his theory: the double, the evil eye and insanity.Through the analysis, this thesis tries to prove that these elements are abundant in Poe’sGothic fiction and are all related to the contradicted and split self. Chapter four discussestwo other themes: live burial and repetition, proving that horror can be traced back to therepressed double，hidden wish or past experience. When the “repressed” is returned, thehorror hidden deep inside comes along. Chapter five analyzes the loci of the story–gloomycastles or twisted spatial dimensions are psychological containers of inner chaos and desire.The final chapter concludes the thesis.By applying the theory of the uncanny, this thesis gives a tentative interpretation of Poe’sGothic fiction, in attempt to provide another perspective for the study of Edgar Allan Poe andhis works.