Unstable Characters, Unhomely Home, Living Death-the Uncanny In Edgar Allan Poe's Gothic Short Stories

Edgar Allan Poe(1809-1849)is widely acknowledged as a poet,critic and short-story writer in 19~thh century America.His short stories are imbued with traditional Gothic elements such as discarded castles,death,murder and the supernatural forces,which bring characters and readers horror.However,the horror is no longer from the outside world,but inside of heart.With the guidance of Freud's Uncanny theory,this thesis analyzes deeply the reasons of three paradoxical phases,unstable characters,unhomely home and living death,in order to shed new light on the psychological interpretation of Poe's Gothic short stories.This thesis is divided into three parts:The first part includes a brief introduction to the author Edgar Allan Poe and his three Gothic short stories,The Fall of the House of Usher,The Black Cat,William Wilson,a summary of international and domestic studies about these three Gothic novels,and a presentation of Freud's Uncanny theory.Chapter one argues that the protagonist experiences the uncanny which derives from the appearance of the double and the castration complex evoked by his powerlessness.And the uncanny experience lead to the protagonist's uncertainty.Chapter two points out that home becomes an uncanny place for the protagonist,and the home under Poe's pen is not the architecture itself,but the double of the protagonist's mind.Chapter three finds that all the protagonists conduct their murder to others.In fact,the others as the double of protagonists are one part of protagonists as their repressed id or superego.Because of the conflict between the id and superego,the protagonists repress either of id or superego into unconsciousness,embodying as protagonists'murder to others.However,the repression in unconsciousness can flee into consciousness,so it can come out again and bring the protagonists uncanny feelings.In these three novels,it embodies as murderees'influence to the protagonists after their death.A conclusion based on the analyses will be given in the last part.The source of the uncanny is repression and the return of the repressed thought will again leads the protagonist being trapped in uncanny impressions.Through studying the three binary oppositions,unstable characters,unhomely home and living death,this thesis gives a detailed analysis of Poe's psychological description,and reveals the morbid mind of the protagonist derives from his self-repression.