The Imp of the Perverse

Many of Poe’s stories utilize the first-person point of view, meaning that a single narrator, the “I” of the tale, narrates all the events of the narrative. This creates an intimacy between the reader and the narrator, and the reader feels as if they are being let in on a private world. However, because the narrator is only able to reveal their personal thoughts and experiences, the reader’s knowledge is limited to a single view of events. Poe exploits the limitations of this narrative style to enhance the unease of the reader by exposing the unreliability of personal testimony. In the story, Poe unsettles the reader with delayed revelations, such as the fact the narrator is a condemned murderer accused of being “insane.”

Romantic writing is characterized by deep emotion—positive or negative—and a corresponding prioritization of imagination over reason. Poe’s story uses sensory imagery and symbolism to give the reader a strong emotive impression of both the wellspring of creativity and the power of dark imagination. The chiming clock, the precipice and abyss, and the cloud of unnamable feeling are all examples of Romantic imagery used to explore