https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i2.101
The Shadow Within: A Jungian Psychoanalytic Study in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart
NANDHINI. E.S
Independent Researcher, Pondicherry
Abstract: This paper focuses on an in-depth analysis of Carl Jung’s concept of shadow work and its relevance in interpreting two psychological Gothic tales, The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. The study explores the concept of Jung’s shadow, which refers to the repressed and darker dimension of the human psyche that has been manifested in Poe’s narrators. The paper investigates how Poe’s narrators externalize their inner darkness through obsessive fixation on symbolic elements in both the stories. The study critically examines the problem with not recognising the shadow and its impact on individuals. In Poe’s narratives, these hidden elements emerge through violent actions, obsessive thoughts, and psychological instability. By employing the psychoanalytic framework, the study reveals how Poe has constructed unreliable narrators whose attempt to suppress their shadow ultimately leads to psychological collapse. And by applying the Jungian framework, the paper highlights how Poe relocates the element of terror from the supernatural realm to complexities of the human psyche.
Keywords: Psychoanalytic, Jungian shadow, projection and repression, psychological gothic, human psyche, The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe
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