Perversity in Edgar Allan Poe’s the black cat

Abstract EN

Edgar Allan Poe (1909-1949), the American writer believes that man is driven into evil and violence by some motive which he cannot understand or anticipate.

This need to do evil Poe placed in the idea of "perversity", man's tendency to act for the reason that he should not, to do wrong for the wrong sake only.

According to Poe "perversity" is one of the radical impulses of the human heart to act irrationally.

It compels man to do the precise deed that will cause him to affront and injure himself.

The present study is an attempt to examine Poe's theory of "perversity" illustrated in his short horrific tale The Black Cat.

Poe's protagonist (the narrator) is afflicted with perversity and as a result, is engaged in a series of attitudes and actions toward his self-destruction.