Abstract：As one of the most outstanding American writers in the 19th century，Allan Poe is famous for his horror stories which are mostly filled with the absurd and dark Gothic atmosphere. Poe’s miserable experiences in both life and career make him see little good of the society, even in a subversive way to understand human nature by applying Gothic factors in his writing. The term “Gothic” was not accepted in the early years especially in Poe’s time, but for Poe, it is an appropriate technique to express himself. This paper will discuss the Gothic factors in Poe’s horror story The Black Cat through three aspects: Poe himself and his Gothic complexity, the Gothic factors presenting in his horror story The Black Cat and the reflections between extremes. Poe’s Gothic style reflects his pursuit into the morbid psychology between reason and loss, ugliness and beauty, reality and imagination.

Key words: Allan Poe; The Black Cat; Gothic; horror stories; conflicts

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Allan Poe and His Horror Stories-4

2.1 Allan Poe-4

2.2 Poe ’s Horror Stories-6

2.3 Poe’ s Gothic Style-8

3.Gothic Factors in Poe’ s Horror Story The Black Cat-10

3.1Gothic Setting-10

3.2 Gothic Theme-11

3.3 Gothic characters-14

4. Analysis of Poe’ s Gothic Factors-15

4.1 Reason and Loss-15

4.2 Beauty and Ugliness-17

4.3 Reality and Imagination-18

5. Conclusion-19

References-21