The Imp of the Perverse

Poe’s work is valued for its contributions to the American Gothic genre of literature and its insight into the dark impulses of the mind. Both of these elements are exemplified in “The Imp of the Perverse.” Within a suspenseful narrative structure, Poe presents a darkly Romantic treatment of imagination to evoke terror in his reader. The human fear of Irrationality and Perverseness is conveyed through the story’s use of abstract proofs.

The tension and terror of this Gothic tale are repeatedly and paradoxically evoked through acts of self-reflection. Poe creates an intelligent, articulate, and self-reflective narrator who is ultimately limited by his own biases. He engages in intellectual reflection without illumination in an attempt to understand his violent and self-destructive behavior. His complex abstract theory of “perverseness,” which he himself has coined, increases the credibility of his claim that science and philosophy have overlooked what he has discovered. He finds flaws with popular scientific theories of his time, such as phrenology. His arguments are articulated elegantly through parallelisms:

The idea of it has never occurred to us, simply because of its supererogation.