36 pages • 1 hour read
The Tell-Tale Heart
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Themes
The Line Between Madness and Rationality
The work’s main theme is that of madness, specifically the denial of madness. The story’s premise focuses on the narrator denying and attempting to prove that they are not mad. Ironically, the criminal’s attempts to convince the audience that they are sane have the exact opposite effect, as it becomes clear that while they display patience and forethought, their decisions and actions are not based on rational thought.
The narrator attempts to convince their interlocutor that they are not mad by recounting how carefully they planned and executed the crime. However, this only exposes that there is absolutely no logical explanation behind any of their actions. When the narrator admits to “smil[ing] gaily, to find the deed so far done” (Paragraph 11), he does not realize that this reaction is abnormal and indicative of a disturbed mind. One of the story’s most chilling aspects is that the narrator cannot tell whether or not they have lost their ability to reason. The narrator is convinced of their sanity, suggesting that the same could happen to any of the story’s readers. Everyone believes in their own reasonable and logical behavior, which means that only an external observer could discern the presence of madness. This idea questions the individual’s ability to perceive their own identity and behavior. Finally, the idea of madness is also terrifying as it indicates the ultimate loss of (mental) control and allows strangers to take over a person’s life.
The Balance Between Fear and Power
A corollary of the madness theme is the atmosphere of horror and fear that permeates the story. The narrator is motivated by fear of the supposedly evil eye, and the narrator later inspires terror in the old man, who does not understand what is going on around him. The moment of terror experienced by the old man is central to the story, as it signifies a shift in power dynamics.
There is a close link between terror and power in the story, which depicts how the power to instill fear transfers between the two characters. At night the narrator feels terror that presumably causes a sense of powerlessness, an idea supported by the narrator’s admission that their “blood ran cold” upon feeling the gaze of that “pale blue eye, with a film over it” (Paragraph 2). This fear is so paralyzing that the criminal seeks to conquer it, saying, “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever” (Paragraph 2). In stalking and plotting to kill the old man, the narrator aims to reclaim control over who inspires fear. There is no need to repeatedly enter the bedroom at midnight, but the sense of superiority the narrator derives from doing something secret brings him pleasure and allows him to transpose his own irrational fears onto the old man.
The trope of gazing at a sleeping body recalls numerous voyeuristic myths and stories, such as the tale of Sleeping Beauty or the myth of Cupid and Psyche. However, in reframing this motif, Poe rejects the traditional romantic or sexual aspect in favor of a Gothic element of horror. Additionally, if the narrator is read as a woman, the power balance is reversed with the old man cast in a vulnerable position. A similar scene is found in Poe’s 1839 story “William Wilson,” in which the protagonist shines a lamp onto a boy’s sleeping face and runs away in terror.
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By Edgar Allan Poe
