Discuss who could be the protagonist and antagonist in The Black Cat; explain your logic and reasoning for why? Please remember to use details and specifics from the story to support your response.
What Gothic Literature that we've read so far is your favorite, explain why? (The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death, The Minister's Black Veil, or The Black Cat)
What are some similarities between all the Gothic Literature stories we've read so far? Again, be specific and use details in your response.
CARTER
ReplyDelete1) I feel the protagonist in this story is the narrator, as he is the one who is repressing emotions. Those emotions are personified in Pluto, his cat. His feelings of guilt at harming those he loved is personified in Pluto with his missing eye and tendency to flee "in extreme terror at [his] approach". Upon realizing the deed, he "drowned in wine all memory of the deed", and then hangs Pluto.
2) My favorite story has to be... The Raven. It is my favorite because it can say what all the other stories say in a shorter amount of time, making each point more poignant. Poe makes you feel the narrator's "sorrow for the lost Lenore" and his evolving feelings towards the namesake raven. Also, its rhyming allows it to flow from the tongue with more grace.
3) Some similarities between the Gothic Literature stories is their dark tone. The theme of the stories range from "sorrow for the lost Lenore," to "take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever," to "The figure...shrouded form head to foot in the habiliments of the grave." Also, each story has a protagonist repressing emotions such as sorrow, guilt, and secret sin, and a dark antagonist, such as the raven, the black veil, or the Red Death, representing those emotions.
1. i think the protagonist is the narrator throughout the story, but sometimes he shows himself to the villain, or antagonist-like. the antagonist would have to be the cat or his sin that he did to the cat. this is because the cat and the sin causes him to do horrible things.
ReplyDelete2. my favorite Gothic Literature that we have read so far would probably be either The Raven or The Black Cat because they use so much imagery without being too repetitive and are captivating to read. also the story just gets even more intense as it is read on and always has a shocking ending, leaving the reader wondering and wanting more without feeling unsatisfied.
Lauren Steiner
3. well.. they are all gothic literature to start. they are similar in ways like not naming characters (except black veil), being defeated in the end by the antagonist, having a dark setting, and personifying things that are not 100% human. those are just a few. in all of Poe's stories the protagonist and sometimes the antagonist are nameless. also all of his stories seem to be in first person. all of the stories have a dark setting whether its a chamber, room of death, under a veil, or a cellar. the stories always end in a dark room too. in the end of the stories the antagonist always prevails leaving the protagonist dead or soon to be arrested.
ReplyDeleteLauren Steiner
CARTER
ReplyDelete1) The second cat is also a villain, though it can be proven that it is Pluto. Pluto, the second time he appears, has a white spot, showing a chance at redemption. The more the narrator pushes the cat away, the more this redemption slips into a hangman's noose, which is the narrator's fate.
2)Another reason I like the Raven is because it involves the least insanity. The other stories all revolve around murder, disease, or in the case of Black Veil, sin. The Raven is only about the sorrow we get from loss, not some grotesque act or notion.
3)Another similarity in the stories is how the protagonist always loses in the end. In The Raven, he is unable to cope with the loss of Lenore, and falls to the temptation of the Raven. In Masque, Prospero meets the essence of his mortality in the black room, symbolizing the end of life. In Veil, the townspeople are eternally left in a state of fear from the Minister's veil. In Black Cat and Tell Tale Heart, the narrator has their plans foiled by the villain, dooming them to death.
Roy:
ReplyDelete1. I think that the protagonist in the story is the narrator. This is because he is the one REPRESSING his emotions, and not his wife, or the two cats (the only other characters in the story). I also think that the protagonist is the narrator because he does not ultimately lead to his own demise but the antagonist does, which disproves many theories relating to the narrator not being able to be the protagonist solely due to his self inflicted downfall. The antagonist is most likely the second cat. The first cat wasn’t much of a round character as the second. The second has a white spot that later turns into a gallows which signifies the protagonist’s repressed emotions. This is directly telling the reader that the second cat is the antagonist.
2. The story that I liked the best so far is the story of the, “Tell Tale Heart.” I believe this to be one of Poe’s greatest works in his career. I believe this because it takes such a unique twist on an epic story, that has never before been done, during his time. It took a maniac’s point of view, turned it around, and palced you into the middle of it. It made the VILLAIN the protagonist, a debatably crazy one at that! The Tell Tale Heart grips you from the very beginning by telling you that the narrator is an insane maniacal person.
3. I believe some specific similarities are that all of the stories depict protagonists that repress their emotions. They do so, in the face of the antagonists of the story. The antagonists always end up winning, yet are at times, hard to identify. In all of the stories, the protagonists and antagonists are slightly debatable and also at times, hidden. There is also an aspect of underlying irony in every story.
CARTER
ReplyDelete1) Another reason the narrator is the protagonist is that he falls at the end. Pluto's meows cause the police to discover the secret burial spot of his wife.
2) The Raven is my favorite also because when we discussed it, I already knew what was going on, and I could therefore enjoy the story more. For the others, I did not know or remember the story, and therefore I had to concentrate more on the plot than other things.
3) One final similarity is that the setting shows the inner feelings of the protagonist. In The Raven, it is bleak and empty showing the hole in the protagonist's heart due to his lost love. In Tell Tale Heart, the setting takes place in the dark to show the darkness in the narrator's heart. In The Black Cat, as the narrator falls deeper and deeper into his hatred an alcoholism, the setting around him goes from a large estate to a poor man's abode, and finally to a basement.
Roy:
ReplyDeleteHere are some quotes and back up evidence:
1. "The corpse, already greatly decayed and clotted with gore, stood erect before the eyes of the spectators. Upon its head, with red extended mouth and solitary eye of fire, sat the hideous beast whose craft had seduced me into murder, and whose informing voice had consigned me to the hangman. I had walled the monster up within the tomb!" This quotes shows directly that the second cat, the antagonist, is against the protagonist. This quote brings to light, most importantly, that the second cat and the narrator are on opposing sides.
2. "True!-nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses- not destroyed- not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily- how calmly I can tell you the whole story." This quote serves to draw the attention to the story from the reader. This quote is the very beginning of the story and instantly grasps the reader's attention, regardless of reading level or comprehension. It also gives you a new and unique point of view on the story as a whole by providing for the reader an insane narrator.
3. "But any thing was better than those hypoctrytical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die!- and now- again!-hark! louder! louder! louder!- 'villains' I shrieked, 'dissemble no more! I admit the deed!- tear up the planks!- here, here!- it is the beating of his hideous heart!" - (Tell Tale Heart)
"I was answered by a voice from within the tomb!- by a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly swelling into one long, loud, and continous, scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman- a howl- a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph, such as might have arisen only of hell..." -(The Black Cat)
Both quotes are alike because they showt he protagonist, at the very end of the story, being overcome by the antagonist and his repressed emotions. Both protagonists are given away by either their guilt or his repressed emotions and given away by the police.
1. I still think the protagonist is the narrator, because he is the one that is defeated in the end and stuff. The villain or the antagonist can be different things. I agreed with a discussion in class about how the villain could possibly be the mirror of his repressed emotion, making the villain himself. The protagonist also does villain-like things, like wanting to do a bad thing just because it is a bad thing. Also he could be the villain because he almost leads himself to his own demise by tapping the wall and revealing that he killed his wife. The cat (making the first cat actually the second cat too) can be the antagonist because it also symbolizes the narrator’s repressed emotions. Specifically his repressed emotions are guilt, anger, and alcoholism.
ReplyDelete2.My favorite story so far I think is the Raven. I like that it is more poetic and intriguing and is almost like you can picture every line of it. For example the story starts very picturesque with “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, over many a wuaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—while I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, as of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.”
3.Some more similarities that I have noticed with the stories is how the authors express the significance of their characters senses, especially the eyes. Maybe it is because the stories are supposed to be dark and somewhat scary and we, the readers, get frightened and can sympathize with the characters if we know what they are feeling. The Tell Tale Heart, The Black Veil, and The Black Cat all keep eyes significant in their plots, whether someone is losing one, covering one, or doesn’t have one at all. I just wonder what it means and what is so great about missing an eye or limiting eyesight.
Lauren Steiner
Amelia
ReplyDelete1) I believe that the protagonist is the narrator and the antagonist is the Pluto and the second cat, who I believe are actually the same cat, just reincarnated. The narrator is dealing with his repressed emotions of “disgust….annoyance…hatred…shame” (Poe 67) of himself. In gothic literature, the protagonist is facing their repressed emotions. The cat evokes these feelings, and shows the narrator, almost like a mirror, his hidden emotions. The antagonist originally appears as Pluto. Aptly named, Pluto is the God of the Underworld. For this reason, I believe he is reborn after his hanging as “a black cat – a very large one – fully as large as Pluto” (Poe 66). This cat shows undying affection to him, which evokes shame and guilt from the narrator. Both Pluto and the unnamed cat represent the repressed emotions, finally ending with the protagonist yelling “I had walled the monster up within the tomb!”, for he had hidden away his emotions.
2) My favorite has to be The Raven. Eloquently written, it is more like poetry than prose. The shelves of “forgotten lore” (Poe 754) and the description of the library not only set up the scene, but paint a picture of how the man lives every day. Reputation and description make it a very strong piece of literature.
3) Each piece of Gothic Literature has had a protagonist dealing with their repressed emotions, and each had very dark tone. Death and those affected by it are portrayed through the narrators and their fight with their own emotions. The Raven was about a man driven crazy by the death of Lenore, and The Masque of the Red Death was about a prince trying to escape his own mortality. The Tell Tale Heart is about a man obsessed with an eye, driven to murder through fear of the eye knowing his sins and secrets. The Black Veil ends with a man refusing to reveal his sins, even in the death bed, and The Black Cat was about a man’s shame of the person he has become, and trying to kill and hide his repressed emotions. Gothic Literature writers show through poetry and prose how humans deal with death