Poe, Reason and the Irrational

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that a significant literary tradition exists questioning the defining characteristics of madness, as not deviant behavior but behavior associated with brilliance. The writer then points out that discussions of the literary interpretation of madness as a form of brilliant understanding, is expressed through the works of Edgar Allan Poe so effectively that even his interpretation of the mundane as horrible, can be called into mind on the issue of analogous representations. The writer maintains that when speaking of Poe and his contribution to literature one expert expressed that the analogous idea of the mundane as filled with horror was not based upon the reality of the object but on its interpretation by the individual character and therefore his or her readers.


Outline:
Introduction
Morality
Intuition and Reason
The Death of Reason
Power
Supernatural
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The defining characteristics, of madness in the literary and cultural determinism present in Poe's 19th century and now our 21st century worlds are associated not with the inability of an individual to function, within a normal scope of human cultural existence but with his inability to function within such a context while still knowing so much more than the average man. The individual, whom the norm expresses as possessed of madness has both superior reasoning and increased knowledge, including greater knowledge than the leaders of average men, who are in and of themselves leaders, likely to be average as well, as a product of their ability to possess power among those whose admiration is based on normalcy and who constantly seek the clues of congruence to determine their trust in another and self. Poe expresses this idea masterfully in Marginalia, when he expresses that seeking the brilliant in the historical would require one to discount the great and look for those who were condemned to death or who died in obscurity within the walls of an asylum or prison."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Davidson, Edward H. Poe: A Critical Study. Cambridge, MA: Belknap-Harvard University Press, 1957.
• Rothwell, Kenneth S. "Hamlet's "Glass of Fashion": Power, Self, and the Reformation." A Seminar with Michel Foucault A Seminar with Michel Foucault. Ed. Luther H. Martin, Huck Gutman, and Patrick H. Hutton. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988. 80-94.
• Sheridan, Alan. Michel Foucault: The Will to Truth. London: Routledge, 1990.
• Edgar Allan Poe, "Marginalia", Essays and Reviews (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1984) 1459-1460.
• Edgar Allan Poe, The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, (New York: Random House, INC., 1938) 144.

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