Reason, Revenge, and Ruin: Masculinity Unraveled in Poe’s Dupin, Montresor, and

Reason, Revenge, and Ruin: Masculinity Unraveled in Poe’s Dupin, Montresor, and "The Tell-Tale Heart"

    Presenter(s)

    Abdulrahman Alzahrani

    Comments

    10:20-10:40, Kennedy Union 312

    Description

    Edgar Allan Poe’s fiction does not merely depict masculinity—it dissects it, revealing its contradictions, fragilities, and shifting dimensions. This project examines how Poe constructs masculinity through the figures of C. Auguste Dupin, Montresor, and the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, each of whom embodies a distinct yet interwoven facet of male identity. Dupin’s intellect asserts dominance through analytical mastery, positioning reason as the ultimate form of power. Montresor, bound by honor and vengeance, operates within a rigid framework of masculine control, his calculated violence reflecting an obsessive need to maintain authority. Meanwhile, the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” epitomizes masculinity’s descent into instability—his obsession with control spirals into self-destruction, exposing the fragility beneath his performance of power. Through a close analysis of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Purloined Letter”, “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, and “The Tell-Tale Heart”, this study interrogates how Poe deconstructs traditional ideals of masculinity, revealing it as a construct that is neither fixed nor infallible. Poe’s characters do not simply embody strength or weakness; they exist in the space between, caught in the tension between dominance and collapse, reason and madness. This project ultimately argues that Poe’s portrayal of masculinity is not a celebration but an autopsy—an unflinching examination of power’s instability and the inevitable unraveling that follows its pursuit.

    Publication Date

    4-23-2025

    Project Designation

    Graduate Research

    Primary Advisor

    Bryan A. Bardine, Tereza M. Szeghi, Shannon C. Toll

    Primary Advisor's Department

    English

    Keywords

    Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

    Institutional Learning Goals

    Scholarship

    Reason, Revenge, and Ruin: Masculinity Unraveled in Poe’s Dupin, Montresor, and

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