Edgar allan PoE's “ThE
Black caT”
Enclosed are assorted handouts to accompany the short story "The Black Cat" by
Edgar Allan Poe. Included are:
Poe Biography
Story Analysis
Vocabulary List with Definitions
Study Guide Questions with Answers
Quiz for the story with Answers
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Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), American poet, a master of the horror tale, credited with practically
inventing the detective story.
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, to parents who were itinerant
actors. His father David Poe Jr. died probably in 1810 and his mother Elizabeth Hopkins Poe in 1811.
Edgar was taken into the home of a Richmond merchant John Allan and brought up partly in England
(1815-20), where he attended Manor School at Stoke Newington. Never legally adopted, Poe took
Allan's name for his middle name.
Poe attended the University of Virginia (1826), but was expelled for not paying his gambling debts. This
led to a quarrel with Allan, who later disowned him. In 1827 Poe joined the U.S. Army as a common
soldier under assumed name and age. In 1830 Poe entered West Point and was dishonorably discharged
next year, for intentional neglect of his duties.
Little is known about his life in this time, but in 1833 he lived in Baltimore with his father's sister. After
winning a prize of $50 for the short story "MS Found in a Bottle," he started a career as a staff member
of various magazines, among others the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond (1835-37), Burton's
Gentleman's Magazine in Philadelphia (1839-40), and Graham's Magazine (1842-43). During these years
he wrote some of his best-known stories.
In 1836 Poe married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm. She burst a blood vessel in 1842, and
remained a virtual invalid until her death from tuberculosis five years later. After the death of his wife,
Poe began to lose his struggle with drinking and drugs. He addressed the famous poem "Annabel Lee"
(1849) to her.
Poe's first collection, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, appeared in 1840. It contained one of his
most famous works, "The Fall of the House of Usher." During the early 1840s Poe's best-selling work was
The Conchologist's First Book (1839). The dark poem of lost love, "The Raven," brought Poe national
fame, when it appeared in 1845. The Murders in the Rue Morgue(1841) and The Purloined Letter are
among Poe's most famous detective stories. Poe was also one of the most prolific literary journalists in
American history.
Poe suffered from bouts of depression and madness, and he attempted suicide in 1848. In September
the following year he disappeared for three days after a drink at a birthday party and on his way to visit
his new fiancée in Richmond. He turned up in a delirious condition in Baltimore gutter and died on
October 7, 1849.
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
Setting: The story opens in the cell of a prisoner the day before he is to be executed by hanging. After
introducing himself to readers as a man who underwent a horrifying experience, the prisoner writes
down the details of this experience, which led to his imprisonment and scheduled execution. The events
in his tale are set at his home and in a tavern. Although these events take place over several years, the
recounting of these events in writing takes place on a single day in the narrator's prison cell.
Characters:
.The Narrator, a prisoner scheduled for execution. His loathing of a cat he once loved leads to his
commission of a capital crime.
The Narrator's Wife, a woman of agreeable disposition who likes animals and obtains many pets for her
husband.
First Black Cat, a cat named Pluto that loves the narrator but irritates him when it follows him
everywhere.
Second Black Cat, a cat that resembles the first black cat and may be a reincarnation of the latter–or so
the narrator may think.
Policemen, officers who investigate the happenings at the home of the narrator.
Servant, Person working in the narrator's household.
Type of Work: Short story in the horror genre that focuses on the psyche of the narrator. Poe was one
of the developers of the short story as a literary genre. He defined a short story as a narrative prose
work that (1) is short enough to be read in one sitting, (2) takes place in one locale on a single day, (or
even in a few hours), (3) centers on a single line of action, and (4) maintains a single mood. Every word
or phrase should contribute to the theme and the mood.
Time of Publication and Writing "The Black Cat" was first published on August 19, 1843, in The Saturday
Evening Post, then known as The United States Saturday Post. It was written in 1842.
Themes: (1) A human being has a perverse, wicked side–another self–that can goad him into doing evil
things that have no apparent motive. The narrator himself admits that a perverse, primitive impulse–a
desire to do evil even though he had no explanation for doing it other than overindulging in wine–
triggered his violent behavior. (2) Heavy drinking can bring out the worst in a human being. Alcohol
abuse alone did not cause the narrator to strike out. But, as he readily acknowledges, it certainly put
him in a foul mood. (3) A weak, unbalanced human psyche may be highly vulnerable to the power of
suggestion. The narrator's wife had suggested, apparently in jest, that Pluto was a witch in disguise.
(4) Evil deeds invite vengeance. Pluto gets even, the narrator indicates, by causing the fire that burns
down the narrator's house. And, if the second cat is indeed Pluto reincarnated, Pluto sweetens his
revenge by alerting police with his crying behind the wall hiding the corpse of the narrator's wife.
(5) Fear of discovery can bring about discovery. At the end of the story, the narrator's strange behavior
makes the police suspicious of him.
Narration (Point of View): First-person unreliable. The narrator is obviously deranged, readers learn
during his telling of his tale, even though he declares at the outset "mad am I not." He tells readers that
excessive drinking helped to bring on his erratic, violent behavior. (It may be that the drinking worsened
an existing mental condition.) The narrator tells his story as he sees it from his demented point of view.
As in many of his other short stories, Poe does not name the narrator. A possible explanation for this is
that the unnamed narrator becomes every human being, thereby enhancing the universality of the short
story. In other words, the narrator represents anyone who has ever acted perversely or impulsively–and
then had to pay for his deed.
Allusion and Symbolism: The narrator names the first black cat Pluto. In ancient Roman mythology,
Pluto was the King of the Underworld, ruling over the abode of the dead. In Greek mythology, on which
the Romans based their mythology, Pluto was called Hades. Pluto the cat, thus, seems to symbolize
death to the narrator. That he gave the cat this name suggests that he thought it a sinister creature from
the moment he first saw it.
Foreshadowing: The narrator's scheduled execution on the gallows is foreshadowed first by the
narrator's hanging of Pluto, next by the outline of the dead cat on the wall (after the fire), and finally by
the outline of the gallows on the white hair of the second black cat.
Irony: After the narrator cuts out Pluto's eye, the cat sees better–figuratively. Previously, the cat loved
and trusted the narrator, following him around, climbing into his lap, and licking his hands. But after the
cat loses an eye, it sees the narrator for what he is–an unpredictable, dangerous man. It gains insight
that it lacked before.
Poe's Frequent Use of Anaphora: Anaphora is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated
at the beginning of a clause or another group of words. Anaphora imparts emphasis and balance. Here
are boldfaced examples from "The Black Cat":
I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity
I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse. . . .
It was this unfathomable longing of the soul to vex itself–to offer violence to its own nature–
to do wrong for the wrong's sake only –that urged me to continue and finally to consummate
the injury I had inflicted upon the unoffending brute.
Reflection of Poe's Life? Poe himself owned a cat at the time that he wrote this short story. He was also
a heavy drinker during this period.
Author: Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston. After being orphaned at age two, he
was taken into the home of a childless couple–John Allan, a successful businessman in Richmond, Va.,
and his wife. Allan was believed to be Poe’s godfather. At age six, Poe went to England with the Allans
and was enrolled in schools there. After he returned with the Allans to the U.S. in 1820, he studied at
private schools, then attended the University of Virginia and the U.S. Military Academy, but did not
complete studies at either school. After beginning his literary career as a poet and prose writer, he
married his young cousin, Virginia Clemm. He worked for several magazines and joined the staff of
the New York Mirror newspaper in 1844. All the while, he was battling a drinking problem. After
the Mirror published his poem “The Raven” in January 1845, Poe achieved national and international
fame. Besides pioneering the development of the short story, Poe invented the format for the detective
story as we know it today. He also was an outstanding literary critic. Despite the acclaim he received, he
was never really happy because of his drinking and because of the deaths of several people close to him,
including his wife in 1847. He frequently had trouble paying his debts. It is believed that heavy drinking
was a contributing cause of his death in Baltimore on October 7, 1849.
Name____________________
Date_____________
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
Vocabulary
1. Unburthen -
2. Expound -
3. Baroque -
4. Rigorous -
5. Inscrutability -
6. Swooning -
7. Stupefied -
8. Docility -
9. Sagacious -
10. Tinctured -
Name____________________
Date_____________
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
Vocabulary
1. Unburthen - To unburden; to unload.
2. Expound - to make a detailed statement; to explain; interpret
3. Baroque - extravagantly ornate, florid, and convoluted in character or style; irregular in
shape
4. Rigorous - severely exact or accurate; precise: rigorous research
5. Inscrutability - not easily understood; mysterious; unfathomable
6. Swooning - to faint; lose consciousness
7. Stupefied - crazy, magnificent, unbelievable, amazing
8. Docility - easily managed or handled
9. Sagacious - having or showing acute mental discernment and keen practical sense;
shrewd
10. Tinctured - to imbue or infuse with something.
Name____________________
Date_____________
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
Study Guide Questions
1. Describe the narrator as a child and trace his decline. On what does he blame his evil ways?
What name does he apply to this malady?
2. Describe Pluto. How do the narrator and his wife initially react to him?
3. What does the narrator first do to harm Pluto? Why do you think he does this? How does Pluto
react to him after this incident?
4. How does the narrator rationalize killing Pluto? Explain why you do or do not think the narrator
wants to “doom his soul.”
5. What happens the night after the narrator kills Pluto? What does he discover the next morning?
What do you think this indicates?
6. How does the new cat differ from Pluto? What do you think this trait symbolizes?
7. Explain the circumstances concerning the murder of the narrator’s wife.
Name____________________
Date_____________
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
Study Guide Questions
1. Describe the narrator as a child and trace his decline. On what does he blame his evil ways?
What name does he apply to this malady?
As a child he loved animals and had a "very tender heart." I put that he blamed his ways on
alcohol and that he called his malady "Perverseness."
2. Describe Pluto. How do the narrator and his wife initially react to him?
Pluto is the narrator’s black cat. At first, they are very close; the narrator is very fond of the cat.
Then, because the narrator has a bit of an alcohol problem, the relationship changes
3. What does the narrator first do to harm Pluto? Why do you think he does this? How does Pluto
react to him after this incident?
He cut the cat's eye out. Answers will vary but might include that the narrator was drunk. After
this incident Pluto stays away from the narrator.
4. How does the narrator rationalize killing Pluto? Explain why you do or do not think the narrator
wants to “doom his soul.”
The narrator doesn’t take responsibility for his actions. He always blames something else, such
as Pluto biting him or his Wife trying to stop him. Answers will vary.
5. What happens the night after the narrator kills Pluto? What does he discover the next morning?
What do you think this indicates?
He woke up to a fire in his house, and that he found an image of a gigantic cat with a rope
around it's neck on the wall that used to be in his room. It might indicate that someone threw
the cat into the house and it’s image was burned into the wall.
6. How does the new cat differ from Pluto? What do you think this trait symbolizes?
The second cat looked very much like Pluto except it had a white mark on his neck/breast area.
The narrator began to think it looked like gallows. It could symbolize what the narrator did to the
first cat or what would eventually happen to the narrator (foreshadowing).
7. Explain the circumstances concerning the murder of the narrator’s wife.
He just about tripped over the cat and was ready to kill it with an axe when his wife
grabbed his arm and stopped him. Instead of killing the cat, in his rage, he killed his wife. He
bricked her up in a false chimney wall. He ended up getting caught because the second cat was
in the wall and made a sound when the police were there.
Name____________________
Date____________
Quiz on “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
Directions: Match the following vocabulary words with their proper definitions.
_____ 1. Rigorous
A) to faint; lose consciousness
_____ 2. Swooning
B) to unburden; to unload.
_____ 3. Docility
C) to make a detailed statement; to explain
_____ 4. Unburthen
D) easily managed or handled
_____ 5. Expound
E) severely exact or accurate; precise
Directions: Answer the following questions using specific details from the story.
6. What does Pluto’s name mean? What could this symbolize?
7. What does the narrator first do to harm Pluto? Why do you think he does this? How
does Pluto react to him after this incident?
8. How does the narrator rationalize killing Pluto? Explain why you do or do not think
the narrator wants to “doom his soul.”
9. How does the new cat differ from Pluto? What do you think this trait symbolizes?
10. Explain the circumstances concerning the murder of the narrator’s wife.
Name____________________
Date____________
Quiz on “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
Directions: Match the following vocabulary words with their proper definitions.
___E__ 1. Rigorous
A) to faint; lose consciousness
__A___ 2. Swooning
B) to unburden; to unload.
__D___ 3. Docility
C) to make a detailed statement; to explain
__B___ 4. Unburthen
D) easily managed or handled
__C___ 5. Expound
E) severely exact or accurate; precise
Directions: Answer the following questions using specific details from the story.
6. What does Pluto’s name mean? What could this symbolize?
Pluto was the God of the Underworld in Roman Mythology. This could symbolize death.
7. What does the narrator first do to harm Pluto? Why do you think he does this? How does
Pluto react to him after this incident?
He cut the cat's eye out. Answers will vary but might include that the narrator was drunk.
After this incident Pluto stays away from the narrator.
8. How does the narrator rationalize killing Pluto? Explain why you do or do not think the
narrator wants to “doom his soul.”
The narrator doesn’t take responsibility for his actions. He always blames something else,
such as Pluto biting him or his Wife trying to stop him. Answers will vary.
9. How does the new cat differ from Pluto? What do you think this trait symbolizes?
The second cat looked very much like Pluto except it had a white mark on his neck/breast
area. The narrator began to think it looked like gallows. It could symbolize what the narrator
did to the first cat or what would eventually happen to the narrator (foreshadowing).
10. Explain the circumstances concerning the murder of the narrator’s wife.
He just about tripped over the cat and was ready to kill it with an axe when his wife
grabbed his arm and stopped him. Instead of killing the cat, in his rage, he killed his wife. He
bricked her up in a false chimney wall. He ended up getting caught because the second cat
was in the wall and made a sound when the police were there.