1、 （ 20_ _届） 本科毕业 设计 英语 理想自我的追求 爱伦坡与莫格街血案 Pursuit of an Ideal Self Allan Poe and The Murders in The Rue Morgue Contents 摘要 . I Abstract .II 1.Introduction .1 1.1 The introduction of Edgar Allan Poe .1 1.2 The introduction of The Murders in The Rue Morgue . .2 2.Dupin the shadow of Poe 2 2.1 Dupin and
2、Poes similar characteristics .3 2.1.1 The same intelligence . 3 2.1.2 Unsociable characteristic .4 2.2 Differences between Dupin and Poe . 5 2.2.1 A different life .5 2.2.2 Worlds Different attitudes to Dupin and Poe .6 2.3 Poes imaginationDupin . .7 3.Poes pursuit of aestheticism and ideal self . .
3、8 3.1 Views of aestheticism . .8 3.1.1 Description in The Murders in The Rue Morgue . .8 3.1.2 Symbolism in the story . 9 3.2 Poes pursuit of ideal self . .10 4.Conclusion .10 Bibliography . .12 Acknowledgements .13I 摘要 爱伦 坡一生之中只创作了为数不多的侦探小说，但被侦探小说界称为侦探小说的鼻祖，在他的第一篇侦探小说莫格街血案中爱伦 坡塑造了历史上第一个小说侦探杜宾。本文主要通
4、过 对 莫格街血案中主人公杜宾和作者爱伦 坡之间的异同比较和分析，阐述坡理想自我的化身正是杜宾 ,并从这篇小说中的描写手法和象征手法剖析爱伦 坡对唯美主义的和理想自我的追求。 关键词： 爱伦 坡；杜宾；莫格街血案；理想自我；唯美主义 II Abstract Allan Poe just wrote several detective stories in his life, but he has been called the ancestor of detective stories. In his first detective story The Murders in The Rue M
5、orgue, he creates the first detective in his storiesDupin. In this paper, we will discuss Allan Poes pursuit of an ideal self through a parallel comparison and contrast between Dupin and Allan Poe. And through Poes description and symbolism in this story, we will analyze his persistence of aesthetic
6、ism and an ideal self. Keywords: Allan Poe; Dupin; The Murders in The Rue Morgue; ideal self; aestheticism 1 1. Introduction 1.1 The introduction of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe, is one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered as the inventor of the detective-fi
7、ction genre. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. Poe and his works influenced literature of the United States, even of the whole world. George Bernard Shaw commented Poe as one of the greates
8、t American writers. The influence of Poe has been beyond the domain of literature, and it has become a literary phenomenon. If we want to learn about American literature, we must study the works of Allan Poe first. Poes greatness depends on his pioneering and creating spirits. He is praised as the a
9、ncestor of detective story, one of the pioneers of science fiction, horror fiction, symbolism, and estheticism. His writing style has been unique at every age. Poes first detective storyThe Murders in the Rue Morgue has influenced many famous writers in later ages, for example, Conan Doyle, Baudelai
10、re, Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Hitchcock, and Tim Burton and so on. Poe is an intelligent man who enjoys in the world of thinking and analyzing all of his life. He is very fond of unsolved mysteries and codes, he even publishes in the newspaper to search difficult mysteries and codes to br
11、eak. Poe has not only got enjoyments from these high difficult intellections, but also gained inspiration for his works. However, when Poe was living, his life was very difficult and dissatisfactory. Poes works were strongly criticized in America, almost no one would appreciate him. Facing this fact
12、, Poe only has to reflect his ideal self in his novels, creating many heroes who all have vivid characteristics. The heroDupin is the most representative of Poes ideal self. 1.2 The introduction of The Murders in The Rue Morgue Poes most famous literary theory is “single effect theory”. “.in the who
13、le composition there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one preestablished design.” (, 2010). In this theory created by Poe, he thinks that in short stories, every case, every detail, even every word and sentence should get uniform effect which has be
14、en preconceived. Poes favourite effects are the fears to death and the misgivings to uncanny things. Poe tries to establish some effects, and then to think and tries his best to create for this effect. Poe deems that his every work is the result of deeply consideration. Among Poes novels, I apprecia
15、te his detective stories more than others. Although Poe 2 had only created few stories, he is known as the pioneer in the field of detective story. In his detective stories, we cannot ignore his first detective story, also the worlds first real detective storyThe Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841). Th
16、e story surrounds a murder of Madame LEspanaye and her daughter in the Rue Morgue. Newspaper reveals that the mothers throat is so badly cut that her head is barely attached and the daughter, after being strangled, has been stuffed into the chimney. The murder occurs in an inaccessible room on the f
17、ourth floor locked from the inside. The Police sink into a big trouble, the murder nearly has no clue. At that point, Paris natives Dupin and his friend, the unnamed narrator of the story, read these newspaper accounts with interest. On the basis of evidences in the newspaper and the murder spot, Du
18、pin has understood all the process clearly. Then he designs a stratagem to make the murderer appear by himself. What amazed all the people is that the murderer actually is a gorilla. This is nearly an absurd story; the murderer is not a man but a gorilla. Readers who want to get an exciting ending p
19、erhaps will feel a little disappointed. However, it is really a literary game in a special way, and this story is also a special practice for the capacities of observation and logical thinking. We must say this practice designed by Allan Poe is attractive and worth thinking. 2.Dupin the shadow of Po
20、e In The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Poe creates an amateurish detective-Dupin, who has influenced many writers in later ages. The most famous Sherlock Holmes created by Conan Doyle is the copy of Dupin by Allan Poe. And the other famed detective Kraft from The Moonstone by Collins also has many simi
21、larities with Dupin. Through Dupins characteristics and his life experience, we can see that Dupin actually is the shadow of Poe. 2.1 Dupin and Poes similar characteristics 2.1.1 The same intelligence Dupin makes his first show in The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and his many characteristics can be fo
22、und in the later famous detectives. They all like thinking, have read extensive books, and though they are not very rich, their life has no pressures, even that they all have a subservience friend to record their words and actions, and promotes their thoughts through asking questions. In this story,
23、 Poe describes Dupin as a detective who can solve any case even just sitting on the chair. Dupin is nearly a superman who is created as an ideal self in the cruel society and the soul of the stories by the writer. In order to prove his outstanding ability, Dupin has to go through different and uncom
24、mon cases. As the leader and representative of the detectives 3 world, Dupin has super intelligence, is familiar with all the information about the case, and finally solve it through his ability of reasoning analysis and his intuition. Dupin is not only a detective who can solve any case, but also a
25、 saviour who can give a stable life to people. But why can we say so? Wed better take an example. About the murder happening in the Rue Morgue, everyone thinks this is a really difficult case because of the confined space. However, after Dupins careful observation, trial and error, he sums up that t
26、he criminal is very strong, “his” words are not normal language, and has uncommon hair, and then he finds that the nail on the window just seems intact, actually it is broken into two cuts, and the most important clue is that the window-blinds could close automatically. Through these details, Dupin
27、finds out the murderer and the criminal process “he” makes. Both the design of the confined space and the reasoning process have shown the rational analysis and intelligence of Dupin. He has extreme keen observation to life, and his IQ can reach the highest level when he is sober and rational to inf
28、erence. Detective story is a new trying for Poe, from which we can feel Poes self-talking, self-adjusting and self-surpassing. Obviously, Poe made a study of analyzing, thinking and inference. In The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Poe describes this detailDupin and “I” were strolling one night down a lo
29、ng dirty street. At once Dupin broke forth with some words about what I had thought, and “I” was so surprised about it, then he explained “The larger links of the chain run thusChantilly, Orion, Dr.Nichols, Epicurus, Stereotomy, the street stones, the fruiterer.”(Edgar Allan Poe, 2008: 261) And then
30、 Dupin continued “As we crossed into this street, a fruiterer, with a large basket upon his head, thrust you upon a pile of paving stones collected at a spot where the causeway is undergoing repair. You stepped upon one of the loose fragments, slipped, then you kept your eyes upon the groundglancing
31、, with a petulant expression, at the holes and ruts in the pavement, (so that I saw you were still thinking of the stones). Then we reached the little alley, your smiled and moved your lips, I could no doubt that you murmured stereotomy and atomies, and thus of the theories of Epicurus which we had
32、discussed not very long ago, and then I mentioned about nebular cosmogony, I felt that you could not avoid casting your eyes upward to the great nebula, and you really did it.”( Edgar Allan Poe, 2008:262) How methodic and explicit is Dupins reasoning, or we should say this is the analysing by Poe ac
33、tually! The climax of the story is the process of cracking the case. Poe has paid more thought at this part. He describes the details step by step. Every step is attractive, such as how Dupin begins to search, how he proves his supposition, and how the result gets the expected effect. Dupins logical
34、 reasoning and super capacity has been excellently reflected. Reading Poes stories readers can get the happiness of reading, and can also gain some 4 enlightments of wisdom. As is shown in The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Poe tells readers that being too close to the object may narrow ones horizon, an
35、d perhaps his proposal is that truth is not always in the bottom; actually, the more important knowledge will appear on the surface. We can say that Dupins excellent performance in solving cases is from Poes own intelligence. He is the ideal self of Allan Poe, because Poe had been more intelligent t
36、han others from his childhood, and he wants to show his superior intelligence anywhere and anytime. But at that time, when Poe showed his intelligence to the world, almost all people ignored him and his works. So he had to describe Dupin to replace himself as an ideal person who has super intelligen
37、ce, closely observing ability and predicts with miraculous accuracy. 2.1.2 Unsociable characteristics In The Murders in the Rue Morgue， Dupin is a man who lives in the dark and only goes out in the night. He lives in a fantastic gloom, a time-eaten and grotesque mansion with the narrator“I”. Dupin s
38、pends the majority of his time with only the one person. Their seclusion is perfect, and no visitors at all. They exist within themselves alone, It is a freak of fancy in Dupin to be enamored of the night for his own sake. At the first dawn of the morning he closes all the messy shutters of his old
39、building; lighting a couple of candles, he then begins to read, write, or converse with the narrator. Until the night came again, he goes out to wander. Dupin likes darkness more than other things, perhaps darkness is good for thinking and analyzing. Being apart from people let Dupin be able to view
40、 their actions as a series of events. However, though Dupin knows more about the events occurring in the social realm of Paris than those who have an active and involved role in everyday society and chooses a birds eye view of society, for the normal person, Dupins strange habit means he is a man wh
41、o is peculiar and unsociable. We have known in this story, Dupin is the member of an illustrious family who has been reduced to such poverty that the energy of his character succumbed beneath it, and he ceased to bestir himself in the world. Dupin considers himself as a man who is bitter because he
42、is too unsociable, and even hostile to against society. Why does Poe create Dupins characteristics as isolating from society? Perhaps it is one of the strongest evidences that Dupin is the shadow of Poe. When Poe was young, he met a beautiful goddesshis friends motherHelen. She became an idol and re
43、presentation of beauty in his mind. However, Helen passed away when she was 31. This made Poe feel sad for the first time; the loneliness came out in his heart, after several years, he created a poem To Helen (1831). At that time, Poes step father John Allan went bankrupt because of financial storm,
44、 then he became more and more ruthless, Poe 5 even could not feel his love. He felt lonelier, and gradually, Poe began to isolate from his family and friends. With his dream of literature and works, Poe went on a wandering life. However, as he grew up, Poe found it hard to get understanding and appr
45、eciation from others at that age, so he became more unsociable, had no friends, and chose to live with himself only. In a poemAlone (1829), Poe expresses his loneliness from the society. In this poetry, we can see such words as “sorrow” “stormy life” “binds” “demon in my view”, which all reflect Poe
46、s lonely heart. This poem is Poes self-portraita passer-by who is not cared by others. So we can say that Poe creates Dupin as a character of himself. 2.2 Differences between Dupin and Poe 2.2.1 A different life Although Dupins characteristics are so similar to Poes, there are many differences betwe
47、en them. In The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Poe creates Dupin as a French noble but has been reduced to poverty. He has no job and even has nothing to do everyday, only relies on his family legacy to live. He treats books as his only and best friends because of failures and setbacks in his life. He has a villa, a butler, a large number of books. He can read his favorite books in the day, and ramble at streets of Paris in the evening. So we
