Philippa Gregory Biography
Ginsberg, Lesley. "Slavery and the Gothic Horror of Poe's 'The Black Cat'." American Gothic: New Interventions in a National Narrative. Ed. Robert K. Martin and Eric Savoy. Iowa City: UP Iowa, 1998.
This paper analyzes the work "Slavery and the Gothic Horror of Poe's 'The Black Cat'" by Lesley Ginsberg. Specifically, it will summarize and assess the significance of this critical source.
The article discusses the relationship between Poe's short story and slavery, and Ginsberg believes that Poe uses the story to "reproduce the struggle between a helpless dependent and an abusive tyrant" (Ginsberg 99). Its objective is to show that Poe's work was indeed a commentary on slavery, with points taken from the article, other literary critics, and occurrences in history. Its critical approach is historical, looking at events in history, such as the Nat Turner rebellion and other reactions to slavery, and it is significant because it opens up an entire new avenue with which to view gothic fiction, from the standpoint of antebellum anti-slavery sentiment. The author uses criticism and commentary from many other authors in making her point, and introduces the reader to a wealth of information on how society viewed slavery at the time. She writes, "Here the slippage between animal and human invokes the Hegelian horror of slavery, a dialectic which finally reduces the master to 'brute' or a 'monster'" (Ginsberg 116). This is more than an analysis of the short story; it is an analysis of slavery and its effect on gothic literature at the time.
The significance of this article is clear. It shows that Poe was not writing simply horror fiction to shock and confuse, he was writing social commentary significant to the time. It illuminates this particular work and makes it more effective, but it is also a deep looking into other slave narratives and experiences, and how they relate to Poe's writing. The author proves her point by consistently citing other works, from texts on slavery to narratives, so the overall article is extremely effective.
References
Ginsberg, Lesley. "Slavery and the Gothic Horror of Poe's 'The Black Cat'." American Gothic: New Interventions in a National Narrative. Ed. Robert K. Martin and Eric Savoy. Iowa City: UP Iowa, 1998. 99-125.
