Abstract

Being an famous writer in the 19th century in America, Edgar Allan Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and was considered as the inventor of the detective fiction genre. The public of his novel Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841 started his detective fiction creation and formed a basic narrative style of this kind of novel which usually has the twisting plots and distinctive characters. This Allan Poe's Mode is followed by many authors afterwards. He created the amateur detective Dupin and the detective narrative mode, and presented his own opinions towards the word.

The paper will mainly analyze the plot genre and the character image in Poe's detective novels and to discuss the hidden views on value and world and the justice and morality.

Keywords: Edgar Allan Poe; detective fictions; the plot genre; the character image; justice and morality

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Introduction of the Detective Novels-1

1.2 Edgar Allan Poe and his Detective Novels-1

2. A Theme of Justice: The Study of the Plot Genre in Poe's Detective Novels-3

2.1 Reality: Description of the Crime Scene-3

2.1.1 The Gothic Description of the Mystery and Death-3

2.1.2 Reality and Romanticism-3

2.2 Rationality: The Careful Reasoning Process-4

2.2.1 The Creation of the Detective Narrative Style-4

2.2.2 The Transition from Sensibility to Rationality-4

2.2.3 The Combination of Sensibility and Rationality-5

3. A perceptual detective: The study of the characters in Poe's detective novels-6

3.1 Sensibility: The Round Characters—Mainly on Detective Dupin-6

3.1.1 Dupin's Eccentric Personality-6

3.1.2 Dupin's Vengeance Consciousness-6

3.1.3 Dignified Reason behind the Emotion-7

3.2 Personality: Arrogant, Unfortunate, Accomplished-7

3.2.1 Arrogant Heart and Unfortunate Life-7

3.2.2 Accomplish the Dream-8

4. Conclusion-9

References-10