Abstract

Edgar Allan Poe is a famous American novelist in the nineteenth Century, who is a versatile genius and the originator of detective stories, known as the father of detective stories. Poe’s detective fiction The Murders in the Rue Morgue is known as the detective fiction masterpiece, Its publication is regarded as the symbol of the birth of detective stories and has the profound impact on the later detective stories. This thesis aims at examining Edgar Allan Poe's Contributions to Detective Stories from the several aspects of  The Murders in the Rue Morgue, such as, the classic detective image, the narrative mode, the crime pattern and the Process of Detection, etc. 

Key words : Edgar Allen Poe; detective stories; Contributions; The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1.Introduction.1

2.Background Information.2

2.1 Background information of Edgar Allan Poe.2

2.2 Background information of Poe’s detective stories3

2.3 Background information of The Murders in the Rue Morgue.4

3.The Contributions to the Model of Detective5

3.1 The ideal character6

3.2 The embodiment of the freedom7

4.The Contributions to the Narrative Mode.8

4.1 The assistant’s perspective.8

4.2 The contest between the detective and the prefect of police9

5. The Contributions to the Crime Pattern.9

5.1 Locked room mystery.10

5.2 The unexpected murder11

5.3 The particular space11

6.The Contributions to the Process of Detection.12

6.1 Logical reasoning.13

6.2 The rationality of the outcome.14

7. Conclusion.15

Reference.17