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4 - Poe’s humor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2006

Kevin J. Hayes
Affiliation:
University of Central Oklahoma
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Summary

Sphinx or hoax? Aside from the poète maudit, the satanic dandy revered by Baudelaire, and the alleged dope-ridden neurotic gratifying public tastes with the morbid paraphernalia of his Gothic tales, Poe was also a born humorist equally inspired by parody and self-mockery. In an anti-romantic vein so common among the popular humorists of his time, he enjoyed applying his acumen to deride the outpourings of emotions too often surging from mediocre fiction and poetry. Through a mysterious alchemy, humor was at least for him a short-lived euphoric response apt to exorcise the fiendish visions harassing his mind. This Janus figure seemed to view the world in two opposite directions, yet sometimes provided a dual perspective to reconcile extremes paradoxically. In his Anthologie de l'Humour Noir, André Breton held that the contradiction between the acclaimed poet of “The Raven” and the wretched drunkard, was itself humorous since it implied an open conflict involving logical lucidity at odds with the vapors of liquor. Plagued with his physical insufficiencies and mental strains, Poe was able, however, to overcome his sense of alienation and filter the agonizing material he stumbled over in his private life and literary career, thus intermittently giving himself narcissistic comfort through an economy of expenditure in feeling, as Freud later defined the process.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2002

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  • Poe’s humor
  • Edited by Kevin J. Hayes, University of Central Oklahoma
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521793262.005
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  • Poe’s humor
  • Edited by Kevin J. Hayes, University of Central Oklahoma
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521793262.005
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Poe’s humor
  • Edited by Kevin J. Hayes, University of Central Oklahoma
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521793262.005
Available formats
×