MaraBarreiro

Edgar Allan Poe's story, "A Tell-Tale Heart," is a wonderful example of the egotism and self-importance of the madman. The narrator, when speaking of his actions, lifts himself upon a noble pedestal. He never deviates from the terror that the old man's cataract has upon him, but when he refers to himself it is always to speak of how wonderfully he handled the situation; that is until the end.
From the very beginning he speaks of his "disease" and how it "sharpened my senses"(199). So, already his ego-mania has taken control. I thought that this showed how the narrator saw himself. It is his inability to separate the irrational terror of the old man's eye and his own self indulgence. This only heightens when the transfer from sight to sound, the terror from the eye to the beating of the old man's heart, occurs. He speaks of his "fury," but again he refers to his own "over-acuteness of the senses"(200).
Throughout the entire text the narrator constantly refers to his own greatness:

- "you should have seen me"
-"You should have seen how wisely I proceeded-with what caution-with what foresight"
-"You would have laughed at how cunningly I..."
-"would a madman have been so wise as this?"
-"I went boldly... and spoke courageously"
-"Never before...had I felt the extent of my own powers"
-"You will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took"
-"I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly"
-"In the enthusiasm of my own confidence..."
-"my perfect triumph"
-"My manner convinced them."

He tries to convince his audience, and perhaps himself, that he couldn't possibly be mad because of the greatness with which he conducted himself in the murder of the old man. His self-importance only fuels the terror he feels. It seems to me that he gets to the point where he must convince himself of his own superiority over the sights and sounds that are haunting him.
From the very first paragraph he establishes his own importance and how he can't possibly be insane. He states:
"I heard all things in heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell.
How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily-how calmly I can
tell you the whole story." (199)

With his claim to hear all things in heaven, on earth and in hell, he has put himself in a God-like position. He believes that his senses have become so acute that he sees and hears what no other mortal being can see or hear. I believe this not only amplifies his ego, but his terror as well. This god complex heightens as the story progresses. He gets more and more confident in his own wisdom and ability to combat the terror that is enveloping him. He even believes that he has powers, which allow him entrance into the old man's chambers.
I could say that madness wins over ego in the end, because he snaps and tells the officers that he is indeed the murderer, but since he is the one telling the story this doesn't ring true to me. His ego stays in tact. His ego disallows him to admit defeat. He blames the officers and the sound of the beating heart for his discovery. He has come to believe that the officers are taunting him with their own knowledge. They become the villians in his mind.
Does ego-mania equal madness? I believe it does to a certain extent, because to experience madness and psychotic behavior the individual comes to believe that he is more aware than others around him. The narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a prime example of this egotism of the psychotic.

In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, addiction plays a major role. It is not so much the addiction to the tincture that Jekyll mixes as much as to the addiction Jekyll has to his evil counterpart Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll’s own exploration of self, his refusal to give up Hyde, and his physical transformation are all parts of his addiction. It is Jekyll’s obsession with the other half of his personality that he cannot give up. According to this website on addiction:

Psychological addiction, as opposed to physiological addiction, is a person's need to use a drug or engage in a behavior despite the harm caused out of desire for the effects it produces, rather than to relieve withdrawal symptoms. Instead of an actual physiological dependence on a drug, such as heroin, psychological addiction usually develops out of habits that relieve symptoms of loneliness or anxiety. As the drug is indulged, it becomes associated with the release of pleasure-inducing endorphins, and a cycle is started that is similar to physiological addiction. This cycle is often very difficult to break.

It is this “cycle” that has Jekyll in its grasp. Jekyll uses the speech of an addict when he tells Utterson, “just put your good heart to rest. I will tell you one thing: the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde.” (22) Addicts are always saying that they can give up their addictions whenever they choose; this is obviously not the case. Every time he tried to detoxify, Hyde would come back stronger: “My devil had been long cage, he came out roaring.” (71) Many addicts think that they can forgo their dependency on their own, but the true nature of their addiction usually wins out.

In Jekyll’s “full statement” at the end of the story, he admits his addiction with Hyde goes deeper than the drug he used to first induce the change. He believes that there is a “duplicity of life” which his high moral standing in the community would never permit him to explore without the help of creating a second personality, which is already within him. This second personality helps to relieve him of loneliness and he discovers a perverse pleasure in the evil life that Hyde lives:

I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of the new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine. (64)

This is where Jekyll’s addiction became saturated. His vision of duality and his scientific mind made him curious enough to try and concoct a tincture that would allow him to experiment with the twin nature of good and evil, but once he discovered the pleasures of pure evil, with what he felt were no repercussions to his good name, his addiction became complete. It “delighted” him and he was “happier” with this more lascivious side of himself.

Addicts will do anything to hide who they have become and what they are doing. Hyde is first noticed by the outside world walking into Jekyll’s home through a back entrance, an entrance that “was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and disdained.” (6) Hyde is already displaying anti-social behavior. Jekyll knows that this side of his personality cannot be seen and he goes to many lengths to keep Hyde hidden from the society in which Jekyll lives. I think what many people forget is that Hyde is not truly a separate person from Jekyll, he is Jekyll. This is why Jekyll cannot easily get rid of him, and why later the tincture that Jekyll uses to transform from one form to another no longer works. Hyde begins to come out on his own, without the help of the drug; “I had gone to bed Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde.” (68)

Along with the psychological addiction there is also a physiological addiction. Like many addicts when he began to lose control over his addiction Jekyll began to take more of his drug hoping that it would help him to regain his control, “I had been obliged on more than one occasion to double, and once, with infinite risk of death to treble the amount.” (69) The mixture that the doctor has created becomes what Jekyll believes, to be the cause and the remedy for his addiction, “..a double dose to recall me to myself; and alas! six hours after, the pangs returned, and the drug had to be re-administered.” (76) When he can no longer control Hyde he panics and tries to use the drug to keep himself at bay. So, there is a dependency on the drug, but it comes from his physical and psychological need to be Hyde. There is a pleasure he gains from the brutality of Hyde.

Addicts also have noticeable changes in their physiognomy. Most drug addicts and alcoholics, when on the drug for a length of time, become altered in appearance. The alteration is never a flattering one. They usually become thinner, paler, and develop a deformed look to their facial features. Hyde is small in stature, hairy and deformed. He is the complete opposite to the handsome physicality of Jekyll. Utterson describes him as looking, “pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation.” (18) This deformity is commented on throughout the text. I think it is the evil that others see in him that causes them to see him as deformed. There is a hideous and unnaturalness about him that they can describe in no other way.
Jekyll’s addiction with Hyde is his undoing.

He has all the signs of an addict in every aspect of his life. He hides himself away from others and is in constant denial about his involvement with Hyde. He tries desperately to convince himself and others that Hyde is a separate entity, when in fact they are the same person and a part of Jekyll gets pleasure from the depravity of Hyde. This is why it was so easy for his dual nature to take over his body without the help of the drug. The two personalities begin to mesh and Jekyll becomes fearful of what he has unleashed in himself.

A few years ago I attended a Bible college and I had an instructor who was, probably the most sexist person I had ever met. He told us one day in class that our country began to go down hill when women were given the right to vote. His explanation was that women only voted for the guy they thought was handsome. Now, I'm not beginning this blog with this little tidbit to get any one riled up, I'm going to make a point with it. I did in fact, at first, get riled up myself, but then I realized how absurd this man's statement was. It was ridiculous because men and women are both attracted to beauty, granted I don't know a lot of men who will admit that they find another man attractive, but they do. This isn't a sign of homosexuality. It is the natural inclination to see and appreciate beauty and this is what I think happens throughout Dorian Gray.

Oscar Wilde does a brilliant job, of taking what comes naturally, the attraction to beauty, and creating characters who so convincingly take extremes in order to be close to it. Dorian is the central focus of what is considered absolute beauty. Today it is customary to have a woman as the focal point of this type of attraction. Everyone who comes into contact with Dorian is affected by him in some way.

It begins with the Basil Hallward's attraction to Dorian. It is his painting and his description of Dorian's beauty that intrigues Lord Henry Wotton. He tells Henry of the first time he met Dorian: " I turned half-way round, and saw Dorian Gray for the first time. When our eyes met, I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror came over me, I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself." (8)
Dorian becomes the icon of beauty in the artist's mind. There is something so overwhelming about him that Hallward becomes obsessed with painting his portrait and may even be falling in love with Dorian. He confesses to Henry and then later in the story to Dorian that: "from the moment I met you, your personality had the most extraordinary power over me. I was dominated, soul, brain, and power, by you. I worshiped you. I grew jealous of every one to whom you spoke. I wanted to have you all to myself. I was only happy when I was with you. When you were away from me you were still present in my art..." (117)
Dorian becomes the obsession of everyone. Lord Henry has an inclination towards all that is beautiful and material in the world, so he naturally gravitates toward Dorian. The only difference is instead of worshiping Dorian the way Hallward does, Henry becomes a teacher, of sorts, to Dorian. He is the one who convinces Dorian that all he needs in life is to keep his youth and beauty and he will always be loved. This of course is a lie, because later on in the story those around Dorian find themselves steeped in corruption or they begin to find fault in him, though they never have proof that he has done wrong.

Dorian is the central figure of the story, everyone else live their lives around him. They all strive to be with him in some way. The women fall in love with him and the men want to be in his company. Dorian becomes the feminine figure in the story. Though there are women in the story it is Dorian who is lavished upon, it is Dorian that all care for, and it is Dorian who destroys and dashes men's hopes and dreams, not the women. The women in the story are used more like window dressing. They are only there to facilitate a need to show the well-rounded beauty of Dorian Gray. It is not just a group of men who sit around and pine for this Narrcissus, it is also the women. And like Narcissus, Dorian treats all who love him cruelly and is really only obsessed with his own beauty and with the silent destruction of that beauty in the portrait. Sibyl Vane takes her own life because Dorian can not have what he wants from her, which is perfection in her acting, a beauty that can stand with his own.

It is not necessary to dwell on the homosexual references that are throughout this book to investigate the love men have for one another. Men can and are attracted to beauty the same as women. Dorian is the proves this in the story. Dorian is the ideal. I think that this story could have been told just as effectually without the female characters as it was with them. Wilde brilliantly established Dorian in that feminine role and allowed him to take over where the women would have been.