Miscellaneous Poe

Abstract

J ames M. Hutchisson’s introduction presents this recent collection of essays as “an argument for a new topical school of Poe criticism” to replace the traditional emphasis on supernaturalism in Poe’s fiction [x]. By “topical school,” Hutchisson seems to mean simply scholarship that addresses the sociohistorical context of Poe’s writings. While few critics would object to this type of scholarship, it is too loose a categorization to underpin a methodological argument. Setting aside the methodological claim, even the two broad themes—environment and otherness—that Hutchisson cites as principles of organization omit several of the essays, which therefore seem mere addenda. Beyond Gothicism offers twelve essays on assorted Poe-related topics, but it unfortunately does not provide the “systematic approach” to Poe and nineteenth-century culture promised in the introduction [x]. Despite the volume’s haphazard structure, its emphasis on Poe’s neglected writings is refreshing. For example, rather than locating Poe on the familiar North/South axis, Hutchisson’s chapter, “Storytelling, Narrative Authority, and Death in ‘The Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade,’” moves longitudinally. Hutchisson argues that, for Poe, Middle Eastern culture represents a generative force that can resist textual closure. Conversely, Amy C. Branam re-domesticates the international conflict in Poe’s verse drama, Politian. Branam contends that Poe displaces the friction between the northern United States’ condescension toward the South and the South’s defense of its paternalistic culture onto Politian’s contrast between sixteenth-century England and Italy. Other scholars take up such understudied tales as “King Pest” and “Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling.” Benjamin F. Fisher presents evidence that Poe considered concluding “Tales of the Folio Club” with “King Pest.” Kevin J. Hayes explores the theme of urban spectatorship in “Frenchman,” highlighting the parallels between visual culture and narrative form. Two particularly interesting essays approach Poe’s well-known tales of ratiocination from unusual angles. John F. Jebb compares “The Gold-Bug” to other nineteenth-century adaptations of the Captain Kidd legend, asserting