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"Berenice" is a short horror story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the Southern Literary Messenger in 1835.
Summary
The narrator, Egaeus, is a studious young man who lives in a large gloomy mansion with his cousin Berenice. He suffers from a type of obsessive disorder that makes him fixate on objects. She, originally beautiful, suffers from some unspecified degenerative illness, with periods of catalepsy a particular symptom, which he refers to as a trance. Nevertheless, they are due to be married. One afternoon, Egaeus sees Berenice, and when she smiles, he focuses on her teeth. His obsession grips him, and for days he drifts in and out of awareness, constantly thinking about the teeth. At one point a servant tells him that Berenice has died and been buried. When he next becomes aware, with an inexplicable terror, he finds a lamp and a small box in front of him. Another servant enters, reporting that a grave has been violated, and a shrouded disfigured body found, still alive. Egaeus finds his clothes are covered in mud and blood, and opens the box to find it contains dental instruments and "thirty-two small, white and ivory-looking substances" - Berenice's teeth.
The Latin epigraph which usually precedes the story roughly translates to: "My companion said I might find some alleviation of my misery in visiting the grave of my beloved."
Published History
First publishined in the Southern Literary Messenger in March of 1835, public outcry lead to an edited version being published in 1840. Poe says in a letter to the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger on April 30, 1835: "I allow that it approaches the very verge of bad taste -- but I will not sin quite so egregiously again."
Analysis
Sigmund Freud would immediately point out the importance of teeth in Berenice. In Freudian terms, the removal of teeth can be a symbol of castration, possibly as punishment for masturbation. Another interpretation is thinking of the teeth as protection for an entrance to the wife's body, another sexual innuendo.
The story is also one of Poe's most violent. As the narrator looks at the box which he may subconsciously know contains his wife's teeth, he asks himself, "Why... did the hairs of my head erect themselves on end, and the blood of my body become congealed within my veins?" Though Poe does not actually include the scene where the teeth are pulled out, it is very clearly what happened. The reader also knows that Egaeus was in a trance-like state at the time, incapable of responding to evidence that his wife was still alive as he committed the gruesome act. Additionally, the story emphasizes that all 32 of her teeth were removed.
Incidentally, this is one of the few Poe stories whose narrator is named.
Themes
Several oft-repeated themes in Poe's works are found in this story:
- The death of a beautiful woman (see also The Fall of the House of Usher, Ligeia, Morella, The Oval Portrait)
- Being buried alive (see also The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Premature Burial)
- Mental illness (see also The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart)
- Catalepsy (see also The Premature Burial)
External links
- Full Text at Wikisource
"Berenice (short story)"