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Caroline Crawford
Mrs. Kirschner
English I
2 October 2015
Terrifying the American Reader
When looking at the American Renaissance, a group of authors and poets, known as the
Dark Romantics, stand out. These artists scare readers with creepy and horrific images that they
do not quickly forget. The authors delve into the human soul and ask questions about why we do
the things we do. The themes associated with Dark Romanticism are incredibly apparent in the
works of Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, namely in The City in the Sea and The
Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe and The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Black Cat
and The Birthmark explore the struggles of human nature and the horrors of evil lurking in
everyone, while The City in the Sea sets its focus on the potential evil in our everyday
surroundings. Poe and Hawthorne develop a shock value and a mysterious aspect to their pieces
to demonstrate the true unpredictability of life.
The Black Cat is a good cornerstone to use when defining dark romanticism because it
contains everything that comes to mind when thinking about a work from this time. We see the
main characters best attributes, tenderness and docility towards animals, morph into the most
petrifying parts of his soul. Poe makes a symbol of the white patch on the second black cat, and
how it became, the representation of an object [he] shudder[s] to name (The Black Cat 10),
an object we can only assume is the image of his first black cat being hung. In true dark romantic
fashion, this symbol is creepy and slightly mysterious.

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Intense imagery is frequently used in The Black Cat. We see the cat being hanged on
the tree, the fire engulfing the narrators home, and his murdered wifes corpse decaying behind
the wall. This gives the reader a sense of eeriness; makes readers tremble with fear of the
unknown. Poe tosses these images in the story slowly, but by finishing it we see how they are all
strategically placed to make the reader give thought to the mental state of a character who hangs
cats for little reason and axes his wife out of a moments fury. This sickness is at first introduced
to readers when the narrator references his alcoholism as a disease. While alcoholism certainly is
a disease, what this character may have is nothing short of total insanity.
The narrator in The Black Cat has a relatively calm, yet regretful tone, which is best
conveyed here, I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity. (The Black Cat
5) The characters mind seems to be healing by the time he records his account of this action. His
anger seems controlled in this quote. The theme of this story is the struggle of human nature as it
relates to the natural perversion of the mind and the horrors of evil lurking in everyone, even the
nice boy who likes pets. The creepiness of some dark romantic work is brought on suddenly as if
to add a shock factor. Poe uses this shock here to reflect the surprises in life, and how truly
anyone can be evil.
Another work by Poe, The City in the Sea uses symbolism, figurative language, and
imagery to bring to life an incredibly descriptive poem. He uses the sea to symbolize evil and the
city to symbolize the seductive side of sin that lures people into hell. Poe uses the city in the
deepest part of the sea to give Death a place to rule from, meaning that Death is celebrated in the
darkest parts of the world. The image of Hell rising from a thousand thrones (City in the Sea
52) strikes fear not only into the hearts of God-fearing readers, but also into the hearts of those
fearful of the evil that is always present in the world. We see figurative language in this piece

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when describing how even time waits for Hell to rise up from the sea here, The hours are
breathing faint and low (The City in the Sea 49). The prospect of the evils in Hell is so
frightening that even time is unsteady and anguished. The tone in this poem is somewhat
observatory, like the narrator is watching this scene unfold. This story makes the reader question
their environment, setting its theme on seeing the evil that could be present in our surroundings.
Dark Romanticism is not just seeing the sea, but seeing the horrors of Hell deep under the
surface of the water. This represents the manner in which parts of life are more than what they
seem.
Another classic short story in the Dark Romanticism genre is The Birthmark by
Nathaniel Hawthorne. Georgianas beauty symbolizes life, and her birthmark symbolizes the
small imperfections in life that humans must deal with to have their own kind of perfection. The
creepiest part of this story is the mad scientist. His zest for alchemy makes him look like a very
shady character throughout the story. One of the images that stands out the most is after the
scientists wife takes the concoction he made for her. The birthmark disappearing is described
when the narrator says, Watch the stain of the rainbow fading out the sky, and you will know
how the mysterious symbol passed away (The Birthmark 14). The comparison made between
the birthmark disappearing and a rainbow going out of the sky causes readers to infer that
witnessing the birthmark disappearing was a disappointing experience, which signals an even
more disappointing experience: the alchemist losing his wife. Perhaps the scientist achieving his
goal, yet still being disappointed is the main point of the story. No one knows what they have
until its gone, and maybe thats the scariest part of life.
The birthmark in The Birthmark is figuratively referred to as the hand of a fairy when
the narrator says, Georgiana's lovers were wont to say that some fairy at her birth hour had laid

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her tiny hand upon the infant's cheek, and left this impress there in token of the magic
endowments that were to give her such sway over all hearts (The Birthmark 2). This fairy
gave Georgiana a unique quality, something that was not wise to give up. The tone throughout
this work is descriptive, but also disappointed - as though the narrator is watching two motor
vehicles slowly collide. They look on with sadness, knowing that the result of these events will
not be good. The theme of The Birthmark is the struggle of human nature in desiring an
unattainable level of perfection. The Dark Romanticism in this piece lies more in the mystery of
the birthmark than the horror of it all. Hawthorne uses the birthmark to remind readers that the
imperfects in life can sometimes be the perfections.
From a macroscopic vantage point, Dark Romanticism looks like it is all creepy symbols
and bone chilling plots, but in reality, it is so much more than that. These works have a shock
factor, they look at the world and give everyday surroundings deeper meanings, and they use
mysterious symbols to make readers look at their world and question it. The task of a dark
romantic was a daunting one. They must find the terrible qualities that unite all humans and
situations and turn them into beautiful and terrifying literature. The true purpose of Dark
Romanticism is to give meaning to those whose life has lost it; a purpose that is only fulfilled
when the authors probe deep into their souls and explore the inner workings of their minds.

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Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. 'The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne'. Online-literature.com. N.p.,
2015. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Black Cat." The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Lit2Go Edition. 1903. Web.
<http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/147/the-works-of-edgar-allan-poe/5235/the-black-cat/>.
October 05, 2015.
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The City in the Sea." The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Lit2Go Edition. 1903.
Web.
<http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/147/the-works-of-edgar-allan-poe/5249/the-city-in-the-sea/>.
October 05, 2015.