The Pit and the Pendulum: Dark Romanticism

Dark Romanticism, a sub-genre of the Romanticism Literary Period, had many characteristics similar to those of romanticism, but still different. Dark Romanticism included the darker side of human nature in its writings. This would include characters who had committed crimes, lied, were suffering , greedy, who had the darker qualities or flaws of human nature. Dark Romanticism writers also included dark mythical creatures in their novels and poems, such as demons, Satan, ghosts, goblins, and ghouls. Dark Romanticism stories are usually bleak, dark (obviously), scary, eerie, and have a sad or dreary tone to them. All of these are characteristics of Dark Romanticism.

Edgar Allen Poe is considered a Dark Romanticist. He has written many things including The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Pit and the Pendulum. All of these writings include Dark Romanticist characteristics, especially The Pit and the Pendulum. The Pit and the Pendulum is a short story of a man accused during the Spanish Inquisition, and his torturous stay in prison. The Spanish Inquisition the beginning setting for the short story was "a court that arrested and tried suspected heretics, or those who opposed Church teaching. Those convicted of heresy were imprisoned for life or sentenced to death" (Poe, 262). This already shows Dark Romanticism, because it deals with human error and human paranoia. In the beginning lines, Dark Romanticism is again apparent, because it talks of death in a depressing tone. "I was sick--sick unto death with that long agony; and when they at length unbound me, and I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were leaving me" (Poe, 263). Here Poe leads into the main story with the person's feelings. As the story develops, the accused is sent to prison where he is left in a small damp prison cell, rat infested, and fed little food. The keepers of the prison torture him by tying him down and swinging a pendulum with the sharp head of an axe slowly down at him. He marginally escapes, but again his torturers beckon him to a deadly pit in the middle of the room. "My cognizance of the pit had become known to the inquisitorial agents--the pit whose horrors had been destined for so bold a recusant as myself--the pit, typical of hell, and regarded by rumor as the Ultima Thule of all their punishments" (Poe, 269). This phrase shows Dark Romanticism because it mentions the pit as a hell, and shows the accused's contempt for the pit. It shows his darkest fear for the pit, something common to Dark Romanticism. "I felt that it was of joy--of hope; but I felt also that it had perished in its formation. In vain I struggled to perfect--to regain it. Long suffering had nearly annihilated all my ordinary powers of mind. I was an imbecile--an idiot" (Poe, 270). Again this shows Dark Romanticism, because it talks of being an idiot, not something to be proud of, a darker part of human nature. Also it shows how his joy disappeared and how he was left in utter darkness and felt as much, another characteristic of Dark Romanticism. Edgar Allen Poe's short story, not surprising, is an excellent example of Dark Romanticism. The Pit and the Pendulum shows how human nature becomes corrupt and what happens when it does, somethings common to the Dark Romanticism Time Period.

Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Pit and the Pendulum." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature. Ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill. 2010. 263-273. Print.