The Role of the Gaze in Poe's the Tell Tale Heart
Josué López
Professor Gilda Pacheco Acuña
LM-1386 Literature and Women
14 May 2013
The Role of the Gaze in the Loss of Autonomy and Creation of Suspense
In Poe’s the Tell-Tale Heart, the gaze is the generator of suspense in the protagonist’s mind. The effects of the gaze can be analyzed by means of three characters in the story: the protagonist, the Old Man, and the police officers. The gaze’s effect of the three characters helps to destabilize the autonomy of the main character. According to Lacan, the identity is a fictional construction in which the “Other” plays an important role. In other words, the gaze of the other is necessary in the construction of one’s identity. Through the creation of identity, the individual is able to separate his own reality from the Other’s reality. In this sense, the gaze is a device that frames the identity of the individual. However, the feeling of anxiety is present when the individual do not control the gaze, and rather the Other controls it. Through this essay, the protagonist of Poe’s story struggles to posses the gaze, and this fight will be explained by the perception of the Old Man, the police officers, and the protagonist. Finally, the concept of suspense will be developed in terms of the gaze as Lacan proposes.
Mystery suspense involves other concepts such as identity and gaze. In order to explain the concept of suspense, it is necessary to deep into these terms. For Lacan, the identity is a fictional construction within the human being. The theorist reinforces his theory by using the concept of mirror stage, in which “an infant develops a sense of self through how he or she appears to other people… the resulting subjective structure grants the child an illusion of coherence, stability, and unification”(Leonard, 20). However, this sense of unification needs to be authenticated by the perception of the Other. In other words, what Lacan calls the gaze is merely the observation to the Other. This is how the
Professor Gilda Pacheco Acuña
LM-1386 Literature and Women
14 May 2013
The Role of the Gaze in the Loss of Autonomy and Creation of Suspense
In Poe’s the Tell-Tale Heart, the gaze is the generator of suspense in the protagonist’s mind. The effects of the gaze can be analyzed by means of three characters in the story: the protagonist, the Old Man, and the police officers. The gaze’s effect of the three characters helps to destabilize the autonomy of the main character. According to Lacan, the identity is a fictional construction in which the “Other” plays an important role. In other words, the gaze of the other is necessary in the construction of one’s identity. Through the creation of identity, the individual is able to separate his own reality from the Other’s reality. In this sense, the gaze is a device that frames the identity of the individual. However, the feeling of anxiety is present when the individual do not control the gaze, and rather the Other controls it. Through this essay, the protagonist of Poe’s story struggles to posses the gaze, and this fight will be explained by the perception of the Old Man, the police officers, and the protagonist. Finally, the concept of suspense will be developed in terms of the gaze as Lacan proposes.
Mystery suspense involves other concepts such as identity and gaze. In order to explain the concept of suspense, it is necessary to deep into these terms. For Lacan, the identity is a fictional construction within the human being. The theorist reinforces his theory by using the concept of mirror stage, in which “an infant develops a sense of self through how he or she appears to other people… the resulting subjective structure grants the child an illusion of coherence, stability, and unification”(Leonard, 20). However, this sense of unification needs to be authenticated by the perception of the Other. In other words, what Lacan calls the gaze is merely the observation to the Other. This is how the