Metzengerstein

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"Metzengerstein"
Author Edgar Allan Poe
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Horror short story
Published in Saturday Courier
Media type Print (Periodical)
Publication date January 14, 1832

"Metzengerstein," also called "Metzengerstein: A Tale In Imitation of the German," was the first short story by American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe to see print. It was first published in the pages of Philadelphia's Saturday Courier magazine, in 1832. The story follows the young Frederick, the last of the Metzengerstein family who carries on a long-standing feud with the Berlifitzing family. Suspected of causing a fire that kills the Berlifitzing family patriarch, Frederick becomes intrigued with a previously-unnoticed and untamed horse. Metzengerstein is punished for his cruelty when his own home catches fire and the horse carries him into the flame. The story follows many conventions of Gothic fiction but is sometimes considered a satire or parody of the genre.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

The story takes place in Hungary, between two rival families: the Metzengersteins and the Berlifitzings. No one can fathom the age of this long, bitter enmity. The narrator states that its origin appears to rely on an old prophecy: "A lofty name shall have a fearful fall when, as the rider over his horse, the mortality of Metzengerstein shall triumph over the immortality of Berlifitzing."

Young Frederick, Baron of Metzengerstein, inherits the family fortune at age 18 (though the age changes throughout its many re-publications[1]) and begins to exhibit particularly cruel behavior. "The behavior of the heir out-Heroded Herod." A few days after he receives his inheritance, the stables of the rival family Berliftizing catch fire, killing the family's patriarch, William Von Berliftizing. It is implied that Meztengerstein himself may have been responsible for the act of arson. That day, Metzengerstein sits staring at an old tapestry depicting a Metzengerstein who kills a Berlifitzing who lies at the feet of his horse. He thinks he sees the horse move and take on "an energetic and human expression." A few minutes later, he's told that a new, remarkable "fiery-colored" horse has been found in his stables with the letters "W.V.B." branded on its forehead, "I supposed them, of course, to be the initials of William Von Berliftizing, but all at the castle are positive in denying any knowledge of the horse."

The horse displays "ferocious and demonlike" qualities. Only the baron is brave enough to try to break the mysterious horse. Day after day, Metzengerstein rides it as if addicted, and becomes less and less interested in the affairs of his house. During a nocturnal ride, the Metzengerstein castle catches fire. The runaway horse, against the horseman's orders, jumps into the flames with its rider, killing the last of the Metzengerstein clan. The horrified onlookers see a cloud of smoke settle above the castle in the shape of "the distinct colossal figure of — a horse."

[edit] Analysis

Though not explicitly stated, it is implied that the horse is really Berlifitzing. The first paragraph of the story references metempsychosis, when the soul of a person is transferred to another living being.[2] Other evidence is the tapestry, the lack of a history or recognition in the horse and, certainly, the prophecy referencing the immortality of the Berlifitzings. The story can be read as an allegory, a warning that a human soul can be overtaken by the evil it has created, though Poe himself doesn't suggest such a moral.[1]

It is important to note the traditional "Germanic" imitations Poe makes in this tale. The most obvious is the gloomy old castle, typical of Gothic fiction. The story also includes conventions of "hints at secret obsessions and sins, foreboding prophecies, family rivalry." [3] Poe may have, in fact, intended the story as a burlesque of the genre, exaggerating the elements of the Gothic to be humorous. That suggestion has been disputed, especially because of Poe's revisions throughout its many republications where he removed some of the more exaggerated material.[4]

Poe describes the horse's teeth as "sepulchral and disgusting". He often used teeth as a sign of mortality, as in lips writhing about the teeth of the mesmerized man in "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar", the sound of grating teeth in "Hop-Frog", and the obsession over teeth in "Berenice".[5]

The story has some autobiographical overtones as well, with the castle representing Moldavia, the Richmond home of Poe's foster-father John Allan. Also, both Poe and Metzengerstein are orphaned at a young age.[6]

[edit] Publication history

Poe originally sent "Metzengerstein" to the Saturday Courier as his entry to a writing competition. Though he did not win, the judges apparently liked the story enough to print it a few months later in their January 14, 1832 edition. It was published without Poe's name attached to it, but is the first acknowledged tale by Poe.[6] Poe likely was not paid for its initial publication.[7] The subtitle of "A Tale in Imitation of the German" was added when it was republished in the Southern Literary Messenger in January 1836,[8] likely to capitalize on the popular interest in German horror.[7] It was removed for its publication as part of the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque in 1840.[8]

"Metzengerstein" may have also been one of 11 tales Poe would have collected as Tales of the Folio Club,[9] a tale collection Poe announced but never actually printed. The "Folio Club" would have been a fictitious literary society the author called a group of "dunderheads" out to "abolish literature." At each monthly meeting, a member would present a story. The Saturday Visiter ran an advertisement calling for subscribers at $1 apiece. A week later, however, the newspaper announced that the author had withdrawn the pieces with the expectation they would be printed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[10] Poe also considered publishing it in a collection of stories to be called Phantasy Pieces as "The Horse-Shade", though the edition was never printed.[11]

In its first several publications, "Metzengestein" included a line about the mother's death by consumption. The young baron says, "It is a path I have prayed to follow. I would wish all I love to perish of that gentle disease."[1] When Poe was still a child, his own mother, Eliza Poe, died, presumably of consumption.[12]

[edit] Adaptation

"Metzengerstein" was adapted into one component of Roger Vadim's Histoires extraordinaires in 1968.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. p. 193. ISBN 0801857309
  2. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York City: Harper Perennial, 1991. ISBN 0060923318 p. 89
  3. ^ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York City: Checkmark Books, 2001. ISBN 081604161X p. 155
  4. ^ Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. "Poe's 'Metzengerstein': Not a Hoax" in On Poe: The Best from "American Literature. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993. p. 142, 149
  5. ^ Kennedy, J. Gerald. Poe, Death, and the Life of Writing. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1987. ISBN 0300037732 p. 79
  6. ^ a b Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York City: Harper Perennial, 1991. ISBN 0060923318 p. 88
  7. ^ a b Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. p. 192. ISBN 0801857309
  8. ^ a b Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. "Poe's 'Metzengerstein': Not a Hoax" in On Poe: The Best from "American Literature. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993. p. 145
  9. ^ Hammond, Alexander. "A Reconstruction of Poe's 1833 Tales of the Folio Club, Preliminary Notes," from Poe Studies, vol. V, no. 2, December 1972. p. 29
  10. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. Harper Perennial, 1991. pp. 90-93.
  11. ^ Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. p. 336-337. ISBN 0801857309
  12. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York City: Harper Perennial, 1991. ISBN 0060923318 p. 8

[edit] External links

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Works of Edgar Allan Poe