Insanity in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat"

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The essay offers a psychoanalytic interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat," focusing on the protagonist's mental disorders. It explores the narrative as a portrayal of a virtuous man descending into alcoholism, highlighting the resulting social and psychological consequences. The analysis questions whether alcoholism is the primary driver of the narrator's immoral actions or if it merely exacerbates pre-existing violent tendencies. The concept of the "spirit of perverseness" is examined as a potential underlying force behind the narrator's descent into depravity.