The Black Cat

Edgar Allan Poe

Summary

The Black Cat" is a short story by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in the August 19, 1843, edition of The Saturday Evening Post. In the story, an unnamed narrator has a strong affection for pets until he perversely turns to abusing them. His favorite, a pet black cat, bites him one night and the narrator punishes it by cutting its eye out and then hanging it from a tree. The home burns down but one remaining wall shows a burned outline of a cat hanging from a noose. He soon finds another black cat, similar to the first except for a white mark on its chest, but he develops a hatred for it as well. He attempts to kill the cat with an axe but his wife stops him; instead, the narrator murders his wife. He conceals the body behind a brick wall in his basement. The police soon come and, after the narrator's tapping on the wall is met with a shrieking sound, they find not only the wife's corpse but also the black cat that had been accidentally walled in with the body and alerted them with its cry.

The story is a study of the psychology of guilt, often paired in analysis with Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart". In both, a murderer carefully conceals his crime and believes himself unassailable, but eventually breaks down and reveals himself, impelled by a nagging reminder of his guilt. "The Black Cat", which also features questions of sanity versus insanity, is Poe's strongest warning against the dangers of alcoholism.

Available since: 01/15/2025.

Print length: 50 pages.

Contemporary Fiction

Other books that might interest you

Sicilian Limes - From their pens...

Luigi Pirandello

Luigi Pirandello was born on 28th June 1867 into an upper-class family in Agrigento, in Sicily.
In 1880, the family moved to Palermo and there he completed high school and thence to the University of Palermo, at that time the centre of what became the Fasci Siciliani movement. Although not an active member he had close friendships with many of its leading ideologists. Pirandello then completed his university studies in Rome and Bonn, receiving his Doctorate in March, 1891.
His time in Rome had provided him with the opportunity to visit its many theatres. "Oh the dramatic theatre! I will conquer it. I cannot enter into one without experiencing a strange sensation, an excitement of the blood through all my veins..."
1894 brought marriage, at his father's suggestion, to a shy, withdrawn girl: Mara Antonietta Portulano. The marriage encouraged his studies and writings and, the following year, the first part of the ‘Dialoghi tra Il Gran Me e Il Piccolo Me’ was published.
In 1903 the flooding of the sulphur mines in which his father had invested the family capital and Antonietta's dowry, brought financial catastrophe. She, on hearing the news, was mentally broken. Pirandello would now work a full day and then watch over his troubled wife at night. Somehow he found time to write ‘The Late Mattia Pascal’. It was an immediate and resounding success.
In 1909, Pirandello began his collaboration with the prestigious Corriere della Sera. Whilst his fame as a writer was increasing his private life was poisoned by the suspicion and jealousy of Antonietta who now turned physically violent. His plays were now being regularly performed but, within a decade, Antonietta had to be placed into an asylum from which she never left.
In 1921, in Rome his play, ‘Six Characters in Search of an Author’ debuted. It was a failure. However, when presented in Milan it was a great success, as it also was in London and New York.
In 1925, Pirandello, with Mussolini’s help, assumed the artistic direction and ownership of the Teatro d'Arte di Roma. He now described himself both as ‘a Fascist because I am Italian’ and ‘I'm apolitical, I'm only a man in the world...’ However his later conflicts with fascist leaders meant he fell under close surveillance by the OVRA, the secret police.
In 1934 he won the Nobel Prize but asked that the medal be melted down for Italy’s occupation of Abyssinia Campaign to which he had given his support.
Pirandello's canon stretches across novels, short stories, poetry, essays and some 40 plays. His tragic farces are often cited as forerunners of the Theatre of the Absurd.
Luigi Pirandello died on the 10th December 1936 at his home at Via Bosio, Rome, Italy. He was 69.

Show book

Sleigh Bells Ring

Shawn Lane

Five years ago, Ignatius "Nate" Harrington left his unfulfilling life in California for the position of police chief in the small New England town of Storybrooke. Now at Christmas, his brother and friend are coming for a visit. Nate is pretty sure his brother just wants to convince him to come home. But Nate has a new life there and even a new guy he's seeing. One he's reluctant to label as his boyfriend just yet, Storybrooke native, Jackson Wedge.
Nate's blindsided when his brother's best friend, Danny, one of Nate's ex-lovers who broke his heart before, has come along for the visit because he thinks Nate's the one who got away. Nate's mortified when Jackson witnesses him kissing Danny just before a tragic accident. Now Jackson's in the hospital, Danny's leaving, and the holidays are ruined. Except Nate finally knows just where he belongs and with which guy. Can he set things right in time for sleigh bells to ring in the season?

Show book

Emily Climbs

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Emily Starr was born with the desire to write. As an orphan living on New Moon Farm, writing helped her face the difficult, lonely times. But now all her friends are going away to high school in nearby Shrewsbury, and her old-fashioned, tyrannical aunt Elizabeth will only let her go if she promises to stop writing! All the same, this is the first step in Emily's climb to success. Once in town, Emily's activities set the Shrewsbury gossips buzzing. But Emily and her friends are confident—Ilse's a born actress, Teddy's set to be a great artist, and roguish Perry has the makings of a brilliant lawyer. When Emily has her poems published and writes for the town newspaper, success seems to be on its way—and with it the first whispers of romance. Then Emily is offered a fabulous opportunity, and she must decide if she wants to change her life forever.

Show book

Pembroke - A Novel

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

Pembroke is set in 1830s Massachusetts and follows the fallout of Barney Thayer and Charlotte Barnard’s broken engagement over a political dispute. Their stubbornness reverberates through the town, impacting families and neighbors. Through tangled romances, familial strife, and tragic misunderstandings, Freeman explores pride, principle, and the complexities of love in a tightly knit New England community.

Show book

Last Things

Betta Ferrendelli

Bridgette Connor is a woman on the edge. Her career is in tatters, her relationship is doomed, and after an ill-fated pregnancy she terminates against her better judgement, she does the one thing she's always done best. 
She runs. 
Her car careens off the road, leaving her battered, bruised, and beaten. It is then that she meets the woman who will change her life. 
Alexis Parker is a woman in control. Her business is thriving, her friends are by her side, and the daughter she refused to abandon is the happiest little girl in the world. When the bloodied and broken Bridgette Connor collapses at her door, Alexis does the one thing she's always done best. 
She helps. 
Last Things is a story of two women, the story of how they are different and how they are the same. It is a story of love, a story of hope, a story of loss, and, above all, a story of friendship.

Show book

Jennifer

Beverley Watts

From the highly acclaimed author of The Shackleford Sisters, Beverley Watts, comes an exciting new series featuring the next generation.
The Shackleford Legacies are a delightful dance of romance, humour, mystery and fun...

Lady Jennifer Sinclair is halfway through her second season and thoroughly disillusioned with the marriage mart. After one discretion too many, the headstrong only daughter of the powerful Duke of Blackmore finds herself on the way to Scotland in the company of her older brother Peter who’s been tasked by his father to inspect the family estate north of the border. Once at Caerlaverock, the Duke’s estate on the shores of Loch Lomond, Jennifer is surprised to discover an unexpected sense of peace.

But that peace is not to last…

Brendon Galbraith, last of the disgraced Clan Galbraith has high hopes of becoming the next steward to Caerlaverock. But though penniless and very nearly homeless, he has another, more important reason to wish for the Duke of Blackmore’s patronage.

After accidentally discovering a terrible secret, Brendon realises the only person who can possibly help him is the Duke of Blackmore himself. Desperately awaiting Nicholas Sinclair’s forthcoming visit, the discovery that the Duke has sent his son and heir instead is a bitter blow. However, it quickly becomes clear that Peter Sinclair is every bit his father’s son and has no intention of running from the challenge presented by the shocking truths Brendon is forced to reveal.

But in the end, it’s the unanticipated arrival of the Duke’s beautiful, wilful daughter that proves Brendon’s biggest headache, especially as Jennifer Sinclair very quickly disabuses him of the notion that she has any intention of running from the forthcoming challenge either…

Show book