The
unity of effect is absolute, the workmanship consummate. So with
the theme of revenge in "The Cask of Amontillado," the theme of
mysterious intrigue in "The Assignation." In Poe's detective
stories, or tales of ratiocination as he preferred to call them,
he takes to pieces for our amusement a puzzle which he has
cunningly put together. "The Gold Bug" is the best known of
these, "The Purloined Letter" the most perfect, "The Murders in
the Rue Morgue" the most sensational. Then there are the tales
upon scientific subjects or displaying the pretence of scientific
knowledge, where the narrator loves to pose as a man without
imagination and with "habits of rigid thought." And there are
tales of conscience, of which "The Black Cat" is the most fearful
and "William Wilson" the most subtle; and there are landscape
sketches and fantasies and extravaganzas, most of these poor
stuff.
It is ungrateful and perhaps unnecessary to dwell upon Poe's
limitations. His scornful glance caught certain aspects of the
human drama with camera-like precision.
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