Poe’s stories have inspired many reproductions in the form of films. However, Poe has inspired a variety of movies outside his stories. A majority of Poe’s stories cover three specific types of themes: love and hate, self versus alter ego, and the power of death over the living . While some films have been directly inspired from his stories, there are many others that share a connection with Poe’s aforementioned immortal themes.


    Love and hate are universal emotions that inhabit stories just like the theme of good versus evil. Poe explores love and hate in many of his stories such as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Black Cat.” In each of these tales, the narrator has suffered some offence. Though they were once at peace and had affection for those they perceived have offended, they take upon themselves to cross the moral line and murder the individuals. In the movie “Duplex” starring Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller, their characters are in search in of a new apartment in New York. They find an apartment that it is dreamy but it has an upstairs resident. She’s old and initially seems no harm. They believe that she will probably die soon, and they would inherit the top floor. However, they do not realize they have been duped. Soon they find themselves being harassed by the old woman, suffering issues like job loss, and eventually, they start to behave desperately, going as far as to try and kill the old woman. The rivalry continues until the couple evicts themselves. They sell the apartment and leave the next couple to deal with the woman. On the day, the new couple arrives, they find that the old lady has passed, but it is just part of the larger scheme, which is doomed to repeat with the next couple. This repetitive theme can especially be seen in the “The Black Cat.” The man repeatedly tries to deal with the cat, eventually taking its eye. However, this isn’t enough, and he turns on his wife, killing her and sealing her up the wall.









    Duality can be found in everyone’s life. We maintain personas fit for the appropriate environment, which could be work, home, in the company of family, friends, or the public. We have our self and then our alter egos. However, sometimes, these alter egos separate completely, and they break with reality. Excellent examples of this in Poe’s short stories can be found in “William Wilson.” In “William Wilson,” the narrator’s alter ego takes the form of a doppelganger, who tracks him throughout Europe. This doppelganger threatens his self identity. The alter ego exists to separate himself from his insanity. In the movie, “The Secret Window,” starring Johnny Depp, a writer is suffering from writer’s block and a ongoing divorce, after having caught his wife cheating on him. He moves into a cabin to get away and write. While there, a man by the name of Shooter arrives. He claims that the writer has stolen his work.


    The writer struggles to prove Shooter wrong. However, in the process, Shooter turns violent. He kills the writer’s dog and burns down the home he shared with his wife. The writer, Mort, turns to a private investigator and the Sheriff. Mort remembers a witness, but however, Shooter ends up killing the investigator and the man. Mort deals with the bodies fearing that he will be implicated for a crime he did not commit. Mort was able to secure a copy of the magazine that featured his story. However, upon opening the package, the pages are cut out. Mort comes to the realization that Shooter is himself. Mort is suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder which represents the dark side of Mort's personality and this personality commit acts that Mort himself feels he could not do in his true reality. Mort’s tale ends with him killing his wife and lover and lying to the police.


   In Poe’s short story named “Ligeia,” the narrator is haunted by the memories of his dead wife, while married to his new wife Rowena. Rowena begins to suffer from a horrible illness as the narrator succumbs deeper to his desire to be near his first wife Ligeia. Over time, Rowena suffers death, and the narrator repeats the agony of losing his wife over again. During the course of the story, it is revealed that the narrator is a “bounden slave in the trammels of opium and labors and orders had taken a coloring from dreams (Poe 270).” At the end of this tale, Ligeia becomes resurrected from Rowena’s dead body. We are left wondering if something supernatural and mystifying occurred or is this revelation nothing but the ramblings of a opium addict.





    Though the circumstances are not exact the same, this story bares resemblance to Michel Gondry’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” This movie stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as lovers. However, Clementine (Winslet) decides to end things and have their memories as a couple erased. Joel (Carrey) goes to make up with Clementine and finds that she doesn’t know who he is. Just like the power of the narrator’s relationship with “Ligeia,” Joel is compelled by the power of the dead relationship to investigate. Upon investigating, he decides to have his memories erased. Both Joel and Clementine take an opiate to resolve issues related their relationship. However, they can’t stop being themselves and end up running into each other. Their mutual chemistry causes them to develop a relationship again. The relationship will not die. Unexpectedly, a female employee of the memory erasing company, in fit of anger over rediscovering her own erased memories, quits her job and steals the tapes of all the clients. She mails them back to the client. Clementine receives hers and tries to show it to Joel. It does nothing but upset him, and he runs away from her. However, he receives his tape and the mutually confront the death of their relationship again and proceed to resurrect it again.


    Poe’s stories contain themes that are present in many movies. By analyzing their plots, similarities can be drawn. Movies such as “Duplex,” The Secret Window,” and “Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind” separated by genres yet they intrinsically share characteristics with the themes of love and hate, self versus alter ego, and the power of death over the living. These themes continue to be reborn in film ensuring that Poe’s rich legacy will continue to survive for future generations.



Works Cited


Poe, Edgar Allan. “Ligeia.” Poe: Poetry, Tales, & Selected Essays. New York: The Library of America, 1996. 262-277.