Names in "The Purloined Letter"????greenspun.com : LUSENET : The Work of Edgar Allan Poe : One Thread |
In "THE PURLOINED LETTER" Poe only uses the first letter of the names of some characters. What is the reason for this? Any help would be greatly appreciated, Anastasia
-- Anonymous, November 27, 2000
Well franlky Poe doesnt care about thier names.
-- Anonymous, November 29, 2000
Thanx for your helpful reply. Anastasia
-- Anonymous, November 29, 2000
Perhaps a more helpful answer is that Poe was trying to give the illusion that the Prefect and the Minister were both real people, and therefore their names had to be concealed. In the same way, he never uses the words 'king' or 'queen', merely a euphamism (such as 'illustrious personage', as far as I recall), again to add authenticity. Does this help?
-- Anonymous, December 03, 2000
Thanx Eddie. I was thinking along thouse lines, but it is very helpful to have someone confirm it.
-- Anonymous, December 03, 2000