what is the story metzengerstein about i need to write on it and do not understand the main point

-- Anonymous, November 22, 2001

Answers

Written in 1832 it is very much like other stories(Amontillado, Usher). The last and decadent heir to the house of Metzengerstein after the fiery end of the last heir of his rival in a suspicious stable fire finds a fiery horse with no name. The ghostly connection is tied to his dreamy vision of a tapestry of a steed next to a previously murdered enemy of his house.

In the end, fulfilling all prophecy and symbolism the horse carries him back into the blaze of his own house. The shadow of the horse in the smoke shows dominance of the rival house at last in revenge.

The narrator starts with questioning the Hungarian superstitions behind such a tale, and the theories of metempsychosis but then plunges into the overpowering horror of reincarnation and fated revenge.

-- Anonymous, November 24, 2001