Metempsychosis and Individual Identity in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat"

Abstract

Pythagoras and Empedocles are not generally believed to have left an indelible imprint on Edgar Allan Poe’s oeuvre, despite the direct allusion to each of these Presocratic thinkers in the poet’s writings. It is also quite remarkable that “The Black Cat” (1843) has not typically been considered a tale of metempsychosis, even though this motif is clearly present in the story. Moreover, the fact that Poe allows transference to occur from one cat to another hints at his acceptance of the contentious Pythagorean premise that the transmigration of souls is not restricted to the human body. In addition, while a number of scholars have acknowledged the ambivalent nature of the daemon in other works by Poe, most studies of “The Black Cat” portray it as an unequivocally dark and malevolent entity. In contrast, this article conceives of the daemon as an ambiguous being that reemerges in feline form to inflict punishment on the protagonist for his vile acts. In this disturbing narrative, Poe once again explores a question that haunted him throughout his life —namely, whether individual identity can survive bodily death.