1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述）

edgarallan poe is one of the most preeminent short story writers in american literaryhistory, particularly famous for creating tales of mystery and macabre, inother words, gothic fictions. he contends for “the creation of beauty andintensity of emotion” and opposes to “the didactic motive for literature”. inhis works, such as the fall of the houseof usher, ligeia, and the black cat，the protagonists’ inner world and abnormalpsychology are always depicted in details which stimulate the readers directlywith a consistent sense of darkness and horror. this lingering darkness shocksthe readers at the first sight as well as creates a permeating beauty of horrorafter reading.

the black cat is a representative ofpoe’s short stories, first published on august 19, 1843. the story creates ahorrible atmosphere in which a mild man gets mad gradually and commits crimestep by step. the consistent sense of horror, on the one hand, is achievedthrough the vivid description of the gloomy scenes, the mysterious ghost-like blackcat and the terrific plot of unassailable crime. on the other hand, what deepensthe sense of horror is the protagonist’s continual sober narration of his changingemotion and unstable mental condition.

tofocus on the morbid psychology of the protagonist in the black cat would help the readers better experience the beauty ofterror in poe’s masterpiece while make it clear how it is achieved and for whatreasons it can linger on the readers’ mind.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

Thispaper will focus on the protagonist morbid psychology indicated from hiscontinuous sober narration and monologue by distinguishing its truthfulnesswith the help of psychoanalysis and persona theory by Carl Jung. In the firstpart, brief introduction of the author Poe and the plot would be given asreferences. The sense of horror created in this story would be explained fromboth aspects of the settings and the protagonist’s psychology development. Inthe second part, details in the protagonist’s narration will be selected topoint out his steps to abnormality and the reasons for such development. Theconcept of persona and shadow by Carl Jung would be utilized. Finally,conclusions would be made after summarizing.

Thepaper will consult researches related to gothic novels, Edgar Allan Poe, Jung’stheory applied in literature character analysis and some other works at homeand abroad.

3. 研究计划与安排

before 20th january : settlement ofthe title

before20th march: submissionof the outline

before 25th april : submission of the first draft

4. 参考文献（12篇以上）

[1] aguirre, manuel. ‘thrilled with chillyhorror’: a formulaic pattern in gothic fiction [j]. studia anglica posnaniensia,2014, (10): 105-123

[2] day, william patrick. in the circles offear and desire: a study of gothic fantasy. chicago: chicago up, 1985.

[3] gong, mengnan. the interpretation ofthe black cat by defamiliarization[j]. overseas english, 2016, (07): 157-158