The Murders in the Rue Morgue

The Ourang-Outang commits violence against the old lady in response to her struggle and screams. It commits murder immediately after having seen its owner’s face in the window. What do these actions suggest about the animal’s motive and moral conscience? Were the murders random and without cause?

Most scholars would argue in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that her character, Dr. Frankenstein, is at least partially responsible for the violence his monster perpetrated. When interrogating the sailor about the Ourang-Outang, Dupin states that there is “nothing […] which renders you culpable” (31). Does Dupin believe his own statement? Does Poe intend for the reader to believe Dupin?

Poe began the framework for establishing an incomparable and elusive genius detective as the protagonist within this genre. What similarities and differences of personality can be found between Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Poe’s Monsieur Dupin? Of these differences, identify those that have made Holmes more popular and widely read, such as in “The Adventure of the Speckled Band.”

The two victims of “The Murders at the Rue Morgue” are both women who live together in relative isolation. In the same way, the narrator describes his living arrangement with Dupin: “Our seclusion was perfect. We admitted no visitors” (4). What might Poe be suggesting about victimization as it pertains to gender and community engagement? At the story’s conclusion, the ineffective Prefect of Police preferred that Dupin and others mind their “own business” (34). How might Poe be indicating the destructiveness of that maxim?

In Poe’s Gothic short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” written the following year, “madness” is central to the crime. Likewise, after being presented with the facts of the case, the narrator in “The Murders at the Rue Morgue” states, “A madman has done this deed—some raving maniac” (27). What is Poe proposing regarding the contingency between violent acts and rationality? Compare the function of the investigative eye in the Rue Morgue and the Evil Eye described in “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

The diction in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” varies from ornate to austere. Analyze Poe’s writing style and use of language. How does Poe use language to differentiate between speakers? What effect does the incorporation of several languages within the story have on the reader?

When attempting to ascertain the nature of the victim and perpetrators’ shrieks, the police and Dupin give abundant attention to the language spoken by the witnesses as well as the language they report having heard. While the reader comes to understand that the murderer’s voice was not human, why do you think each witness readily identified the Ourang-Outang’s voice as an intelligible human language?

The Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries promoted empiricism, the belief that knowledge is gained from the senses. In what instances does Dupin gather evidence empirically, and how does his empirical knowledge intersect with his rationalism and deductive reasoning? If Dupin were a scientist and not a detective, cite evidence for whether he would be an empiricist or a rationalist.