30 pages • 1 hour read
Edgar Allan PoeThe Man of the Crowd
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1840A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Literary Context: Gothic Fiction
Especially popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, Gothic fiction typically aims to scare or unsettle its readers. Works of Gothic fiction are characterized by dark and ominous settings, a fascination with the darker side of human nature, and a mysterious or suspenseful tone. In addition, they are closely associated with Romanticism, a literary movement that emphasized the power of the imagination over reason.
Much of Poe’s work falls into the category of Gothic fiction, and “The Man of the Crowd” is no exception. In it, the mystery of the old man’s identity creates an air of suspense and secrecy. The narrator follows the old man out of a desire to solve the mystery of his identity, but ultimately discovers this mystery to be unsolvable. The unsettling lack of resolution at the end reflects The Complexity of the Human Mind.
The urban setting of this story is different from many Gothic tales, which are often set in remote, decaying castles or ancestral houses (as in Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”). However, in his description of the narrator’s pursuit of the old man, Poe gives a dark, creepy, and almost claustrophobic atmosphere to the vast city of London. The weather is gloomy, and the story takes place almost entirely at night, lending an unsettling feeling to the narrator’s journey. The fact that the old man travels multiple times down the same narrow streets and revisits the same destinations—like the coffee house where the narrator’s chase begins—makes the city seem small and maze-like. This contributes to the sense of fear, suspense, and isolation common in Gothic fiction.
Historical Context: 19th-Century Urbanization
The 19th century was a time of great urban expansion in Europe and Great Britain as well as in the United States, where Poe was born and lived most of his life. Technological advancements led to increasing industrialization and commerce, which fueled the rapid growth of cities. As his literary career advanced in the 1830s, Poe wrote often for magazines and other periodicals, moving to several large American cities, including New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore as he looked for work. The large populations made them ideal places for Poe to make his living, since readers of “magazine literature” were becoming “increasingly urban” (Peeples, Scott. The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City. Princeton University Press, 2020).
The urban expansion of the 19th century brought with it a fascination with crime and intrigue. Readers became increasingly interested in the potential danger one might encounter in such densely populated areas, where one could easily become lost among complicated, narrow streets or crowds of anonymous people (Peeples, Scott. The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City. Princeton University Press, 2020). “The Man of the Crowd” appeals to these readers’ interests, including the ease with which the narrator remains anonymous and hidden as he chases the old man through winding streets, highlighting the Anonymity of City Life.
In addition, “The Man of the Crowd” reflects 19th-century readers’ fascination with the unlawful activity that could easily go unnoticed amongst the large urban crowds. At the beginning of the story, the narrator spends time classifying the different types of criminals and vices that the observes as he looks out the coffee house window. His fascination with the old man and his potential crimes suggests that this interest could easily turn into an all-consuming obsession, as the narrator is seemingly so invested in uncovering the old man’s deeds that he forgets to sleep. By highlighting the unfathomable nature of urban crime, Poe appeals to his contemporary readers’ interest in and anxiety about these new environments.
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