About the Author
Edgar Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of indigent actors. At age three, when his parents died, Poe was […]
The Pit and the Pendulum
Setting
The entire story takes place inside a pit or prison cell into which the narrator of the story, and indeed the story’s only visible character, […]
Themes and Characters
Although “The Pit and the Pendulum” focuses on a single character, the reader actually discovers very little about him. One does not know his name, […]
Literary Qualities
Although Poe often declared that the allegory was an inferior form of fiction, he comes close to creating an allegory in “The Pit and the […]
Social Sensitivity
Edgar Allan Poe is a writer often first discovered by readers when they are still adolescents. His stories are seemingly so simple, so direct and […]
Ideas and Topics for Papers
VII TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 1. The story never explains why the central character has been thrown into the pit. Why does Poe not inform the […]
Related Titles and Adaptations
“The Pit and the Pendulum” is typical of other Poe stories that present horrifying and extreme predicaments. In “A Descent into the Maelstrom” (1841) the […]