by Marijane Suttor

Created on: May 15, 2009   Last Updated: December 24, 2011

Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale of horror, "The Pit and the Pendulum" utilizes the backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition to tell the tale of a young man who suffers in the prisons of Toledo. Although Poe certainly takes dramatic license with the time period and the Inquisition, his fictional tale puts a unique twist on the facts of history by writing the story as a firsthand experience. To determine if this tale is historically accurate, there are several historical elements that need to be examined.

HERESY

McDougall Littell's The Language of Literature gives the following background information about the element of heresy. The Roman Catholic practice of holding inquisitions began in medieval times to combat heresy, the act of expressing or holding beliefs different from those of the church.

Often the accused were put on trial for inadequate evidence. It could be as simple as another prisoner handing over a name that would bring an individual over to the judges. Many were tortured into giving names of heretics. Poe aptly describes in the stories how it may have been for a person who was charged with heresy who was waiting for his sentence.

To illustrate this point, Poe begins his story with the prisoner standing before the judges. He describes the irony of the seven candles, "And then my vision fell upon seven tall candles upon the table. At first they wore the aspect of charity, and seemed white slender angels who would save me." This symbolizes the irony of being in the presence of holy figures who would ultimately decide his fate and order his demise. At first, the narrator thinks there is a chance of salvation, but then he understands that his fate is not to be saved. He states, "While the angel forms became meaningless specters, with heads of flame, and I saw that from them there would be no help." Through these connotations and the reference to holy or angelic figures turning to evil specters, Poe is establishing the contradictory place of the Catholic Church in the inquisitorial process, the image of holy figures turning to evil.

AUTO-DA-FE

There are several references in the story to the auto-da-fe. McDougall-Littell's The Language of Literature explains the auto-da-fe as this, "Those found guilty of the worst crimes were sentences and often executed at an elaborate formal ceremony called the auto-da-fe."

In "The Pit and the Pendulum Poe" uses the auto-da-fe as a reference point for the narrator as he tries to determine what is exactly happening to him.

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