50 pages 1 hour read

Edgar Allan Poe

The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1841

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Character Analysis

The Narrator

One of the defining features of the narrator is his obscurity. He speaks cordially to his audience, which suggests familiarity with them. However, with each passing paragraph, few details emerge regarding his background, his drives apart from the investigation, or even his actual name. What is clear is how he fills his subservient role in relation to Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin. The main elements associated with the detective fiction genre began with Poe’s inception; therefore, the indivisible link between Dupin and his nameless partner seals the perpetual literary function of the investigative pair. The narrator admires and supports the bedazzling brilliance of his detective friend. It is as though he is the mirror upon which Dupin looks. As such, he is a passive observer—the one who projects the action originating from the enigmatic detective. On a deeper level, the duo creates a functional codependency, a cyclical dynamic of opposites where Dupin bestows seemingly celestial knowledge to the narrator who receives it.

Unique to the genre is the narrator’s voice, which is mostly featured as expository and prosaic. However, Poe does not leave his narrator completely flat and pedantic. He allows him to question and emotionally react, albeit sparingly, adding a much-needed element when combined with a more mechanized Dupin.

Related Titles

By Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

A Dream Within a Dream

Edgar Allan Poe

A Dream Within a Dream

Edgar Allan Poe

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Annabel Lee

Edgar Allan Poe

Annabel Lee

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

Berenice

Edgar Allan Poe

Berenice

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

Hop-Frog

Edgar Allan Poe

Hop-Frog

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

Ligeia

Edgar Allan Poe

Ligeia

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

Tamerlane

Edgar Allan Poe

Tamerlane

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Black Cat

Edgar Allan Poe

The Black Cat

Edgar Allan Poe

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

The Cask of Amontillado

Edgar Allan Poe

The Cask of Amontillado

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Conqueror Worm

Edgar Allan Poe

The Conqueror Worm

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

Edgar Allan Poe

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

Edgar Allan Poe

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

The Fall of the House of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe

The Fall of the House of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Gold Bug

Edgar Allan Poe

The Gold Bug

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Haunted Palace

Edgar Allan Poe

The Haunted Palace

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Imp of the Perverse

Edgar Allan Poe

The Imp of the Perverse

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Lake

Edgar Allan Poe

The Lake

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Man of the Crowd

Edgar Allan Poe

The Man of the Crowd

Edgar Allan Poe

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

The Masque of the Red Death

Edgar Allan Poe

The Masque of the Red Death

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

Edgar Allan Poe

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Oval Portrait

Edgar Allan Poe

The Oval Portrait

Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guide
logo

The Philosophy of Composition

Edgar Allan Poe

The Philosophy of Composition

Edgar Allan Poe