17.The murders in the rue morgue by Edgar Allan Poe

1. THE MURDERS IN THE RUE
MORGUE
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

2. EDGAR ALLAN POE
Born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts, writer,
poet, critic, and editor Edgar Allan Poe's tales of mystery
and horror gave birth to the modern detective story and
many of his works, including “The Tell-Tale Heart” and
“The Fall of the House of Usher,” became literary classics.
"The Raven," which he published in 1845, is considered
among the best-known poems in American literature.
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar
Allan Poe published in Graham's Magazine in 1841. It has
been recognized as the first modern detective story; Poe
referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination".

3. CHARACTERS
 The narrator (Indirect)
 August Dupin (Direct): ‘’…an unusually interisting young man with a busy, foreceful mind. ‘’
 Chantilly (Indirect)
 Mrs. L’Espanaye (Indirect): an old woman that lived in the Rue Morgue.
 Mrs. L’Espanaye’s daughter (Indirect)
 Pauline Dubourg (Indirect)
 Pierre Moreau (Indirect)
 Jules Mignaud (Indirect)
 Isidore Muset (Indirect)
 Alfonso García (Indirect)
 William Bird (Indirect)
 Mr. Alberto Motani (Indirect)
 The orangután (Indirect)
 The sailor (Direct) : He was a large and strong man and the owner of the orangutan.

4. SETTING
 Paris, in the summer of 1840
 An old house in the Rue Morgue

5. PLOT
Internal conflict
The battle in Dupin’s mind to put all the clues together and find out the guilty one of
the murder to prove his abilities.
Exernal conflict
The investigation that the police and Dupin hold in order to find the guilty one of the
murder.

6. EXPOSITION
 One day, they are reading the newspaper and one particular murder catches their
attention.
RISING ACTION
 The narrator meets Dupin at a bookstore where both were looking for the same
book. The narrator expresses his atonishment for Dupin’s ability of analysis.

7. CLIMAX
 Auguste Dupin and his friend read all the details of the murders in the “Gazzette
des tribunaux”, and they discovered that Adolphe Le bon was accused as the guilty
one. Without any doubt that last fact triggered in Dupin a big desire for
discovering the truth.

8. The Gazzette des tribunaux contained
information about:
 The events told by the pólice officers
 The chamber
 The corpses
 Impression about a crime that everydody considered a
complete mistery

9. The testimonies of the witnesses:
The next day´s paper had some more
details:
1- Pauline Dubourg (laundress)
2- Pierre Moreau (tobacconist)
3- Isidore Muset (gendarme) (shrill voice = spanish)
4- Henri Duval (neighbor) (shrill voice = Italian)
5- Odenheimer (restaurateur) (shrill voice = french)
6- Jules Mignaud (banker)
7- Adolphe Le Bon (Clerk)
8- William Bird (tailor) (shrill voice = German)
Four of the above said that the door was closed in the inside
9- Alfonzo Garcio (Spanish undertaker) (shrill voice = English)
10- Alberto Montani (confectioner) (shrill voice= Russian voice)
Several witnesses re-called that the chimney was too narrowed
11- Paul Dumas (Doctor)
12- Alexandre Etienne (surgeon)

10. Falling action
 Auguste Dupin and his friend decided to go to the crime scene, and Dupin got with
the clues that could solved the crime just with a few observations.
Clues:
One two three Four

11. THE GUILTY ONE

12. RESOLUTION
 Dupin talked with the sailor who was the owner of the
orangután, and he corroborated all the situation.
 The Orangutan was captured
 Adolph Le Bon was released from any legal charge

13. POINT OF VIEW:
 First person point of view because the narrator tell the story as if he was the one
who experienced the situation. In other words, he is part of the story.

14. THEMES
EMPATHY
INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS
PRIDE

15. THANKS FOT YOUR ATTENTION!!
HAVE A NIDE DAY