The Murders In The Rue Morgue

The Murders in the Rue Morgue
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This article is about the short story. For other uses, see Rue Morgue.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Facsimile of Poe's original manuscript for "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"
Author(s) Edgar Allan Poe
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Detective fiction
Short story
Publisher Graham's MagazinePublication date April 1841
Media type Print (Magazine)
"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 detective story;[1][2] Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination".[1] Two works that share some similarities predate Poe's stories, including Das Fräulein von Scuderi (1819) by E.T.A.Hoffmann[3] and Zadig (1748) by Voltaire.[4]
C. Auguste Dupin is a man in Paris who solves the mystery of the brutal murder of two women. Numerous witnesses heard a suspect, though no one agrees on what language was spoken. At the murder scene, Dupin finds a hair that does not appear to be human.
As the first true detective in fiction, the Dupin character established many literary devices which would beused in future fictional detectives including Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. Many later characters, for example, follow Poe's model of the brilliant detective, his personal friend who serves as narrator, and the final revelation being presented before the reasoning that leads up to it. Dupin himself reappears in "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" and "The Purloined Letter".
Contents [hide]
1Plot summary
2 Themes and analysis
2.1 Dupin's method
3 Literary significance and reception
4 Inspiration
5 Publication history
6 Adaptations
7 See also
8 References
8.1 Sources
9 External links
[edit]Plot summary



Illustration by Aubrey Beardsley of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", 1895
The story surrounds the baffling double murder of Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter in the RueMorgue, a fictional street in Paris. Newspaper accounts of the murder reveal that the mother's throat is so badly cut that her head is barely attached and the daughter, after being strangled, has been stuffed into the chimney. The murder occurs in an inaccessible room on the fourth floor locked from the inside. Neighbors who hear the murder give contradictory accounts, each claiming that he heardthe murderer speaking a different language. The speech was unclear, the witnesses say and they admit to not knowing the language they are claiming to have heard.
Paris natives Dupin and his friend, the unnamed narrator of the story, read these newspaper accounts with interest. The two live in seclusion and allow no visitors. They have cut off contact with "former associates" and venture outsideonly at night. "We existed within ourselves alone", the narrator explains. When a man named Adolphe Le Bon has been imprisoned though no evidence exists pointing to his guilt, Dupin is so intrigued that he offers his services to "G–", the prefect of police.
Because none of the witnesses can agree on the language the murderer spoke, Dupin concludes they were not hearing a human voice at all. Hefinds a hair at the scene of the murder that is quite unusual; "this is no human hair", he concludes. Dupin puts an advertisement in the newspaper asking if anyone has lost an "Ourang-Outang". The ad is answered by a sailor who comes to Dupin at his home. The sailor offers a reward for the orangutan's return; Dupin asks for all the information the sailor has about the murders in the Rue Morgue. Thesailor reveals that he had been keeping a captive orangutan obtained while ashore in Borneo. The animal escaped with the sailor's shaving straight razor. When he pursued the orangutan, it escaped by scaling a wall and climbing up a lightning rod, entering the apartment in the Rue Morgue through a window.
Once in the room, the surprised Madame L'Espanaye could not defend herself as the orangutan...