Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, novelist, short stories writer, editor, and literary critic who is known for his works in the genre of Dark Romanticism. He was the first American writer to earn a living through writing alone. He is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and he also contributed to the emerging genre of science fiction. Edgar was born on January 19, 1809, and he died on October 7, 1849. He openly opposed the literary movement of Transcendentalism. Metzengerstein was the first published short story written by Edgar Allan Poe which was published in the Philadelphian magazine Saturday Courier on January 14, 1832. The subtitle of the story is “A Tale in Imitation of the German” It is a horror short story of the dark romantic genre with all essential gothic fiction conventions such as a hereditary feud between two ancient families, a gloom-drenched castle, a cryptic curse, and vaguely sinister machinations. Metzengerstein can also be categorized as a ghost story. The epigraph of the story is "Living I have been your plague, dying I shall be your death," which was taken from a Latin quote by Martin Luther.
Characters of Metzengerstein:
The story is told in a third-person narrative style. The narrator is an unnamed unknown person who tells the story of Frederick von Metzengerstein who belongs to a rich royal German family. He is the only surviving heir of Metzengerstein and he is just 18 years old. Despite being so young, he is known for his cruel ways. He becomes the youngest and cruelest Baron of the Metzengerstein family. Wilhelm von Berlifitzing is the 80-year-old Baron of the Berlifitzing family who is known for his vindictive nature. He is the only surviving Berlifitzing member. The two families are fighting each other since times unknown. Nobody knows the actual reason behind the animosity of these families. However, there is an old popular saying that suggests an ominous prophecy that “A lofty name shall have a fearful fall when, as the rider of his horse, the mortality of Metzengerstein shall triumph over the immortality of Berliftizing.”
Summary of Metzengerstein:
The story is set in Hungary which used to be a part of Greater Germany in the past. Though the story belongs to an unspecified point of time, it appears to be a story belonging to the 15th or 16th century when the belief in reincarnation was popular in Europe. The unknown narrator introduces the two proud families f Germany, the Metzengerstein and the Berlifitzing. Frederick Mertzengerstein is 18 years old and he is the only surviving member of the Metzengerstein family. He is known as a cruel and angry young man. Wilhelm von Berlifitzing is 80 year old only surviving member of the Berlifitzing family.
On his 18th birthday, Frederick von Metzengerstein has been announced the Baron of Metzengerstein estate. Just four days after his ascension to his family’s seat, a fire breaks out in the stable of the rival Berlifitzing family killing all their horses. One of the guards also burns alive when he tries to save some horses. It is rumored that Frederick von Metzengerstein is responsible for the arson. It becomes known that the guard who was burnt was Wilhelm Berifitzing himself and thus, there is no heir of the Berlifitzing estate now. This is a moment of triumph for Frederick Metzengerstein. It appears that the old saying is coming to its truth.
At his home, Frederick is occupied with studying an old tapestry that describes the prophetic legend: a gigantic, flame-colored Berlifitzing horse whose rider has been stabbed in the back by a Metzengerstein. In a moment of horror, he thinks he sees the horse in the tapestry move: bending over its dead master in mourning, eyes gleaming red, and its “disgusting and sepulchral” teeth bared. A messenger arrives and informs that a horse survived in the stable of Berlifiting. Frederick rises up from his study table abruptly and rushes to see the horse. As he rises up, his shadow is that of the Metzengerstein assassin depicted on the tapestry.
Frederick learns that the servants of Berlifitzing do not recognize this horse but the horse has the initials ‘W.v.B’ branded on his head. Frederick and others believe that this must have been the personal and most loved horse of Wilhelm von Berlifitzing. Frederick decides to keep the horse as his personal trophy for winning against the rival family. The horse is monstrously large and violent and everyone else fails to control the horse. The horse has an unnatural shade of orange with ominous dark red eyes and repellent teeth as depicted in the tapestry. Frederick ignores all these ominous signs and enjoys his victory. He is too engrossed by the horse, this victory trophy. He spends all his time with the horse, riding it in the countryside. Gradually, he starts ignoring his business affairs and duties. His only motive is to gain complete control over the horse. His obsession with the horse frightens the locals of his estate who believe that Frederick has gone insane.
One day, Frederick wakes up early in the morning and takes his new horse galloping off to the countryside. After some time, an accidental fire engulfs the stable of Metzengerstein's estate. The stable keepers try to control the fire but all their efforts fail. At last, they decide to save as many horses as they could by fleeing the horses free. However, while doing so, they notice a horseman furiously running towards the stable on fire. They observe that the horse is running too fast and the horseman is totally disoriented. It becomes clear that the horseman has completely lost control over the horse and his legs are entangled with the strings of the horse in such a way that he cannot free himself. They try to stop the horse but the horse leaps towards the fire and the horse and rider both are swallowed up by the raging flames. As soon as the horse and the horseman go down the wreckage, the fire extinguishes on the ground and the flames continue to rise up to the timbers. All the people gather to look for the horse and the horseman but they find nothing. Soon they notice the fire color of smoke rising above the stable and iittakes the shape of a fierce horse. The Metzengerstein family has no heir now.
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