Beardsley's illustration "The Black Cat", was first published in 1894 for The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, 1894–95. (Timpano 114). For this image, perspective plays a tremendous role as it enables the viewers to see the imbalance between man and animal. Its face according to Beardsley's interpretation is full of unresolved anger and works well to the idea that perhaps the cat is something more than meets the eye. Timpano states, "Given that Poe utilizes foreshadowing throughout the tale (consider that Pluto was the god of the underworld in Roman mythology), the reader begins to wonder if the 'new' cat is, in fact, a reincarnation of the dead Pluto" (133). Looking to the Roman mythology, Pluto was the "The god of the underworld and of the dead" (OED, Pluto N. (1)). Using this interpretation, the cat exemplifies horror in this other-worldly dominance as despite its size/stature, he ensures that the narrator will be punished for their crimes and is "above" (by both being literally on the wife and metaphorically by spoiling their plans) their fallacies as well. This would also work into the context of the era as mythology was well known thus increasing the viewer's horror.
Works Cited:
Beardsley, Aubrey, Artist.
The Black Cat. [Published] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/93509663/>.
Timpano, Nathan J. “The Curious Case of Aubrey Beardsley’s Poe ‘Illustrations.’”
The Edgar Allan Poe Review, vol. 22, no. 1, 2021, pp. 110–41.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=202322682573&site=ehost-live.
“Pluto, N. (1), Sense 1.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/5288940809.