“Berenice” is a short horror story narrated by Egaeus, who is preparing to marry his cousin Berenice. He tends to fall into periods of intense focus, during which he seems to separate himself from the outside world. Berenice begins to deteriorate from an unnamed disease until only her teeth remain healthy. Egaeus obsesses over them. When Berenice is buried, he continues to contemplate her teeth. One day, he awakens with an uneasy feeling from a trance-like state and hears screams. A servant reports that Berenice’s grave has been disturbed, and she is still alive. Beside Egaeus is a shovel, a poem about “visiting the grave of my beloved”, and a box containing 32 teeth.
Alias Egaeus and Berenice |
Real Names/Alt Names Egaeus, Berenice |
Characteristics Literary Characters, Realism and Victorian Age |
Creators/Key Contributors Harry Clarke, Edgar Allen Poe |
First Appearance “Berenice” in the Southern Literary Messenger (1835) |
First Publisher Southern Literary Messenger |
Appearance List Collections: Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1923). Film: Eric Rohmer’s Bérénice (1954). |
Sample Read Tales of Mystery and Imagination [Internet Archive] |
Description “Berenice” is a short horror story narrated by Egaeus, who is preparing to marry his cousin Berenice. He tends to fall into periods of intense focus, during which he seems to separate himself from the outside world. Berenice begins to deteriorate from an unnamed disease until only her teeth remain healthy. Egaeus obsesses over them. When Berenice is buried, he continues to contemplate her teeth. One day, he awakens with an uneasy feeling from a trance-like state and hears screams. A servant reports that Berenice’s grave has been disturbed, and she is still alive. Beside Egaeus is a shovel, a poem about “visiting the grave of my beloved”, and a box containing 32 teeth. |
Source Berenice (short story) – Wikipedia |