How Tell-Tale Heart is a Gothic fiction?

The Tell Tale-Heart by Edgar Allan Poe qualifies as gothic fiction because of its eerie, foreboding mood and plot designed to frighten the viewer. The film’s frighful elements include the servant's murderous plot against the old man, a plot he plans to for no reason other than his hatred of the old man's strange eye. The servant spends a week cautiously planning his murder by sneaking into the old man's room at night and shining a light on the hated eye. After committing the murder, the servant hides the brutally chopped body under the very floorboards of the room, a terrifying element of his plan to get away with the crime. He then gets relaxed that there's no sign of blood because he was smart enough to catch it all in the bathtub. The police are then let into the house to search while the servant continues to be satisfied about his crime well done while I know he is lying and basically taunting the police. His own guilt increases by perceiving the old man's heart beating beneath the floorboards, a seemingly supernatural phenomenon that is both impossible and terrifying for the viewer.

This film doesn't take place in a typical abandoned monastery, haunted house, or sinister castle. The setting is described as a dark and shadowy place in a black and white theme. The film is likely set in a house located in an urban area rather than an isolated house so that the neighbors could hear the old man screaming at night and then call the police.

As the house is so perfectly decorated, that makes all more terrifying. An element of gothic fiction usually involves a menacing atmosphere, and it is very important that it is not just part of the background, but forms a vital part of the film. In this film the horror not only comes from the background but also from deep inside one’s self. The nervous, wild tone of the film presents the viewer with a rather dark, terrifying content of gloom and despair. The dark, frightening, and foreboding tone, usually very suspenseful, is another key element of gothic literature. The creaking sound of doors, the mysterious sound of footsteps, the tick- tock of clock provides as a horrific musical tone of the film. The atmosphere of the film is very threating and terrifying that develops mystery and suspense. It develops intense, suspenseful feelings of fear, shock, dread, and disgust.

The theme of death and decay can also be seen in this film’s story. The theme of death as an obsession is evident when the servant describes his night activities where he sneaks into the old man's room and follows his annoying eye, which then motivates him to murder the man in a very violent and traumatic way. The servant can think of nothing else but to kill the old man he lives with, even though he has nothing against him. He discovers that the man's eyes are so repulsive that the only way to deal with it is to kill the old man although he is trembling and shivering.

The theme of violence is also shown when the servant describes what he does with the old man's body after he kills him. The theme of decay is evident throughout the film as it is a process interlinked with death and the dim lightning, creaking door hinges and loose floorboards in the film all can be used as an evidence of it.

Another element of gothic literature that can be found in the film is the presence of madness and the thin line that exists between sanity and madness. The servant repeatedly shows himself in the film as a reliable and completely sane character. He insists to the viewer that he is not crazy and that this can be proven by how carefully he thought out and executed his plan to carry out such a crime. His madness can also be seen by this obsessive compulsive disorder of keeping things in order. The main element of gothic literature that develops the theme of madness is the use of psychological sounds in this film as when the police arrive, an abnormal heartbeat sound is used. It is an unexplained sound that may be the work of the supernatural. There is no reasonable explanation that can comfort us when we ask where this sound is coming from as the man is already dead and this beating is not possible now. This element of ambiguity is also quite common in gothic literature. Symbolism can also be seen in the film as when the police arrive the time on the clock i.e. 3 o’ clock symbolizes evilness. Once the sound of the heartbeat becomes unbearable for him, the servant, overcomes by wild emotions, loses his sanity and confesses the crime and his inner struggle of the self-delusion at this point proves to be his downfall.