Final Paper - Long Proposal

Having done a little bit more research into the 3 stories I want to talk about, I have decided to shift my focus from the relationship between conscience/guilt and madness to the idea of "coping mechanisms" in relation to guilt in Edgar Huntly, William Wilson, and The Minister's Black Veil.  I think that there is evidence for madness in all 3 stories, but it is because that evidence is debatable that I have decided to switch my research.  In my opinion, and in my paper I will venture to convince others of this as well, these "coping mechanisms" present in the 3 stories are what create the twisted plots and interesting outcomes.  More importantly, I want to illustrate how our mind's have evolved to deal with the atrocities we commit by developing the "coping strategies" shown in Edgar Huntly, William Wilson, and The Minister's Black Veil.

Edgar Huntly's Coping Mechanism: Sleep Walking
William Wilson's Coping Mechanism: Eliminating his Conscience
The Minister's Black Veil's Coping Mechanism: Avoidance

Tentative Works Cited:
Freud, Sigmund.  Psychopathology of Everyday Life.  London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1901
-used to summarize Freud's theory about the Id, Ego, and Super-Ego

Neill, James.  “Structure of Mind: Freud’s Id, Ego, and Superego.”  Personality and Individual

     Differences: An Undergraduate Psychology Course.  2004.  18 Nov. 2008

     <http://wilderdom.com/personality/L8-4StructureMindIdEgoSuperego.html>

-shows how the three parts of the mind interact with each-other and what they are for

Shakespeare, William.  “Hamlet.”  The Complete Pelican Shakespeare. Eds. Stephen Orgel and A.R. Braunmuller.  New York:  Penguin Putnam Inc., 2002.

-comparing Edgar Huntly to the revenge tragedy of Hamlet (tragedy and coping mechanisms - result is unpleasant, instant gratification = long-term suffering)

Cassuto, Leonard. "[Un]consciousness Itself is the Malady: Edgar Huntly and the Discourse of the Other."
Modern Language Studies 4 (1993): 118-130
-uses Freud to analyze Edgar's behavior and how sleep walking is the manifestation of his warring mind/conscience

Cochrane, Robert W. "Hawthorne's Choice: The Veil or the Jaundiced Eye." College English 23 (1962): 342-346
-talks about the difference between the Minister's acceptance and display of his sin vs. the hidden and unacknowledged sin of others.

*I have yet to find a serious academic source for my paper in terms of Poe's William Wilson, but I do have several ideas regarding what each side of William Wilson represents (Id- earthly William Wilson, Super-Ego- soul) and how killing his better half is a coping mechanism.