The Appropriation of Edgar Allan Poe’s Poetry in Cassandra Clare’s Trilogy The Dark Artifices

Abstract

The present paper examines how Cassandra Clare uses Edgar Allan Poe’s work to create her own stories in The Dark Artifices saga. She published this trilogy between 2016 and 2018 and used three of Poe’s poems as the main source of inspiration for each novel. The first one, Lady Midnight, is based on “Annabel Lee”; the second one, Lord of Shadows, draws from “Dreamland”; and the last one, Queen of Air and Darkness, has “The City in the Sea” as inspiration. Clare uses Poe’s poetry both directly as chapter titles, indirectly in the plot, and, in the case of the second and third book, as an introduction to the novel. Furthermore, she uses gothic aesthetics and concepts to make a connection with the American writer.
The analysis is approached from a theoretical framework based on Julie Sanders’ Adaptation and Appropriation, and Genette’s theory of transtextuality. It will analyze how this saga engages with Poe’s ideas and aesthetic in this young-adult fantasy story in order to assess whether this new approach to the Gothic is an appropriation of Poe’s work, and how it is achieved.