"Berenice" is a short horror story by Edgar Allen Poe, first published in 1835. The story is one of Poe's most violent, and contemporary readers were appalled by the macabre elements of the story and the atrocity of the crime committed, going so far as to complain to the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger! Despite this, it is one of my favorite stories, and I would love to put it on camera!!
PLOT SUMMARY
The narrator, Egaeus, is a studious young man who grows up in a large gloomy mansion with his cousin Berenice. He suffers from a type of obsessive disorder which makes him fixate on objects. Berenice, although originally beautiful, suffers from an unspecified degenerative illness; a particular symptom of her illness is catalepsy, which he refers to as a "trance". Nevertheless, they are due to be married.
One afternoon, Egaeus watches Berenice in the library; when she smiles, he focuses on her teeth. He becomes gripped with obsession over her teeth, and for days he drifts in and out of awareness, constantly thinking about them. He imagines himself holding the teeth and turning them over to examine them from all angles. At one point a servant tells him that Berenice has died and shall be buried. When he next regains awareness, he finds a lamp and a small box in front of him; these objects fill him with unexplainable terror. Another servant enters, reporting that the grave of Berenice has been violated, and a shrouded, disfigured and bloodied body has been found, still alive. Egaeus finds his clothes are covered in mud and blood, and opens the box to find it contains dental instruments and Berenice's thirty-two blood-stained teeth, and a poem detailing visiting the grave of a loved one.
The Latin epigraph, "Dicebant mihi sodales si sepulchrum amicae visitarem, curas meas aliquantulum fore levatas" may be translated as: "My companion said to me, if I would visit the grave of my friend, I might somewhat alleviate my worries." This quote is also seen by Egaeus in an open book towards the end of the story.
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