The style of “Berenice” is representative of the usual 19th-century gothic horror. Poe is a master of walking the line between tension, terror, and horror, utilizing genre conventions and evocative imagery to direct the reader’s emotions throughout the story. Familiar elements of the typical gothic horror, such as the gloomy, isolated setting, suspenseful atmosphere, intense emotions, and unfathomable events help to ground the shocking plot of this story within a set of established bounds.
Poe’s syntax is carefully chosen to reflect Egaeus’s state of mind as he explores the psyche of a rich, rapidly devolving monomaniac. In the beginning, his sentences are often abstract, long and winding, with many clauses, as in the following example:
There is, however, a remembrance of aerial forms—of spiritual and meaning eyes—of sounds, musical yet sad; a remembrance which will not be excluded; a memory like a shadow—vague, variable, indefinite, unsteady; and like a shadow, too, in the impossibility of my getting rid of it while the sunlight of my reason shall exist.
Yet, as the story progresses and Egaeus grows more mad, he becomes shorter and more abrupt in his thoughts, as though he cannot help but eke out only the bare essentials of communication. Even so, his level of speech remains formal throughout, as befitting of his heritage. Throughout the story, Egaeus repeatedly quotes texts in multiple languages, specifically Latin and French, which emphasizes his privilege and education. With this stylistic choice, Poe deliberately uses language to imbue wealth and high social status into the very fabric of Egaeus’s character, making his fall even more unfortunate.
