The Imp of the Perverse
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Imp of the Perverse is a metaphor for the common tendency, particularly among children and miscreants, to do exactly the wrong thing in a given situation. The conceit is that the misbehavior is due to an imp (a small demon) leading an otherwise decent person into mischief.
The phrase has a long history in literature, and was popularized (and perhaps coined) by Edgar Allan Poe in his short story, "The Imp of the Perverse".
In the story, Poe gives procrastination as an example of perversity.
- We have a task before us which must be speedily performed. We know that it will be ruinous to make delay. The most important crisis of our life calls, trumpet-tongued, for immediate energy and action. ... It must, it shall be undertaken to-day, and yet we put it off until to-morrow, and why? There is no answer, except that we feel perverse
Poe continues to give examples, most notably the urge to jump when confronted with fear of heights.
- There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him who, shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a Plunge. --"The Imp of the Perverse"
This same impulse is the sole motivation for the killing of the cat in Poe's short story, "The Black Cat".
The Imp of the Perverse is also masterfully exemplified in The Bad Glazier, a prose poem by Baudelaire.
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