Tell-Tale Tuesdays: Hop-Frog

Murder for revenge is far from an oddity in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. It’s the basis of one of his best-known stories, “The Cask of Amontillado.” But if “The Cask of Amontillado” is like sipping a fine wine as we watch Montresor manipulate his victim Fortunato, “Hop-Frog” is more like shooting rotgut whiskey. It lacks the grace, but it’s still quite effective.

This was one of the last stories that Poe published, and it was one of his uglier and more brutal tales. Hop-Frog is a court jester, a slave taken from his native land along with a female companion Trippetta. The king and his seven advisors torment the jester with nasty jokes due to his dwarfism and deformities which cause him to use his arms in order to get around — hence the name they’ve given him.

It comes to a head when Hop-Frog is called in front of the king and commanded to come up with a costume for him and his advisors that will stand out at an upcoming masquerade ball. They force the jester to drink wine, though he detests it because of the effect that it has on him. When he refuses and draws the king’s ire, Trippetta begs that he be shown mercy. Instead, the king shoves her away and throws wine in her face.

At that, Hop-Frog’s attitude changes. He agrees to drink all the alcohol that they want and devises an ingenious costume that he assures them will frighten the guests, especially the ladies. Being the kind of person he is, this delights the king. So, Hop-Frog dresses them up as chained orangutans to exact his revenge.

There is some speculation that the story was an angry reaction to his editors pushing him to write more outlandish characters, with Hop-Frog representing Poe and the fat king and his advisors playing the part of the editors. Whether or not that’s the case, there was certainly some anger involved. The story lacks much of the refinement that you see even in Poe’s most horrific tales.

I can think of no other way to put it than to say it’s just an ugly story. Not a bad story, but ugly.