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26 pages 52 minutes read

Edgar Allan Poe

Hop-Frog

Edgar Allan PoeFiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1849

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Background

Authorial Context: Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is among the most influential authors in contemporary literature, specializing in the Dark Romanticism subgenre, which looks at the sinful side of human nature. Throughout his life (1809-1849), Poe endured difficult experiences that often bled into his work. Poe most often wrote about fear, sorrow, isolation, and death, as in his most famous work, “The Raven.” Many of these themes are present throughout “Hop-Frog” too, and some may argue that certain elements of the story are autobiographical.

The title character of “Hop-Frog” is forcibly taken from his home and to a new country where he’s an outsider. Likewise, Poe had an unstable home life. His father left his mother when he was young, and she passed away shortly afterward. He was left in the care of his wealthy godfather, John Allan, and his wife, separating Poe from his siblings. Poe and Allan had a rough relationship, often quarreling over money. Poe eventually had to drop out of school because Allan had gambling debts and no longer sent Poe money. Through this lens, the character of the king is most likely Allan, the man who gave Edgar Allen Poe his surname, like the king renamed his new jester Hop-Frog.

Like the title character, Poe struggled with alcoholism. According to those who knew him, he didn’t imbibe often, but when he did, he binge-drank. His drinking episodes had negative consequences on his schooling, relationships, jobs, and overall reputation. Hop-Frog has a similar reaction to alcohol, in that it drives him to “madness.” However, that “madness” drives Hop-Frog’s wit and cruelty, allowing him to escape his captors. Likewise, Poe’s “madness” contributed to the success of his writing career.

Sociohistorical Context: Bal des Ardents

Poe likely drew inspiration for “Hop-Frog” from a tragic historical event: Bal des Ardents, or Ball of Burning Men. Many of the story’s contextual elements match those of Bal des Ardents.

King Charles VI ruled France in the 14th century. His nickname was “Charles the Mad” because of his lifelong bouts of a mental health condition. It’s presumed that King Charles had a bipolar disorder like paranoid schizophrenia. In 1393, Charles’s wife threw a masquerade ball in Paris to celebrate the marriage of one of her ladies-in-waiting at Hôtel Saint-Pol. These celebrations often featured entertainment to distract the king. For the masquerade, King Charles VI and five of his knights performed a charivari, which is a loud mock-serenade.

The king and the knights masqueraded as savages for the charivari: They wore linen soaked in resin, covered their bodies in flax, and wore hairy masks to conceal their identities. Because their outfits were flammable, no torches, candles, or fires were allowed at the party; however, the King’s brother, Louis, didn’t get the memo. He showed up, late and drunk, with a group of men carrying torches, and as a result, the charivari costumes caught fire. Four of the men burned alive, and only two survived: One of the knights jumped into a barrel of wine, and the Duchess de Berri recognized the king and put out his fire with her skirts. The French public blamed the king’s advisors for putting his life at risk, and they were made to do penance.

Just as King Charles VI and his knights performed the charivari for the king’s entertainment, resulting in death, the same is true in “Hop-Frog.” However, Hop-Frog’s “madness” led to the deaths of both the king and his ministers.

Alcohol plays a role in both stories too. Hop-Frog drinks the wine and concocts a plan to murder the noblemen and then expose the king’s cruel nature and the ministers’ complicity to the people they govern. At Bal des Ardents, Louis showed up drunk and uninformed, leading to the fiery deaths of the king’s court and exposing the French public to the lack of regard for the king’s safety. Additionally, both Louis and Hop-Frog bring chaos to a masquerade by using fire.

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