Signora Psyche Zenobia is out for a stroll in the goodly city of Edina. Accompanied by her miniature poodle, Diana, and her elderly slave, Pompey, only three feet in height. She suddenly confronts a gothic cathedral of immense proportions with a steeple "which towered into the sky."
"A Predicament" by Edgar Allan Poe is a satirical short story published in 1838. The story is a darkly humorous and exaggerated tale, narrated by a character named Signora Psyche Zenobia. In the narrative, Zenobia, accompanied by her maid, Pompey, and a small poodle, explores a Gothic cathedral. While attempting to observe the city from the steeple, she finds herself in a bizarre and perilous situation: her head becomes trapped in the hands of a massive clock. As the clock’s minute hand gradually moves forward, it gruesomely severs her head from her body. Poe infuses the story with absurdity and irony, using Zenobia’s exaggerated, matter-of-fact descriptions of her predicament to emphasize the humorous tone.
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