Wednesday has been a smash hit on Netflix and it’s filled with Easter eggs and allusions to other works. One of the most prominent is the famed gothic poet Edgar Allen Poe, and it worked well for the dark series. It was a sort of love letter to the man responsible for so many dark tales, and the show continues the tradition of trying to freak audiences out.
Season one of Wednesday invites us into the twisted world of Wednesday Addams, played marvelously by Jenna Ortega, as she gets accustomed to her new school. This is no average school, however, it’s Nevermore Academy, a place for supernaturally gifted kids to hone their skills and become better people. Wednesday is far too distracted with a great mystery to give attention to anything else, but despite herself, she finds allies that help her save the academy and the town of Jericho. There are plenty of Tim Burton elements in the show as well, proving that the show isn’t shy about winking at the audience.
So, here are all the Edgar Allen Poe references in Wednesday.
Nevermore Academy
One of the first and most obvious references to the master of the macabre is the name of Wednesday’s new school, Nevermore Academy. In Poe’s poem, “The Raven,” the black bird repeatedly spoke, “Nevermore.” The poem’s theme relates to loss and memory because death is something that we can never escape. “Nevermore” reminds us to appreciate what we have while we have it, and it perfectly suits the dark atmosphere of the haunting academy.
Poe attended Nevermore Academy
Not only is the school name inspired by Edgar Allen Poe, but he also attended the school. Although he’s the academy’s most famous alumni and his time there apparently fostered the inspiration for some of his darkest works. His poem “Alone,” has to be among that list, and his relationship with solitude and alienation is not unlike the kind that Wednesday experiences. We don’t get any flashbacks of his time at Nevermore Academy as we got with Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzmán), but maybe if we get a season two, a young Poe in his formative years will delight us with his darkness.
The statue
Edgar Allen Poe made such an impact on Nevermore Academy that they erected a statue in his honor. His likeness is holding a book and a raven befitting the man, but Wednesday is threatened by his “sanctimonious smirk.” She notes his penchant for riddles and reads the tablet, noticing how each line of a poem reveals an answer. Using her ingenuity and realizing that she had to think in an opposite way, Wednesday discovers that she has to snap her fingers twice, and it leads her to the next revelation.
Nightshade Society
The mystery Wednesday finds is the Nightshade Society, the secret society of select students at Nevermore Academy. It was believed that this society was disbanded three decades ago, but thanks to Wednesdays’ sleuthing, that theory was debunked. The Nightshades charter was lost after a normie kid was killed, possibly due to the secret society, but Principal Weems (Gwendoline Christie) allowed it to continue because its members consist of prominent alumni. Poe’s short story”Morella,” is about an ailing woman whose husband wishes death upon her. The mother dies while giving birth to her daughter who grows up to look just like the mother. Morella is another variation of black nightshade, a poisonous weed.
Edgar Allen Poe quotes
Wednesday relies on Poe’s lines to help her solve the great mysteries in the story. There’s a monster on the loose terrorizing people and she has to find out who the monster really is. Early on, she quotes Poe, saying, “Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see,” which is useful advice in a place like Nevermore. Everyone in the school has a side they’re keeping hidden away from everyone else, and that makes every person a suspect. Wednesday also puts together that this paranoia possibly led to him becoming “a drug madman.”
Edgar Allen Poe Cup
In Wednesday, season one, episode two, “Woe is the Loneliest Number,” the students compete in an annual boat race. Each boat is named after a Poe poem. These include, “The Black Cat,” “The Pit and the Pendulum, “The Gold Bug,” and the “Cask of Amontillado.” The boats and the competitors are designed in the theme of the poem, and Wednesday and Eden are on the “Black Cat” team and wearing cat-themed designs. It’s yet another homage to Poe to express Nevermore Academy’s high regard for the acclaimed poet.