What is the long dash used in Poe's writing?

Question

What is the dash called that Poe uses in his stories. For example, in The Purloined Letter, he discrives a character as "Minister D--". Why does he do that? Is there a specific name for that technique? I believe Bronte uses it too in her poetry. Any ideas?

Answer 1

I don't know if it has any other name than the "long dash", but that is a technique that was widely used in the 1800s when writing fiction. Sometimes authors wanted to use real people or real places in their stories but couldn't because the said people might not want their names in a book, or to keep hordes of tourists from invading a place; so, they would use the long dash after the first letter to keep the identity secret..

I've seen it in Poe, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, among others.

Answer 2

Good for you for spotting that!!! You are absolutely correct and Poe is wrong. To show missing letters the underline should be used and not the hyphen. It is called the underline and should be Minister D_ _ . It is used as a technique when the writer is referring to or connotating a real person and doesn't want to be sued. However in Poe and Bronte it is an affectation. The protagonist is pretending he or she could be sued if they spelled out the real name.

Answer 3

I think it's just an abreavited form of the name instead of
Minister Dangelo. partly for concealment to keep an air of mystery in the story

Haven't read Poe in a long time I'll be interested to see what other answers you get.

Answer 4

i believe it is meant to symbolize a pause... that the reader is supposed to pause for a moment and then continue as if speaking then taking a second to figure out whas you just said and continuing

Answer 5

I always thought it ment as if he was going to say something then paused. As if trying to make you, nervous, and to demand more.