Final answer:
Poe's inclusion of Madame L’Espanaye as a fortune-teller enhances the story's mysteriousness and aligns with his themes of hidden truths, potentially reflecting his personal life's impact on his writing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The introduction of Madame L’Espanaye as a fortune-teller in Edgar Allan Poe's works may serve multiple purposes. One interpretation could tie into Poe's own life experiences, such as his longing for his deceased mother, as described by Marie Bonaparte, which could influence his creation of mysterious and enigmatic female characters. Analyzing his works, one might conclude that Poe often utilized characters with enigmatic or mystical professions to deepen the sense of mystery and engage the reader’s curiosity. Moreover, as the fortune-teller often holds secret knowledge, this aligns with Poe's themes of hidden truths and the human tendency to seek that which is concealed. The possibility that Madame L'Espanaye was a fortune-teller could add an additional layer of the supernatural or the exotic to the narrative, making the story more gripping and reflective of Poe's broader themes of the unknown and the unknowable.