An Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's Psychological Thriller
Outline
I. Prelude
II. Brief introduction to Adgar Allan Poe
1. 1. Allan Poe's Life
2. 2. Allan Poe's Works and Literary Achievement
III. Adgar Allan Poe -- A Post-Gothic Writer
1. 1. Gothic Introduction
2. 2. Analysis of Two Horror
1) 1) The Fall of the House of Usher
a) a) Setting
b) b) Characters
c) c) Point of View
2) 2) The Masque of the Red Death
a) a) Setting
b) b) Characters
c) c) Point of View
IV. The Symbolism in Allan Poe's Works
1. Symbolism Introduction
2. Analysis of two horrors
1) 1) The Fall of the House of Usher
a) a) Style and Interpretation
b) b) Theme
2) 2) The Masque of the Red Death
a) a) Style and Interpretation
b) b) Theme
V. Finale
I. Prelude
"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was --but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit."
-- The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
Within the lines of the opening of The Fall Of The House Of Usher, as a result of Poe's imagery, we are aware of a sense of death and decay. Gothic is the ambience.
II. Brief Introduction to Adgar Allan Poe
1. Allan Poe's Life
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in January 1809, the second son of traveling actors. Edgar, split up from his elder bother and younger sister, was taken into the household of a Virginian tobacco merchant, John Allan, whose name Poe adopted from 1824 onwards. Poe's relationship with his foster father was uneasy at the best of times and after a violent quarrel with his foster father over his choice of career, Poe left Virginia altogether and went to Boston. Poe was always very close to Mrs. Allan and it was her dying wish that her husband and foster son be reconciled. In 1830, living on a small allowance from Allan, Poe entered the military academy at West Point, but deliberately got himself dishonorably discharged in 1831. He lived with his aunt, Mrs...
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...ven those who seek "peace and safety...shall not escape."
V. Finale
"And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."
-- The Masque of the Red Death by Adgar Allan Poe
After his wife's death in 1847 Poe became increasingly unstable and his dependence on tempted suicide in 1848 and tragically died in 1849, five days after being found in a delirious and semi-conscious condition in Baltimore.
Appendix
Resources
l l The Literary Gothic
http://www.siue.edu/~jvoller/gothic.html
l l Poe Decoder
http://www.poedecoder.com/
l l Edgar Allan Poe - "The Fall of the House of Usher"
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~mmaynard/Poe/poe.html
l l "Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English" The Commercial Press
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He pretended to be illiterate in order to have others underestimate him. The people that evaluated him while in Washington claimed that he was skilled in the ways of the system. (Petersen, 2) During his time spent locked up he managed to study Scientology, and even took a Dale Carnegie course called “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. It was in these classes that Manson learned to manipulate the naive. (Carlson, 1) This would be a skill that he would rely upon later in life. His life of crime did not appear to stop either. He first entered the adult prison system at age twenty five and was released seven years later in 1967 at age thirty two. By the time he released from prison Manson had spent more than half of his life locked up. (Petersen,
Those are the words of a convicted serial killer who never actually murdered a single person in his life, Charles Manson. Conversely he orchestrated members of the group that became known as the Manson Family to carry the murders out. Manson was born “no name Maddox” on November 12, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born to Kathleen Maddox, an unmarried 16-year-old prostitute who frequently drank. His mother married a laborer named William Manson weeks after his birth and was given the name Charles Milles Manson, taking his stepfathers last name.
In 1846 he moved to Fordham cottage (now a museum). On his was, north to bring mrs.clemm to the wedding he became involved in a drinking debouch in Baltimore. This indulgence proved fatal and he died a few days later on October 7, 1849, Baltimore, Maryland. This ended a really amazing man’s life and yet he is still one of the most known writers to this day. We learn about him in the class room and will still be for generations to come. ("edgar allan poe", 2013)
“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe was published in 1839. In it, the short story’s narrator visits a childhood friend, Roderick Usher. The narrator travels to the Usher house, where the story takes place. As in other Poe stories, the settings reflect a character. Throughout the short story, there are many instances when the Usher house and Thought, the castle in Roderick’s poem, reflect Roderick Usher and his family. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the setting of the Usher house along with the setting in Roderick’s poem reflect Roderick Usher in appearances, relations with family, and physical existence.
Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. After his father left and his mother passed away, he lived with John and Frances Allan. He would write poetry on the back of John’s business papers. Poe went to the University of Virginia where he went into debt for gambling to cover the cost of his schooling. When he was kicked out of the university he enrolled at West Point and that’s when he truly committed to writing poetry again. He earned the nickname Father of the Detective Story when he wrote the first detective story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue. In 1845, Poe became a sensation when he published The Raven. He mysteriously died on October 7, 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland (biography.com).
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to parents who were traveling actors. His father David Poe Jr. died probably in 1810. Elizabeth Hopkins Poe died in 1811, leaving three children. Edgar was taken into the home of a merchant from Richmond named John Allan. The remaining children were cared for by others. Poe's brother William died young and sister Rosalie later became insane. At the age of five Poe could recite passages of English poetry. Later one of his teachers in Richmond said: "While the other boys wrote mere mechanical verses, Poe wrote genuine poetry; the boy was a born poet." Poe was brought up partly in England (1815-20), where he attended Manor School at Stoke Newington. Later it became the setting for his story 'William Wilson'. Since Poe was never legally adopted, he took Allan's name for his middle name. Poe attended the University of Virginia (1826-27), but was expelled for not paying his gambling debts. His expulsion led to a quarrel with Allan, who refused to pay the debts. Allan later disowned him. In 1826 Poe became engaged to Elmira Royster, but her parents broke off the engagement. During his stay at the university, Poe wrote some stories, but not much is known of his beginning works.
Charles Milles Manson was born on November 19, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Charles Manson is an American cult leader and convicted mass murderer. Manson is the son of Kathleen Maddox, who gave birth to him at the age of 16, after running away from her strict religious household. Maddox later marries a man named William Manson, and Charles keeps the last name even after his mother's short marriage. This would be the start of a very rough childhood for Charles. His mother, Kathleen, had a reputation of drinking too much and even spending some time in jail. She never presented herself as being a good mother to Manson, she seemed to not want to be a mother at all. Manson shares a chilling story about his mother that really exposes how she acted
Virginia died on January 30, 1847, causing the further deterioration of Poe's mental health. Poe's violent mood swings became common as drugs and alcohol wore away at his body and mind, although he continued to publish works such as Eureka. He made an attempt at rehabilitation, and he traveled to Richmond in 1849 to court a former friend, Mrs. Shelton. Unfortunately, soon after their engagement, Poe was found in a stupor on a Baltimore street and was taken to a nearby hospital. Four days later, on Sunday, October 7, he died at the age of 40.
When Edgar Allan Poe was young, his father left him and his mother died, he was then taken in by his god father, and his wife, who had no children. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston Massachusetts on January 19, 1809 (Werlock1) Poe’s parents, David Poe Jr., and Elizabeth Arnold, who were both very talented actors (Werlock1). Before Edgar turned three, his father David Poe, Jr., had left Poe and his mother (Werlock1). Also, his mother had died after moving her destitute family to Richmond Virginia(Barney1).Poe was then raised, but not adopted, by his god father, John Allan, in Richmond, of Virginia (Barney1).Allan took his wife, Frances Valentine Allan, and Edgar to England to visit, and al...
Manson was born in 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio, an unwanted child to a 16 year old prostitute mother. He had a life filled with rejection and abandonment which begun early on. He never knew his father, and his mother would leave him alone for days, sometimes weeks. Leaving him...
Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Charles Manson." About.com 20th Century History. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2013. .
Edgar Allan Poe has a unique writing style that uses several different elements of literary structure. He uses intrigue vocabulary, repetition, and imagery to better capture the reader’s attention and place them in the story. Edgar Allan Poe’s style is dark, and his is mysterious style of writing appeals to emotion and drama. What might be Poe’s greatest fictitious stories are gothic tend to have the same recurring theme of either death, lost love, or both. His choice of word draws the reader in to engage them to understand the author’s message more clearly. Authors who have a vague short lexicon tend to not engage the reader as much.
Edgar Allen Poe, a famous novelist from the 18th century, is known for being a treasure trove for allusions, illusions, clues, and all sorts of literary fun. Born in 1809, this Bostonian never had it easy. Marriage to a 13 year old cousin, family problems, and deaths surrounded him. Over time, such tremendous struggle began to reflect in his writing, creating the dark and moody tone we now see today. One such piece, The Fall of the House of Usher, tells the tale of a man who goes to visit a dying friend on his last days. Roderick Usher is the name of this dying man, although he doesn’t seem dead in the beginning. However, the deathly state should be of no importance to the reader; death is the very essence of Poe’s writing. Rather, the reader’s attention should be deviated toward the unusual twin of the story,
Abandoned as an infant by his father, Poe lost his mother to tuberculosis at the age of three, and was sent to live with foster parents. There he was raised but never adopted. Also, his relationship with his foster father was quite tumultuous. Shortly after their death, he married his cousin Virginia Clemm, who also ended up contracting tuberculosis and died after a long hard battle with the disease. This had a very hard impact on Poe. Furthermore, it is known that Poe also had a serious problem with alcohol, as well as there are reports that he likely suffered from a mental illness, as evidenced by a letter he wrote stating that he had tried to commit suicide (Quinn 1998). Also, throughout his life, Poe struggled to be a writer, though his ways always ended up keeping him from achieving, while he was alive, what he was capable of. As one can see, Poe lived a life that was defined by death, hardship, and his own possible insanity. This makes it much more clear as to why he chose such dark themes for his works.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January nineteenth, 1809. His actor parents, Betty and David Poe orphaned Edgar at the age of three. John and Francis Allan of Richmond, Virginia took Edgar in.