Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, "The Telltale Heart" and "The Masque of the Red Death" are two very different stories. One is about a simple man, perhaps a servant, who narrates the tale of how he kills his wealthy benefactor, and the other is about a prince who turns his back on his country while a plague known as The Red Death ravages his lands. Yet, there are some similarities in both. Time, for instance, and the stroke of midnight, seem to always herald the approach of impending death. Both are killers, one by his own hand, the other by neglecting his country. One seeks peace, the other seeks pleasure, but both are motivated by the selfish need to rid themselves of that which haunts them, even at the expense of another's life. However, the point of this critique will show that their meticulous plans to beat that which torments them are undone by a single flaw in their character - overconfidence. In both stories, the chief characters plan in great detail the actions they will take to rid themselves of that which haunts them. The narrator of "The Telltale Heart" is the killer, and he explains in the telling of his story how he felt no ill will toward the old man, but how it was the old man's pale eye that caused his "blood (to) run cold; and so by degrees - very gradually - (he) made up (his) mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid (himself) of the eye forever."[382] Later, he reflects on how meticulously he goes about entering the old man's room, planning the murder. "For seven nights - every night at midnight" he enters the sleeping chamber.[383] Prince Prospero, in Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," decides to take with him many friendly "knights and dames"[386] from his court and hide away in secl... ... middle of paper ... ...ld man lies. This overwhelming sense of superiority, leads him to sit too long at the scene of the crime, which in the end causes his nerves to get the best of him. Prince Prospero, like the servant, thinks himself so keen that he has the audacity to throw a grand celebration at a time when the world should be weeping. He is so confident that he will cheat death that when Death walks into his ball dressed as a corpse splattered in crimson, obviously a victim of the Red Death, he tries to kill Death. He draws a dagger and plans on killing the "man" who would dare insult him at his own party, but then death spins on him, and his gaze slays the prince instantly. Both of these stories are vivid examples of how overconfidence can feed one's psyche with such intoxicating effects that their self-absorbed sense of superiority will eventually be their own undoing.
Suspense is the feeling of uncertainty or excitement, in waiting for an outcome or decision. Edgar Allan Poe uses suspense in his story “Masque of the Red Death” by using objects and great descriptive detail. Poe’s story is about a prince that tries to escape from the inevitable. He tries to lock himself away from the ‘red death’ and has a masquerade ball that doesn’t end happily. Prince and all of his guests die inside or around the seventh apartment room. The seventh room is preceded by six colored rooms which are meant to symbolize either the stages of life, or the seven sins. Inside the last room there are black velvet tapestries that hang all over the ceiling and down the walls. The window panes are a deep blood red color which gives the room an unwelcoming atmosphere. On the western wall, there is a gigantic clock of a deep black wood. Inside it has a pendulum that swings back and forth with a dull monotonous clang. When the minute hand marks a new hour, there is a clear, loud, deep sound, which can be heard from far away. Although it can give off an eerie feeling, the great eb...
The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” murders an elderly man because he is fearful of the man’s “evil eye.” “He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever” (Poe 37). The narrator explains that he is haunted by the man’s eye and the only way to
Poe was a very experienced author of unique tales. He was born on January 19, 1809 and died on October 7, 1849. He had a dark life growing up because his mother, foster mother, and his wife died from tuberculous. His father abandoned him and his foster father disliked him. This background may have greatly influenced his work. He wrote 70 poems and 66 short stories during his lifetime. Poe has written many Gothic horror stories. “The Tell Tale Heart,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” show these similarities.
Within Edgar A. Poe’s stories, there is often a duality of emotions or sentiments, often in direct conflict with each other. Such is the case with two of his short stories focused at the motif of life versus death. “Masque of the Red Death” and “Hop-Frog” are two stories that exemplify the contrast between the two themes vividly.
Authors use various styles to tell their stories in order to appeal to the masses exceptionally well and pass the message across. These messages can be communicated through short stories, novels, poems, songs and other forms of literature. Through The Masque of the Red Death and The Raven, it is incredibly easy to get an understanding of Edgar Allen Poe as an author. Both works describe events that are melodramatic, evil and strange. It is also pertinent to appreciate the fact that strange plots and eerie atmospheres are considerably evident in the author’s writings. This paper compares and contrasts The Masque of the Red Death and The Raven and proves that the fear of uncertainty and death informs Edgar Allen Poe’s writings in the two works
When reading any of Edgar Allen Poe’s works, the reader can almost expect a reoccurring theme that focuses on the questionable sanity of the narrator and the overwhelming presence of death that drives the story to its resolve. The two stories being compared are no exception to this theme as both are built upon the thought driven narrative of a seemingly mad man with a fervor for revenge. In both stories the reader is told of the main character, “The Cask of Amontillado” gives us Montresor and “The Tell-Tale Heart” is simply the narrator of the story, who seek out a character to murder for vague reasons not fully explained to the reader in a way that builds a picture of the way their mind works. As both dictate how and why they plan to commit their crimes, the inner monologue that is provided by a first person narrative paints a picture of the unstable emotional state and irrational thought process that gives the reader insight to how unreliable their account of the story actually is. This unreliable narrative leaves the story open to interpretation on whether or not the act of murder was committed righteously, or simply just the misguided actions of two insane characters.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, literary critic, and editor. Despite his many talents, Edgar Allan Poe is best acknowledged for his poems and short stories, primarily his tales consisting of mystery and deception of death. For instance, in the story “The Masque of the Red Death”, the story involves a plague that is killing the people, which the Prince and his closest friend want to avoid. In the story “The Cask of Amontillado” is about a perfect murder planned for revenge, in which he succeeds. In the story “The Tell-tale Heart” involves the murder of an old man, in which the killer’s heart makes him tell the truth.
Death, despair, and revenge, these three words form a treacherous triangle to any reader who dare enter the mind of Edgar Allen Poe. In many of his works these expressions seem to form a reoccurring theme. Comparing the works "The Mask of the Red Death" and "The Cask of Amontillado", we will discuss these themes while analyzing the method behind Poe’s madness.
In Edgar Allen Poe’s short mystery, “The Masque of the Red Death” the emotions and beliefs from the mid 1800’s are figuratively brought to life through symbolism. Discussing through a fictional perspective about a plague that is referenced as “The Red Death”; the disease potentially was meant to represent Tuberculosis or the Bubonic Plague. Using the seven stages of “life” portrayed through color, Poe illustrates the sense of mystery and the fear of the known. In his short story he displays not only the inevitability of fear through extensive use of remarkable symbolism, but also the different views of that era. During the 1800’s the plague was racing and the medication was not extensive enough to control the diseases, such as; Tuberculosis, Bubonic Plague, even the common cold was lethal. Big cities were not kept as clean as they should’ve been, trash and sewage was not always disposed of properly. Having this in mind, think of how easy it was to become ill. The “red death” is viewed as a mysterious man, never having before been seen in the Prince’s castle; without knowing why, the guests and Prince Prospero begin to fear the unknown man. Though the man shows no sign of harmful intentions, the inevitable fear of the unknown is exposed. Using a thrilling setting to stir the mood, Poe allows the
big thing in common, that is death. Death is the one thing that no one can
One of America’s most famous writers ever is Edgar Allen Poe. He is known for creating three very popular forms of writing, Horror,Mystery, and Suspense. He is also known for exploiting many techniques to make his stories more intriguing, for example he does little things like adding basic human fears and mysterious settings. Although Edgar Allen Poe is very interested in all of these things one of the most common things he likes to add in his stories is an overly cocky character who gets too full of themselves and In the end their cockyness causes their downfall.
-Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque of the Red Death: Literature for Composition. Massachusetts: Boston, 2011. Print.
Bleak, sinister, and dreary are often the words that come to mind when one thinks of Edgar Allen Poe’s literature. Poe is notorious for his morbid short stories and poems, in which he repeatedly tries to invoke the feelings of fear and suspense in his audience.“The Tell-Tale Heart” is a story about a ‘madman’ who takes the readers through his own act of cold-blooded murder. Poe uses repetition in order to build both suspense and anxiety and create the story’s mood. Poe also uses hyperboles, and word choice to disturb the reader.
Both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe are gothic writers who share many similarities in their stories. Both authors write about characters who live in their own and try to escape the real world around them. In Hawthorne’s “Dr. Heidegger’s experiment” four participants attempt to escape reality by drinking from a fountain of youth in order to return to make themselves younger. In Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death”, Prince Prospero tries to escape the red death, a disease that is ravaging his city, by hiding in his own castellated abbey. The characters in the stories both attempt to avoid death and the inevitable, by hiding behind their barriers, but no matter what they try to do reality catches up to them and they succumb to what they originally try to avoid. In both stories, the protagonists hide behind barriers made by themselves, attempt to conquer death, and eventually give in to death.
After reading Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of Red Death" (317-22), the reader can only conclude that death is the theme once again in another thrilling horror tale. Other critics such as Patricia H. Wheat, view this tale as a battle between life and death (51-56). Yet, Leonard Cassuto brings an interesting theory to this tale--"According to the narrator's own account, no one survives the Red Death. The only one who(lives) is Death. The narrator must be death himself" (317-20). Reflecting back to the various critical analogies on tone, character, and allegory on "The Masque of Red Death" a certain aspect of this work has yet to be defined. The plague that devastated a whole countryside could only be described. Could it be that Poe uses this fiction to chronicle his own encounters with death in his own life? To better understand this viewpoint a short summary is incorporated: