The genre of English literature known as Gothic first appeared widespread in the late seventeen hundreds with the publishing of “Horace Walpole 's The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story” in which the Genre received its name. This novel quickly grew the popularity of the genre and brought it to the masses. Throughout the rest of this century, many new authors emerged and gained popularity by writing in this genre. At the turn of the next century, a new author known as Edgar Allan Poe completely revolutionized the genre by exploring different aspects of the "dark" side of the imagination. Poe was able to do this by writing about the phsycological and conscious aspects of the brain and literature ("The Gothic Experience" 1-4). Hundreds of years …show more content…
Edgar Allan Poe 's most notable contribution to the gothic genre was the introduction of the crime aspect of gothic literature. This is most noted in his story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," in which the reader finds out about events through a narrator that figures out the events of a crime while narrating the details and in "The Masque of of the Red Death" which features "the physiological horrors of disease and inevitable death" (Fisher IV 1-8). Not only did Poe innovate in crime, but moved the gothic genre forward with works such as "The Raven" that adds suspense and dread to the genre. Poe 's story "The Cask of Amontillado" explores the concept of revenge while other stories involve terror and mystery (Fisher IV 1-8). This influence can be seen in Stephen King 's "The Shining" which explores horror and the "gradual descent into madness" (Berner 1-3). Likewise, one can see Poe 's influence in "Carrie" in which a girl takes revenge upon on those who bully her. In King 's story "The Stand," King discusses the massive spread of disease while his story "The Dead Zone" explores the mind through a coma and "telepathic powers" (Berner …show more content…
One can see many similarities between the two author’s style including concepts such as horror, mystery, and revenge, though each author is able to keep their individual touches. During his time, Poe innovated the genre by being one of the first to write mystery and crime stories. Poe was heavily influenced by the tragic events that occurred in his life including losing his parents, being separated from his siblings, losing his wife, suffering from poverty, and being addicted to alcohol. Unlike Poe, King experienced less tragedy throughout his life and took much influence from the works of Poe and other great authors. Without the works of Poe, Stephen King works would have never been the same and possibly would have not been
In “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of the Amontillado’ Montresor and the unknown narrator are both murders through their confessions they reveal both their similarities and differences. The unknown narrator is trying to convince the auditor of his sanity while Montresor is attempting to convince the auditor of justifiable revenge. It is through these confessions they are trying to convince the auditor of their humanity and of their innocence through the justification of these horrible acts (Dern 53).
Isn’t it strange how two authors can be alike in so many ways but can be very different from each other? In my paper you will see similarities and differences about two well-known writers: Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King. There are many similarities in both men's work. The most noticeable similarity is the genre of their stories.
Edgar Allan Poe is known for some of the most horrifying stories ever written through out time. He worked with the natural world, animals, and weather to create chilling literature. Two most notable thrillers are “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Poe was infatuated with death, disfigurement, and dark characteristics of the world. He could mix characters, setting, theme,and mood in a way that readers are automatically drawn into reading. Both of these short stories have the same major aspects in common.
Throughout the history of literature there have been various authors who have taken their genre style and enhanced it. An author who was well known for this in the 1800s was the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is celebrated for his works like The Fall of the House of Usher and The Raven. In writing these poems and tales, he took the horror and romanticism genre and began to add more supernatural themes as well as emotional themes. This not only created a more interesting story, it also began to evolve into what is now known as the dark or gothic romanticism genre. Although the romanticism genre started in Europe, the American side of the genre was more focused on the hidden part of the individual exaggerate themes like the grave and death. Also, the more macabre aspects of American works would sometimes take a backseat to the beauty of the world around them. Poe did not
Roald Dahl and Edgar Allen Poe both have similarities in their writing. They also have their differences. Roald Dahl and Edgar Allen Poe both have dark writing styles. They also write about dark topics. As a child they both lost many family members. Dahl write dark stories while adding some lightheartedness, but Poe does not.
Throughout the life of Edgar Allan Poe, he suffered many unfortunate events and endured several difficult situations. Some speculate that it was these experiences that helped to formulate the famous writing style of Edgar Allan Poe. His dark tales such as "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" are horrific, and his poems such as "Alone" and "The Raven" show evidence that his life experiences influenced their dreariness. Poe's story plots and his own life are undeniably related and this relationship is intricately defined in many of his works.
Gothic literature was developed during the eighteenth and nineteenth century of the Gothic era when war and controversy was too common. It received its name after the Gothic architecture that was becoming a popular trend in the construction of buildings. As the buildings of daunting castles and labyrinths began, so did the beginning foundation of Gothic literature. The construction of these buildings will later become an obsession with Gothic authors. For about 300 years before the Renaissance period, the construction of these castles and labyrinths continued, not only in England, but also in Gothic stories (Landau 2014). Many wars and controversies, such as the Industrial Revolution and Revolutionary War, were happening at this time, causing the Gothic literature to thrive (“Gothic Literature” 2011). People were looking for an escape from the real world and the thrill that Gothic literature offered was exactly what they needed. Gothic literature focuses on the horrors and the dark sides to the human brain, such as in Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein. Gothic literature today, as well as in the past, has been able to separate itself apart from other types of literature with its unique literary devices used to create fear and terror within the reader.
The period of the gothic novel, in which the key gothic texts were produced, is commonly considered to be roughly between 1760 and 1820. A period that extended from what is accepted as the first gothic novel, Horace Walpoles The Castle of Otranto ( 1764 ), to Charles Maturins Melmoth the Wanderer ( 1820 ) and included the first edition of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein in 1818. In general, the gothic novel has been associated with a rebellion against constraining neoclassical aesthetic ideals of order and unity, in order to recover a suppressed primitive and barbaric imaginative freedom ( Kilgour, 1995, p3 ). It is also often considered to be a premature ( and thus somewhat crude ) manifestation of the emerging values of Romanticism. Although the gothic genre is somewhat shadowy and difficult to define it can be seen as having a number of characteristics or conventions which can be observed in Frankenstein including stereotypical settings, characters and plots, an interest in the sublime, the production of excessive emotion in the reader ( particularly that of terror and horror), an emphasis on suspense, the notion of the double and the presence of the supernatural. (Kilgour, 1995; Botting, 1996 ; Byron, 1998 : p71 )
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.
Word by word, gothic literature is bound to be an immaculate read. Examining this genre for what it is could be essential to understanding it. “Gothic” is relating to the extinct East Germanic language, people of which known as the Goths. “Literature” is defined as a written work, usually with lasting “artistic merit.” Together, gothic literature combines the use of horror, death, and sometimes romance. Edgar Allan Poe, often honored with being called the king of horror and gothic poetry, published “The Fall of House Usher” in September of 1839. This story, along with many other works produced by Poe, is a classic in gothic literature. In paragraph nine in this story, one of our main characters by the name of Roderick Usher,
Gothic literature is known for captivating readers by bringing to light the dark side of humanity. The Gothic possesses many key elements such as paranoia, anxiety, death, etc. It strikes fear and suspense in the reader not by creating fictional monsters, but showing the reader the types of monsters that lurk within human beings. In “the Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, various themes of the Gothic are present throughout the short story such as gloom and doom, darkness, and madness. These elements are used to enhance the central theme of the piece: revenge. I will argue that Poe uses a number of the Gothic elements to craft an intense dark tale of revenge: an unreliable narrator, madness, darkness, a haunted setting, and evil/devil
Reading Edgar Allen Poe’s works such as “The Cask of Amontillado” and “Tell-Tale Heart” are both written around 1840’s and written in the gothic style. Poe displays his horror short stories, in which the reader can differentiate his signature style. Although many of Poe’s significant works may have a similar theme, the reader can distinguish the themes through the characters in “The Cask of Amontillado” and “Tell-Tale Heart.”
Robert Frost and Edgar Allen Poe two amazing poets, who created many well written poems, for instance “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”, by Robert Frost and “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe. These two poems have many differences and similarities between them. A big difference between Frost and Poe is there back ground but this is also a similarity, how they took their real life situations and turned them into poetry. Then, their life situations made their tone in “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “The Raven” completely different. But in these two poems there is a meaning behind them and the meanings are similar. Finally, a difference and similarity
Edger Allan Poe is one of the most famous and controversial authors of many short stories and novels. He is generally known for his Gothic Genre that mainly deals with the darker elements as well as the supernatural; including a feel of horror, supernatural, and darkness. Furthermore, elements like the setting tend to feel gloomy with the incorporation of rain and storms. The tone and the feeling of his stories are mysterious that lead to suspense and fear. Poe is not like other authors who end their stories with a happy ending; rather the ending to his work is gruesome and usually does not give the reader closure. Due to his uniqueness of writing, critics placed him “in the first rank of American artist” (Rahn). Common themes of Poe’s work consist of murder, revenge, and insanity. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is one of his most popular Gothic writings where the narrator fights to prove his sanity rather his innocence.
Gothic Tradition was said to have started in Europe. Gothicism came from the Romanticism in the early 19th century (Book Rags). Two people who are said to have started the gothic writing movement are Ann Radcliffe and Horace Walpole. They started this style with their stories: “The Mysteries of Udolpho” and “The Castle of Otranto” (Book Rags). The gothic movement also came about because it was related to the art and architecture during the Renaissance era. Edgar Allan Poe three main elements romance, horror, and supernatural events are used in his short stories and poems. A few of his most famous short stories are “The Raven”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Tell-tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”, “Eleonora”, and “Annabelle Lee” (Book Rags). Some of his writing is dark and gloomy while others have romance and comedy.