Edgar Allan Poe was a man of many wonders. The techniques he used in his writings were very unique, and are still considered one of the most iconic today. But what makes Edgar Allan Poe so well-known? Well, Poe had a talent for giving off a gloomy vibe in every story, and leaving his audience with an eerie feeling. His characters, his themes, and his settings are all described so vividly and terrifying that he, most often than not, is able to keep the reader hooked. It was not only after death that he drew in an audience; many people during his lifetime--including his lovers--were drawn to the unhappy quality of that man. Furthermore, it is very common to hear on-going criticism on his grotesque and gothic writing style, but many people don’t …show more content…
This story is mainly about the inevitability of death, where Prince Prospero locks himself inside his castle designed by himself. In his castle he has seven colored rooms that many believe were used to symbolize the life span of a person, with each room color representing a different stage of life. Poe also included a description of a giant clock that symbolized death approaching every minute. King Prospero locked himself and others in his castle in order to prevent himself from catching the dangerous “Red Death.” Critics believe that the Red Death symbolized both tuberculosis, and possibly the Black Plague that was occurring in Europe during the middle ages. The Red Death’s symptoms described by Poe were, "sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores" which killed the person in a short amount of time. This description of the disease in the short story has similar elements to tuberculosis. Additionally, the Black Death and tuberculosis killed a vast amount of people in Europe including his loved ones. With that being said, after Poe dealt with the death of several of his family members, it is safe to say that he could have felt inspired to write a story based on a personified fictional disease, colored rooms that symbolized the life span of a human, and the inevitability of …show more content…
In both stories The Black Cat and The Cask of Amontillado both narrative characters struggle with alcoholism, and the use of drugs. Poe’s own struggles of being on alcohol can be seen through the relapsing struggles of his characters as it states in The Black Cat, “…the soul remained untouched, I again plunged into excess, and soon drowned in wine all memory of deed.” With all the stress Edgar Allan Poe was going through, his drinking became excessive killing him slowly, and causing him to have an irregular behavior. In The Cask of Amontillado Poe writes the pun, “I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grâve. He emptied it at a breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light.” This pun implies that the wine is leading the character Fortunato to his
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 countenances of those who enter it that there are few…bold enough to set foot within it".
In many stories, authors use symbolism, which is using symbols to represent something, to show a moral. “The Masque of the Red Death,” is a fictionalized story about a deadly disease that pervades through a country, killing many people. A young prince, in an effort to save himself and his elite friends and family, he withholds them all in his grand castle. The castle is unique in that it has seven very distinct rooms, that all seem to represent something important. In the short story “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, the seven colored chambers symbolize the cycle of human life, from birth to death.
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.
In the "Masque of the Red Death," the first sentence, "The Red Death had long devastated the country," sets the tone for the whole story. Poe describes the horrors of the disease, stressing the redness of the blood and the scarlet stains. The disease kills so quickly that one can die within thirty minutes of being infected with the disease. To create a frightening effect of the revulsion of this disease, Poe uses words such as "devastated," "fatal," "horror of blood," and "sharp pains and profuse bleeding." In summary, the story relates the prince, trying to be safe and away from the horrible death, invites a thousand friends to be in seclusion in his abbey away from the disease. During a celebration , a masked ball at the abbey - with incredible described rooms and moods - a surprise masked intruder causes death to all.
Edgar Allen Poe, in the short story “The Masque of the Red Death”, shows how people may try to outsmart death and surpass it, but in the end they will die since death is inevitable. He reveals this in the book by showing all the people closed up in the abbey that belongs to Prince Prospero. They are trying to escape the “Red Death” and think that they can escape the death by hiding away in the abbey. They manage to stay safe for six months but in the end they all die after the stroke of midnight during the masquerade ball Prince Prospero puts on from the Red Death itself which appears after midnight and leaves no survivors in the end. Poe develops the theme of how no one can escape death through the use of the point of view, the setting, and symbolism.
“The Masque of the Red Death” is a short tale about a king who rules a dominion plagued with a disease called the red death. The Prince decides to build a fortress that will hold many of his closest friends and relatives and keep the disease out. The castle in which the Prince and all of his closest friends are inside of, is a magnificent fortress that is lavish and decorated with a variety of colors for each apartment. Poe explains, “That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue—and vividly blue were its windows.” In this quote, the use of imagery describes the first of seven apartments that hold guests for balls and entertainment. In addition, the last of the seven apartments described is a black room that in itself symbolizes the red death. In this room stands a clock that clangs every hour and when the clock begins to clang. Everything in the fortress seems to stop while the clock clangs. Poe describes the clocks clang very vividly, to set the mood of the seventh room and what it is like. Poe states “Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang.” This example of imagery uses the hearing sense, and it helps the reader understand the mood of the room. Poe wants this room to be creepy, dark, and scary and conveys that clearly through the use of
...agraph, the author mentions that the disease had come "like a thief in the night," but this statement is entirely untrue. Poe wrote a cohesive story which acknowledges the fear of trapping oneself in a doomed situation. Ironically, the very place the Prospero built to keep himself safe led to his hideous destruction. However, the audience was never permitted to believe that the prince would escape death, because even Poe's choice of environments reflect the triumph of the plague; the isolation and quarantine of the abbey, the fever and delirium of the masquerade, and finally the progression of time and eventual death. The clock strikes midnight, and with its shadowy expiration, "the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all," (213).
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential writers to date. His thrill filled tales of darkness and death helped people see a different side of romantic literature. Many believe that his isolated life and drinking problem helped influence his works. Poe showed his most prominent life accomplishment and disappointments through his life in his stories. He defined a lot of his life’s parallels through his works.
As soon as we are born our timer starts and one day it will stop and we will no longer be a part of this earth. Everybody enters this world the same way, but we all have our own different ways in departing. Nobody wants to think about dying or seeing a love one leave, but unfortunately that is how life works. Are you scared to die? Can you handle seeing a love leave your side due to death? Just like the majority of the people, we have two different people with the same mentality who fear death and will do anything in their power to try and escape from it.
Edgar Allan Poe, a writer in the gothic era, was known for his eerie writing style that was influenced by his childhood. Poe was born on January 19, 1809 but before he was even 3 years old, his father and mother, both professional actors, died. As he grew up, Poe was later forced to leave the University of Virginia because his foster parent refused to pay his gambling debts. Poe’s relationship with them deteriorated and Poe moved to Boston and started editing literary journals. It was from that point on that he started establishing himself as a poet, a short-story writer, and an editor. Nowadays, Poe works have become favorites of many students and adults. His unique writing style appeals to a wide variety of people. Some of his works include The Tell-Tale Heart, Annabel Lee, The Raven, and The Cask of Amontillado. Edgar Allan Poe, American writer, poet and literary critic, Poe, is well-known for his literary works that show the mysterious side of him through his use of specific diction and wordplay in syntax to emphasize specific specific elements that are important to the story.
First, he used simili, ’’The Red Death come like a thief in the night’’ (Poe 43). He humanizes the Red Death like a thief, the thief of life.It is fast and furious, we can not escape. Then he used ’’the brazen lung of the clock’’ . Poe describes the clock as having “lungs,” like a human being, creates that this clock -- time -- is a living, breathing thing we cannot escape. He takes the clock ,a non-living furniture, and he humanizes it, like he humanizes the Red Death, which also cannot be escaped. He also used a lots of allusion in this story( Tempest of Shakespeare, or ’’The Death come like a thief in the night’’ in Bible’’ in order to make his theme more strong with his
Dark Romanticism has many different significances. It has impacted reading a lot. Poe had a huge impact on dark romanticism. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Masque of the Red Death” and his poem “The Raven” he uses symbols to show people are in perpetual fear. Poe first shows his beliefs about humanity in “Masque of the Red Death” when he uses the masked figure to show death.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential writers of the horror genre in American history. His horror stories have impacted numerous authors and their stories over the years. Various people have tried to copy his way of writing style, but they have failed to achieve the success he did. Even though Poe is no longer living, his impact on American literature can still be felt today.
Throughout Edgar Allan Poe’s life, death was a frequent visitor to those he loved around him. When Poe was only 3 years old, his loving mother died of Tuberculosis. Because Poe’s father left when he was an infant, he was now an orphan and went to live with the Allan’s. His stepmother was very affectionate towards Edgar and was a very prominent figure in his life. However, years later she also died from Tuberculosis, leaving Poe lonely and forlorn. Also, later on, when Poe was 26, he married his cousin 13-year-old Virginia, whom he adored. But, his happiness did not last long, and Virginia also died of Tuberculosis, otherwise known as the Red Death, a few years later. After Virginia’s death, Poe turned to alcohol and became isolated and reckless. Due to Edgar Allan Poe’s loss of those he cared for throughout his life, Poe’s obsession with death is evident in his works of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, in which in all three death is used to produce guilt.