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Edgar Allan Poe contributions
Edgar allan poe's contribution to literature essay
Edgar allan poe's contribution to literature essay
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In Edgar Allen Poe’s stories; “The Masque of The Red Death”, “The Black Cat”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and “The Cask of Amontillado, a great amount of correlations are created. Whether it be dealing with insanity, or the fact of a character losing their life, the stories go together in how comparable they are to each other. Poe’s style of writing is stories that have darker themes, such as disease, regret, and vengeance. For some of Poe’s stories, they are based off of experiences that he had. During Poe’s life, he encountered tragic events, first he lost his mother when he was two. Later, Poe lost his foster mother and then his wife, whom he dearly loved, to tuberculosis, which may have caused him to write “The Masque of The Red Death”. Poe also had a drinking problem after this, he gives an example of this in his story: “The …show more content…
Most of them being in dark desolate areas such as in “The Fall of The House of Usher”; “I felt I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow”. The characters are often in an isolated setting, like in “The Masque of the Red Death; “And with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys”. Isolation comes up again in “The Cask of Amontillado” when Montresor and Fortunato head into the crypts; “I passed down a long and winding staircase, requesting him to be cautious as he followed, we came at length to the foot of the descent, and stood together upon the damp ground of the catacombs of the Montresors”. In “The Black Cat” there is an additional example of isolation when the Narrator is headed down to the cellar; “One day she accompanied me, upon some household errand, into the cellar of the old building which our poverty compelled us to inhabit”. The settings of Poe’s stories tend to be very dark, away from civilization, or just other generally eerie areas. By using these kinds of settings, Poe is able to create immersive stories to enthrall the
Many of Poe’s stories and poems can be tied to events that have happened in his life. A lot of the hard times that he had had gone through in his life he used as motivation to write his poems and stories. For example the story “The Masque of the Red Death” is thought of to be related to the consumption (aka tuberculosis), which took the life of many of the women he loved. In “The Tell Tale Heart” the dying old man good be seen as Poe’s adoptive father on his death bed, and how the old mans eye made the murderer uncomfortable could be an analogy for how Poe’s father made him feel uncomfortable because he knew that his father did not love him.
Every once in awhile, a case comes about in which the defendant confesses to a crime, but the defense tries to argue that at the time the defendant was not sane. This case is no different; the court knows the defendant is guilty the only aspect they are unsure about is the punishment this murderer should receive. The State is pushing for a jail sentence and strongly believes that the defendant was sane at the time of the murder. It is nearly impossible for the defense to prove their evidence burden of 51%. The State claims that the defendant was criminally responsible at the time of the murder. By using excessive exaggeration, premeditation and motive, the Prosecution will prove that the defendant knew exactly what he was doing and how wrong it was.
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
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.
I chose to write about the comparison of two of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories. The two stories that I chose to write about are “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. Both of these stories create and have a gothic mood to them, which draws you in as a reader. The story of the masque of the red death is written about the black plague that was spreading across Europe at the time, and the story of the fall of the house of usher is written about a sickness or a disease that affects the characters of the story. In Edgar Allen Poe’s story of the “The Masque of the Red Death “, it is narrated by an unknown onlooker within the castle itself. In both stories with the narrator being an onlooker or as an unnamed friend as in “The fall of the House of Usher” forces or draws the reader to feel a part of the story itself. “The Masque of the Red Death” is about a prince who is rich that invites a thousand of his close knights and people of nobility to his castle where he has it sealed up to keep the plague from reaching his guest and his self. Edgar Allan Poe made the rooms of the castle in this story to be bazaar with all seven chambers of the castle different colors that went in one direction from east to west representing a life cycle. The last chamber was colored black with red stained windows that represented the final stage of life or death. The prince and his guest did not dare to enter this chamber because they feared death and were terrified of the idea of it (2012). In this story the prince and his guest think that they are safe and have a masque ball, while at the party they drink and are having a good time not thinking of the plague that is ravishing the country around them nor the poor that are being stric...
Edgar Allen Poe is famous for his gothic stories and poetries. In The Fall of the House of Usher, the narrator visits his old childhood friend, Roderick Usher. The Usher family is a noble family that is well known for their incestual behavior, which leads to multiple deformations for their offspring. The only living heirs of the Usher family are the twins, Roderick and Madeline Usher, forever chained to the decrepit house they live in with no chance of escape. In The Masque of the Red Death, a plague is reeking havoc upon the country and Prince Prospero can only do one thing: lock himself and his noble subjects in the abbey to party and not worry about death. In both of the short stories, the characters are stationed inside their house, trying to forget all miseries, but death still occupies the back of their minds. The characters within the short stories are trying to prevent death by running away, but they end up rounding the corner to meet up with Death again.
Edgar Allan Poe uses what can be considered a disturbed type of writing. The reason why Edgar Allan Poe became famous was due to the fact that he wrote stories related to horror and mystery. In the story “Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe used time, location, and mood and atmosphere, among others. Poe was considered to be insane, but to what extent did his insanity go, and where does his real ability to use setting as a way to set a dark tone begin?
The life of Edgar Allan Poe, was stuffed with tragedies that all affected his art. From the very start of his writing career, he adored writing poems for the ladies in his life. When he reached adulthood and came to the realization of how harsh life could be, his writing grew to be darker and more disturbing, possibly as a result of his intense experimenting with opium and alcohol. His stories continue to be some of the most frightening stories ever composed, because of this, some have considered this to be the reason behind these themes. Many historians and literature enthusiasts have presumed his volatile love life as the source while others have credited it to his substance abuse. The influence of his one-of-a-kind writing is more than likely a combination of both theories; but the main factor is the death of many of his loved ones and the abuse which he endured. This, not surprisingly, darkened his perspective considerably.
When the choice came to read three of the psychological thrillers by Edgar Allen Poe, I decided to read “Ligeia”, “The Masque of the Red Death”, and “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether”. In the short story “Ligeia”, the narrator was having trouble dealing with the death of his first wife. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, the prince was focusing on keeping himself alive from the plague, and not worrying about his other subjects. “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether” had a tone of psychotic killing, having the top workers for a mental institution get overthrown and killed. The three stories had different means of dealing with death, and each of them showed different ways people can react to it.
Alcoholism, losing loved ones, and deadly diseases are connections to the remarkable writer Edgar Allan Poe’s sorrow-filled life, that are reflected in his works “The Raven” and “The Masque of the Red death.” In “The Raven” a downcast, dispirited man is mourning the loss of his deceased wife Lenore, when a raven swoops in and repeats the word “nevermore.” The Raven haunts the narrator with reminders of his lost love, and taunts his already broken sanity. After becoming overwhelmed with frustration he yearns to drink his troubles away, as Poe did when he had heartbreak in his grievous life. The narrator pleads to have his pain subsided with “Some kind Nepenthe” and asks God to “[Send] [him] respite… From [his] memories of Lenore” (Raven 82,83). Poe incorporating alcoholism into the poem demonstrates a clear connection to his own struggle of using
Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Masque of the Red Death” are two very different stories that share similar literary elements. The Tell-Tale Heart is about a man who killed this old man because of his “evil looking eye” and “The Masque of the Red Death” is about a prince who hides from a disease that is devastating his kingdom. However, these stories are very similar and are easily comparable. For example, they both let other people die for their own personal needs. Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic style of short stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Masque of the Red Death” are two stories with insane protagonists that are motivated by the setting and their selfishness and both of these stories share the same tone
First, in Poe’s life, his biological mom and his biological dad died of Tuberculosis when he was a kid. Later in his life, his foster mom also died from Tuberculosis. Then he went to live with his aunt and married his cousin virginia. In 1847, his wife Virginia then died of Tuberculosis. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, many people die of the Red Death, likely including people that Prince Prospero knew. This relates to the “The Masque of the Red Death” because both Poe and Prince Prospero knew people that died of a deadly epidemic. In addition, the symptoms of these two diseases are also similar. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, the symptoms of the red death include sharp pains, dizziness, bleeding from the pores, and most common symptom, blood stains on the victim’s bodies. Tuberculosis is also similar in symptoms because coughing a lot and coughing up blood are common symptoms. Therefore, this deadly epidemic affected Poe and his writing which caused him to write a story about an outbreak of a disease. In conclusion, the death of Poe’s wife, his gloomy childhood, and Tuberculosis influenced him to write the stories he
Poe uses major themes that are shown throughout the whole story in multiple different stories. In The Tell-Tale Heart and The Masque Of the Red Death we see themes that appear largely in both stories such as time and versions of reality. In The Tell-Tale Heart we see three different perspectives of reality that basically can be three different stories that are told depending on the person who’s story you view from. In The Masque of the Red Death there are several different types of reality that range from the poor sick and dying of the kingdom that are locked out of the castle to the rich members of the kingdom who are in a dream like atmosphere and which even includes the prince 's version of reality as well where he believes he can simply just close the door on the disease. The realities in the story even range all the way to the reality of the the Red Death itself who does not see social classes or status but just goes after anyone for no reasons, but just cause chaos and suffering. The other theme also includes how time ties both of the stories together. In The Tell-Tale Heart the unnamed main character and narrator is completely obsessed with time. For several nights in a row he goes into the old man 's room precisely at the same time and and he does the same exact procedure every single night. He then after the murder he commits hears the heart of the dead man that resembles a ticking clock. Next, in The Masque of the Red Death we see time being represented in the orientation of the rooms from east to east, the colors of the rooms and what they represent of stages of life, and finally the clock in the black room that is counting down the time until the death of everyone at the party. Edgar Allen Poe writes his stories with similar themes , but finds a way to have the theme have a different representation in every story and how the
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.
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Black Cat immerses the reader into the mind of a murdering alcoholic. Poe himself suffered from alcoholism and often showed erratic behavior with violent outburst. Poe is famous for his American Gothic horror tales such as the Tell-Tale Heart and the Fall of the House of Usher. “The Black Cat is Poe’s second psychological study of domestic violence and guilt. He added a new element to aid in evoking the dark side of the narrator, and that is the supernatural world.” (Womack). Poe uses many of the American Gothic characteristics such as emotional intensity, superstition, extremes in violence, the focus on a certain object and foreshadowing lead the reader through a series of events that are horrifying and grotesque. “The Black Cat is one of the most powerful of Poe’s stories, and the horror stops short of the wavering line of disgust” (Quinn).