Literary Analysis: The Masque Of The Red Death

What a lot of people do not know is that many famous literary pieces that readers find so relatable were actually based off of instances in the author’s own lives. A lot of times authors will take experiences from their personal lives and incorporate them into their work. Although the characters are fictional, the events that happen and the feelings they experience are not. Rather, the stories are based off something traumatic that has happened to the author, and the writer is also making up characters that secretly parallel people from his/her life. A lot of times authors “use fiction to tell the truth,” meaning that the characters and some events might be made up, but the themes, emotions, and outcomes are not. Authors like Edgar Allan

As mentioned, Poe lost three important people in his life to the disease. In this short story, Poe shows how the disease takes hold of all aspects of his life and how the effects of tuberculosis are inescapable. The “Red Death” that is described in the tale is clearly intended to be a symbol for tuberculosis, and a representation of its effects that it had on Poe during his life. The Red Death in the story is described by having sharp pains, sudden dizziness, and then bleeding at the pores. After reading the tale, it becomes clear that the use of the Red Death in the story was intended as a way to embody the horrible disease and how it had taken control of Poe’s life in many

Biographically and historically, Poe incorporated the three most important women of his life into many of his works. “The Masque of the Red Death” for example emphasizes the effect that tuberculosis had on Poe’s life in particular and how it killed his family. The devastation and sadness that Poe had to endure afterward are evident in the extreme ways that the characters in his stories suffer and are killed. Of Poe’s poems, “Annabel Lee” very accurately depicts the love and emotions he felt toward his wife Virginia, and what he truly felt after she died. It depicts that he had true love for her and that she was the only true love of his life. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” the anger and murderous thoughts that Poe secretly had for his rival Thomas English are evident when Fortunato suffers a very odd and outlandish slow and painful death that was bestowed upon him by Montresor, who represents Poe. Poe used his stories and poems as a way to express his true emotions and how certain things effected him. The thoughts and feelings that are depicted in Poe’s work may be things that Poe would never admit to or share aloud with other people, so he writes them and makes them as extreme as possible. Although Poe would probably never chain someone to a vault in real life, “The Cask of Amontillado” is a relatable story