Poe

The term gothic is often portrayed as dark, mysterious, horrific, and suspenseful. During the eighteenth and nineteenth century gothic writing became a successful genre in the world of fiction. Many fictional works during this time period were gothic and known for being dark and creepy leaving the reader in a state of pleasing terror. Edgar Allan Poe became one of the most popular gothic poets of his time, and mostly known for the unusual and disturbing themes throughout his poems. A common theme throughout his two works, “The Raven” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, was sanity and where the narrator lacked thereof. “The Raven” begins with a man being disturbed by a knock at his door and is eventually driven mad by a raven who can only recite the word “nevermore”. Likewise, Montresor is narrating a murder he committed fifty years previous in “The Cask of Amontillado.” Each of these works, written by Poe, has a dark underlying theme.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809, Edgar Allan Poe faced many hardships in his life beginning at nine months old, when his alcoholic father abandoned his mother and other two siblings. Once Poe had lost his wife Virginia to illnesses, his poems were noticeably growing darker and more gruesome, and her death “haunted Poe until the end of his life” (Erica). These are only a few hardships Poe faced throughout his life, and each one led him to become a more dramatic and disturbing person. Every suffering he faced was used as a prompt for his writings, and throughout his work he places his hurt and depression into each piece based off his own life. His famous poems are the results of his insanity based off his unfortunate life. Even though Poe lived a challenging and stressful life, his poems ...

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...clude the creepy setting of the story, the gruesome details, and the tragic death of a seemingly innocent man. Poe describes the walls of the basement being covered in white mineral that choke up Fortunato leaving a disturbing image in a reader’s mind. Then he depicts the family shield in grave details to make his point of the of Montresor’s dominance over Fortunato. The most disturbing part of the story is when Montresor takes pleasure in hearing Fortunato plead for mercy. Not only was Fortunato in altered state of mind from the amontillado; he was being murdered brick by brick of the enclosing wall. Mentall disturbed people such as Montresor take pleasure in pain, anxiety and any other negative emotions.

These two fictional works of Edgar Allan Poe are similar because they portray mannerism of the Gothic genre of writing during the time period of his existence.