Similarities Between The Premature Burial And The Masque Of The Red Death

Derek Revilla

Dr. Joseph Spedaliere

LITR220

November 15, 2014

Question 1:

What effect does the fear of death have on Poe's characters in “The Premature Burial” and “The Masque of the Red Death?”

Answer:

Edgar Allen Poe was one of the most influential and iconic authors of the early to mid 19th century. Even today, his work continues to create an eerie, yet entertaining form of literature that still influences many authors. In his writings, Poe commonly referred to death and how his characters feared and tried to avoid it at all cost.

In “The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe talks about a disease or plague of some sort, that causes someone to profusely perforate blood from their pores and orifices before finally having a seizure and dying.

In his other work “The Premature Burial”, the narrator describes events that have occurred in the past; about people having the appearance of death along with all the symptoms and some time after burial, or during an autopsy of the body, they wake up (Poe, p309-318).
Poe uses death as a motivator or reason in which his characters act. With “The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe’s characters try to avoid death in any way possible by isolating themselves from the rest of the infected population in an attempt to cheat death. In “The Premature Burial”, the narrator is so fearful of being buried alive, that he has his entire life and burial site molded for easy escape, in order to prevent his early demise. The narrator lives in a constant state of fear and panic while isolating himself from any activity or place in which he could be mistaken for dead (Poe, 315).
Death in Poe’s stories is chiefly used as reason for acting in an extreme state of paranoia or isolation. Through its use, he creates an environment of fear with the false pretense that one has cheated death in some way. However, in his stories, death usually catches his characters or at least touches them in some way.
Question 2:
Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Emerson and Thoreau were actually among a fairly tight group. Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Melville all knew each other well; they were friends and neighbors. They knew well the works of Poe (who died in 1849); he in turn wrote about Emerson. Although they all had their own individual style and vision, they influenced each other. Discuss the similarities and contrasts in these writers based on your understanding of the Romantic and Transcendentalist movements, the era, the authors, and the works themselves.

Answer:
Hawthorne, Melville, Emerson, and Thoreau all had similar ideals about human nature, individualism, natural beauty, and nature itself.

Though their writing styles and tones were different, these authors created works that are continuously enjoyed today.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about life lessons and relied quite heavily on irony. He used it to keep a story entertaining but also to teach a life lesson. Also, Hawthorne did not write in the first person such as Emerson. Hawthorne’s work “The Ambitious Guest” uses several examples of irony to teach his lesson about planning on a life that is not guaranteed.

Herman Melville actually received some of his inspiration to write his work “Moby Dick” from Hawthorne (Perkins, p335). Both men wrote about human nature however, Melville did not use irony as much. Melville also wrote to challenge people to work towards individuality and to try and teach an underlying life

lesson.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the most influential of the early Transcendentalist movement and romantic era writers.

He paved the way for individuality and writing about both nature and life’s beauty. Though his work can be difficult to read and is in true poetic form, Emerson’s tone in his writing is in an encouraging one. Unlike Melville and Hawthorne, Emerson did not write in a short story format but in first person in an attempt to connect with the reader on a more personal basis.

Henry David Thoreau was more like Emerson in his writings. He would write in first person format for the same reasons as to connect with his readers. Thoreau also challenged for change with societal behaviors and human nature. Like Emerson, Thoreau was very descriptive and appreciated nature’s beauty in his writings. Thoreau also became part of the Transcendentalist movement.

Edgar Allen Poe wrote in first person like Thoreau and Emerson, but also used irony like Hawthorne. Poe created a dark and eerie atmosphere in his writings to challenge people in their thoughts about life, death, human nature, and people’s values.

In conclusion, each of these men were some of the greatest authors of their time. Unfortunately, Melville’s work was not appreciated until some time after his death. All of these authors wrote about their views on natural beauty, human nature, and challenging societal norms while trying to encourage individuality.

Work

Cited:

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Ambitious Guest.” The American Tradition in Literature. Vol. 2,
12th ed. Eds. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. Boston: McGraw Hill. Create eText.
http://create.mcgraw-hill.com.
Perkins, George and Barbara Perkins, Eds. The American Tradition in Literature. Vol. 2, 12th ed.
Boston: McGraw Hill. Create eText. http://create.mcgraw-hill.com.
Poe, Edgar A. “The Masque of the Red Death.” The American Tradition in Literature. Vol. 2,
12th ed. Eds. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. Boston: McGraw Hill. Create eText.
http://create.mcgraw-hill.com.
---. “The Premature Burial.” The American Tradition in Literature. Vol. 2, 12th ed. Eds. George
Perkins and Barbara Perkins. Boston: McGraw Hill. Create eText.
http://create.mcgraw-hill.com.