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Edgar allan poe critical analysis
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Edgar allan poe critical analysis
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Isabel Smith Kash English 10 20 March 2018 Function of Terror Edgar Allan Poe, an infamous writer from the mid 19th century, is well known for his works which incorporate a dark, terror aspect to them. Edgar Allan Poe’s philosophy of death has a more illustrious role, than his tragic life. Poe’s harsh childhood memories carry through and reflect his writing throughout his adulthood. He expresses his pain and sorrow through his writing. In “The Mask of the Red Death” and “The Raven,” Poe uses emotions of terror to highlight that death is inescapable. Poe incorporates the use of terror in his writings to collocate the harshness and inescapable nature of the Red Death, tuberculosis. In one of his writings, “The Mask of the Red Death”, Poe writes: …show more content…
No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal --the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress, and termination of the disease were the incidents of half an hour. (Poe, “Masque” 1-6). This is referring to the Red Death as a disease.
Trying to create an atmosphere of fear, Poe mirrors the emotion of terror in the reader's mind as reflecting the fears of the people in the story. They were so afraid of the Red Death that they barricaded themselves from the real world. In Poe's story “The Raven”, he is foreshadowing the fact that he will die at some point. The narrator expresses Poe’s fear by saying: “ Fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core” (Poe, “Raven” 73). Poe distressed, sad, and anxious, grieves over his lost love, Lenore, and by an unusual raven who shows up in his room and will only say the words "Nevermore." The raven is a symbol of the narrator's own grief and his fears about his loss of life. He gets a feeling of fear in him when the bird is looking at him for so long. He feels a connection back to Lenore. He can never forget. Poe creates the feeling of terror in the eyes of the people by using certain colors with secondary meanings, such as red with blood and black with a funeral and death. “ Red, for example, is reminiscent of blood and black is traditionally associated with the funeral” (Plessis, “Function” 2). Plessis is symbolizing how Poe creates an eerie scene and mood through these colors which symbolize death and how it is inescapable. These disturbing elements of color create an eloquent function of
terror. In Poe’s lifetime, he was exposed to death at a very young age which shaped him to become a writer of mystery and terror. In “The Raven” Poe expresses himself when experiencing paranoia. “Darkness there and nothing more/...and an echo murmured back the word,’Lenore!’” (Poe, “Raven” 20- 25). Poe is facing terror in grief over his lost loved ones. He wants to forget about the memories of Lenore but keeps being reminded of her no matter what. This quote shows the dismay he felt when the disease of tuberculosis crept into his house wiping out many of his loved ones during his childhood and adulthood. Once the disease struck his lover he could feel it coming at him and there was no way to escape. Garrison, showing that in Poe’s stories, he affiliates the act of “horror, madness and those demonic influences which paralyze personality” (Garrison “Colors” 1). In “The Mask of the Red Death” the clock is a reminder to Poe of mortality. It is made of ebony, a black wood, black is a symbol of death. It is housed in the western half of a black and red room. Poe has been suffering from deceased family through his whole lifetime, which causes him to write about death in this manner. The clock puts the partygoers in fear. When the clock chimes at midnight even “the giddiest grow pale” and the oldest members at the party “passed their hands over their brows as if in confused reverie [...]” (Poe, “Masque” 2). The clock puts them in a nervous and panicky situation. Each time it rings, at that moment it reminds the partygoers of a time of passing, and triggers their minds to remember the little time they have left. They came to the abbey to escape death, but the clock is reminding them they can not live forever. This is a perfect reflection of Poe and his emotions of terror through his existence. Poe makes many statements throughout his story describing that no matter how hard someone tries to escape it, death reaches everyone. Since Poe grew up around death, primarily due to disease, his writing heavily focuses on those aspects of terror. Poe's appeal with death fueled his writing and gave him ideas from victims of terror and grief. The aftermath of terror throughout Poe’s life increased his state of insanity. Works Cited du Plessis, Eric H. "Deliberate Chaos: Poe's Use of Colors in 'The Masque of the Red Death." Short Story Criticism, edited by Rachelle Mucha and Thomas J. Schoenberg, vol. 88, Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420069374/GLS?u=avlr&sid=GLS&xid=215e29b b. Accessed 19 Mar. 2018. Originally published in Poe Studies/Dark Romanticism, vol. 34, no. 1-2, June-Dec. 2001, pp. 40-42. M., Joseph, and Garrison, Jr. "The Function of Terror in the Work of Edgar Allan Poe." Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, edited by Kathy D. Darrow, vol. 211, Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420090743/GLS?u=avlr&sid=GLS&xid=6a63a1fd Accessed 19 Mar. 2018. Originally published in American Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 2, Summer 1966, pp. 136-150. Poe, Edgar Allan.“The Masque of the Red Death.” Page by Page Books, http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Edgar_Allan_Poe/The_Masque_of_the_Red_Death/The_Masque_of_the_Red_Death_p3.html, 2004. Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Raven.” Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. Course 1. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2014, 312-317. Print.
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 stories “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Black Cat”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and “The masque of the Red Death” all share a similar setting, mood and characters. They also share a similarity of death. This is due to him loosing so many people to tuberculous. Throughout his life he saw his mother, his wife, and his sister die of the dreaded disease, which helped him write his stories and poems.
The writing style of Edgar Allan Poe shows the writer to be of a dark nature. In this story, he focuses on his fascination of being buried alive. He quotes, “To be buried alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these [ghastly] extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality.” page 58 paragraph 3. The dark nature is reflected in this quote, showing the supernatural side of Poe which is reflected in his writing and is also a characteristic of Romanticism. Poe uses much detail, as shown in this passage, “The face assumed the usual pinched and sunken outline. The lips were of the usual marble pallor. The eyes were lusterless. There was no warmth. Pulsation had ceased. For three days the body was preserved unburied, during which it had acquired a stony rigidity.” page 59 paragraph 2. The descriptive nature of this writing paints a vivid picture that intrigues the reader to use their imagination and visualize the scene presented in the text. This use of imagery ties with aspects of Romanticism because of the nature of the descriptions Poe uses. Describing the physical features of one who seems dead is a horrifying perspective as not many people thing about the aspects of death.
Death, despair, and revenge, these three words form a treacherous triangle to any reader who dare enter the mind of Edgar Allen Poe. In many of his works these expressions seem to form a reoccurring theme. Comparing the works "The Mask of the Red Death" and "The Cask of Amontillado", we will discuss these themes while analyzing the method behind Poe’s madness.
Each line, every detail seems to tie into a deeper meaning that carries the reader throughout the story alongside the narrator and partygoers, all the while laden with hints and deeper meanings that progress rapidly toward the awaiting “horror” of death. With the introduction of the story alone, Poe has already set the stage with the background on the horrifying “pestilence” and its effects on the human body. By aptly naming it the “Red Death,” Poe is already conjuring images of the gruesome, painful deaths of history’s great plagues, particularly the black death which nearly shares its name, as well “the redness and the horror of blood” (Poe 438). It is here that the story takes a turn with the introduction of Prince Prospero himself, momentarily placing thoughts of the Red Death on the
Edgar Allan Poe?s ?The Raven? is a dark reflection on lost love, death, and loss of hope. The poem examines the emotions of a young man who has lost his lover to death and who tries unsuccessfully to distract himself from his sadness through books. Books, however, prove to be of little help, as his night becomes a nightmare and his solitude is shattered by a single visitor, the raven. Through this poem, Poe uses symbolism, imagery and tone, as well as a variety of poetic elements to enforce his theme of sadness and death of the one he loves.
Death is tragic and one of the most finite things on Earth. It can turn an average human being insane and change his/her life forever. Losing someone close and dear is incredibly painful and an experience one will not forget. Death can cause numerous emotions to bubble up, like sorrow, and grief. In “The Raven” Poe utilizes imagery, diction, and figurative language along with symbolism to illustrate how isolation can cause madness when one comes to terms with the finite consequences of death.
In “The Masque Of The Red Death” and “The Cask Of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe warns his readers, that when people hesitate to accept the reality it often results in death. To convey this idea Poe has used a combination of similar setting and characters.
Obviously, all these works we have read by Edgar Allan Poe have been trying to inform readers of something. Unfortunately, for almost two centuries, people who read and even analyze Poe have failed to understand what Poe was trying to get them to learn. That is, until now. The craft elements everyone knows were used by Poe when he wrote his stories were used to create a universal theme, that is: Death is unavoidable, and it can only be quickened, not lengthened. Of course, Poe’s use of symbolism and allusion can help people understand this, as can his metaphors and irony.
How Bush Convinced America to Attack Terrorism Only twice in history has the U.S. been attacked on its own soil, but both times, the president has given a rhetorically effective speech to the American people in response. After 9/11, George Bush gave a State of the Union Address in Congress that stated to the American people that the terrorist attack of 9/11, in which the twin towers, which housed the World Trade Center, were destroyed, would elicit retribution to protect the people of America. Bush effectively informs Americans that he is not afraid to wage justice on all terrorist groups to protect freedom. Through the use of emotional appeals, he connects with the American people during his State on the Union Address by using pejorative language,
They are locked inside the castle and they are certain that they are shielded from the disease. Little do they know the Red Death is among them. The story ends with the Red Death exterminating them all, leaving no one safe. Poe lost his family to tuberculosis, and this really impacted his writing. He saw tuberculosis as a terrible killer, so that’s how it was expressed in his writing. The narrator claims that “No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. -- Blood was it’s Avatar and its seal -- There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution, -- And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all” (Masque 1, 15). This is clarifying that the Red Death is the worst killer of them all, and nothing was ever more dreadful. Also, it’s naming the symptoms of the disease, which are very similar to the symptoms of tuberculosis. Another thing is, the Red Death was explained like Poe would explain Tuberculosis. The Red Death killed everyone in the castle, and tuberculosis killed everyone Poe cared about. This truly reveals how tuberculosis dominated Poe’s personal life so much he had to include it in his writing. Above all, through disease, alcoholism, and loss, Edgar Allan Poe’s life is represented astonishingly in “The Raven” and “The Masque of the Red
In Poe’s own life no durg could ever fully numb him to the pain of all his loses. His only true solace from his despair was in literature and his writings. Poe believed that visual art allowed the spirit to transcend the plane of reality to which it was stuck. In the Raven the narrator closely resembles Poe in this aspect. The narrator spends many a night reading long forgotten literature in an attempt to forget his own troubles after his loss. This is explained beautifully by Poe with the line “Eagerly I wished the morrow;- vainly I had tried to borrow, / From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore.” (Poe 9-10) No matter how hard he tries; however he can shake the crushing despair that has a firm grip on his emotions. One dreary night the narrator gained an unsuspecting visitor. This visitor came in the form of a raven that flew into his window. The raven torments the man reminding him of his insecurities, his flaws, and his loss. The raven accomplishes all these things by rhythmically answering his pleas with but one word, to quote the raven “nevermore.” Just like the narrator will nevermore see the face of his dead love, he too will never be free from his despair. For as long as the man lives much like Poe he
Edgar Allan Poe was a man who unfortunately was born into a life full of morbidity and grief. The stories and poems that he created reflect the experience he has with agonizing situations, in which Poe’s dark side developed; his evil reasoning and twisted mentality allowed Poe to develop extremely vivid and enthralling stories and works. Due to not only his family members but also his wifes to passing from tuberculosis, morbidity and grief is present in almost every work that Poe created. From major works such as “the Raven”, “Black Cat”, “Annabel Lee”, and the Tell- Tale Heart, Poe utilized themes such as death, premature burials, body decompositions, mourning, and morbidity to enhance his point an the image he attempted to convey.
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 Allan Poe is known for his masterful writing on all aspects of mortality, but his famous short story “The Masque of the Red Death” proves to be more than a simple story about death. While it is about death, Poe’s short story can be read and applied as a cautionary tale whose purpose is to illustrate a worthy way to live and die by portraying the opposite of both. This interpretation comes about when the story is viewed through the lens of New Criticism. This viewpoint shows how the story uses its formal elements converge to create one complex theme. Poe’s short story develops its theme through the use of paradox, tension, irony and ambiguity, all of which come together to identify