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Literary Criticism Of The Cask Of Amontillado

Decent Essays

The Cask of Amontillado is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe published in 1846. The story focuses on a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes betrayed him. Because of the plot arrangement, this short story seems to be written using biographical strategy. Biographical strategy is concerned about how the author’s biography may have influenced the story. The similarities between Poe’s personal life and the characters love with alcohol, failures in his life and along with the misfortunes Poe had lived shared many likenesses.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet and critic. Poe is famous for his tales and poems of horror and mystery. During his lifetime he had multiple relatives that died from Tuberculosis. “Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by bacteria that are spread through the air from person to person. If not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal” (CDC 1). During his childhood, his biological father left his mother and the year after that his mother died from TB. When he was orphaned he got “adopted” by John and Frances Allan in Virginia. Thanks to John he attended the University of Virginia where he had his first meetings with drinking and gambling. Poe was “forced to withdraw from the University of Virginia after only one year because of gambling debts” (Railton 1); Afterwards, because he was unable to support himself, he joined the United States Army, however the “court-martialed and dismissed from West Point for dereliction of duty”

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