During the late 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, a new movement in both literature and art swept the nation: Romanticism. This period set a heavy emphasis on emotion and individualism, and while many artists and authors explored the beautiful and fantastical side of the human mind, many more explored the darker, horror-filled side. Two authors especially famous for these kinds of stories were Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown” (“YGB”), Goodman Brown traverses into the forest to meet with the devil and discovers many haunting things about the people in his town. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Masque of the Red Death” (“Masque”), Prince Prospero, the ruling monarch of a country besieged by death, refuses to accept his mortality. Goodman Brown takes pride in his and his town members’ spiritual goodness and refuses to accept the idea that he or anyone else could commit sins, but is psychologically destroyed when he discovers the true nature of the people around him. Prince Prospero similarly takes pride in his wealth and fortune and will not accept his death, but the disease he was trying to avoid arrives and takes his life. Through their initial rejections, the two characters cause the destruction of a critical part of themselves, whether it be their faith in humanity or their physical body. Hawthorne and Poe both establish how pride causes an unwillingness to accept one’s fate, and how the
Edgar Allan Poe was a famous American writer and literary critic. Poe is best known for his short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and fear. Poe has a magic and dark way of writing. “The Masque of Red Death’’ is one of Poe's most famous stories. He proficiently used some death symbolism, bloody imagery,and skillful figurative language in order to contribute to his purpose to inform his reader impossible to escape from the death no matter who you are.
“And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.” This quote from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque Of The Red Death”connects the fictional fate of Prince Prospero and his subjects to the . . Red Death to the many loved ones Poe’s life is very similar to those in thelost to tuberculosis in the late 1800s. Poe uses personification and allegories to show emphasize the presence of death that theand fear and presence of death is evident present in his work. Poe uses personification and gory phrases to show bring to the forefront the fear of death that possesses everyone clutches .
The themes of death and ignorance come together to show that the only action more foolish than fleeing from death, is ignoring it. “The masque of the red death”, though set on the inside of an excessively elaborate party, shows the imminent and constant threat of death. Setting the tone for this macabre motif, Edgar Allen Poe gives a brief prologue to the action of the story stating that “the "red death" had long devastated the country…no pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous” (Poe 1). Prince Prospero, though seemingly unaffected by the near-utter destruction of his kingdom cannot shake the inevitable demise he sees coming, therefore most of his actions are dictated by his fear of death.
Throughout the gothic horror short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe illustrates the struggle of an egotistical prince who refuses to face the inevitable reality of death. Through the downfall of the protagonist, Poe establishes the idea that the inability to face reality often leads to the destruction of the mind. The downfall of the Prince is emphasized by Poe’s use of characterization, setting, and symbolism.
Death and darkness, Just two words used in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" to bring out grotesque imagery inside your head and force you to unwillingly share deep emotions embedded within your soul that you would otherwise not share with the world. This passage uses a third person view to follow the prince Prospero in his attempts to avoid a dangerous plague named "The Red Death". Edgar Allen Poe uses his language and word choice to create a mood which is terrifying and gloomy.
Within “The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allan Poe presents symbolic elements of both life and death to entice the audiences’ emotions and leave them in a state of wonderment. Some of the symbolisms that Poe uses are “The Red Death”, Prince Prospero, the color of the seven rooms, the ebony clock, and the “dreams” within the rooms. As each symbol is introduced, the suspense builds and the audience is pulled from the joyous lives of the masqueraders to the looming “Red Death” to create a roller coaster of emotion.
During his life, Edgar Allan Poe wrote many classic poems and short stories. Two of his most famous works are “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Masque of the Red Death.” In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” a man goes to visit his childhood friend and while there witnesses the fall of the Usher family line. “The Masque of the Red Death,” on the other hand, is about Prince Prospero’s attempts to keep death from his abbey and what ensues when death enters. Throughout both short stories, “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Fall of The House of Usher,” Poe enforces his theme of the fear of death, by carefully crafting the setting, characterization, mood, and point of view of each piece.
Edgar Allen Poe's “The Masque of the Red Death” is an extravagant allegory of the futility of trying to escape death. In the story, a prince named Prospero tries to avoid the Red Death through isolation and seclusion. He hides behind the impenetrable walls of his castle and turns his back on the rest of the world. But no walls can stop death because it is unavoidable and inevitable. Through the use of character, setting, point of view, and symbol, Poe reveals the theme that no one, regardless of status, wealth or power can stay the passing of time and the inevitable conclusion of life itself, death.
The standard perception concerning human limitations has it that the potential of humankind knows no bounds. Yet, the cycle of life disproves this recurrent opinion of human potential. Based upon the realistic scope of their own abilities, the phrase, “the sky’s the limit”, are well within the bounds of the timeless concepts of life and death. These ideas are common points amongst works of literature from the American Romantic Period. Moreover, one of the most prominent Romantics is Edgar Allan Poe, who utilizes seemingly natural attributes of human interactions, and expands them out of proportion in order to reveal the gloominess of those said attributes. Poe’s literary works encompass many aspects that are reflective of the Romantic Period; his works include the acknowledgement of nature or setting, emphasis on individuals and groups of people, and elements of the supernatural; such use of Romantic attributes also leads to a plausible interpretation of an indirect rejection of the establishment of religion. The utilization of these qualities appears frequently in Poe’s short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, which is a fictional account of a burgeoned plague and its multitude of effects on the wealthy survivors. Furthermore, a key point in the short story is the particular choice of setting: a gothic quarantine, which intertwines many Romantic elements. In particular, the quarantine of “The Masque of the Red Death”, is a symbol of human limitations and the
Edgar Allan Poe was a brilliant poet who endured an incredibly harrowing life. It seemed as if everyone he became close to would decease before his eyes. His grim life served as inspiration for his work which take on eerie, nightmarish tones and themes, likely because those disturbing subjects are what he knew best. One of his poems greatly influenced by his life was “The Masque of the Red Death”. Some parts of the poem influenced by his life are Prince Prospero, the red death, and the theme of the inevitability of death.
“The Masque of the Red death”, “The House of the Fall of Usher”, “The Cask of Amontillado” and “Murders in the Rue Morgue” are all similar. All these stories have dark setting, dark moods, and insane characters. These short stories and poems also have false sense of securities, death, and irony of all types. Edgar Allan Poe was an American author who was born 1809. His mother died when he was only two years old, and he was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Allan. He grew up in a great surrounding. Poe went to school in England and later returned to America to continue his studies. He went to college at 17, but ended up dropping out and went to the army. After Ms. Allan died, Mr. Allan signed Poe’s application to West Point, but Poe did not stay long
When it comes to the topic of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown, most of us will readily agree that duplicity is a major theme in the piece, or the idea of different versions of reality. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether Hawthorne is implying that man is inherently evil. Whereas some are convinced that Young Goodman Brown was good until tainted by the Devil, others maintain that he was evil from the beginning and was completely aware of the evil he was indulging in. My personal view, however, is that Young Goodman Brown was inherently evil, but it did not come to light until the Devil began to influence Brown. This can be seen through the use of symbolism, biblical allusions, and the development of the main characters. While the Devil may have revealed that Young Goodman Brown was not as innocent and pious as he appeared, Brown was willingly indulging in sin and was inherently evil.
Some of the first most impactful, original, and insightful writers of the United States were in the era of American Romanticism. Authors, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe, began to flourish in new ideas to progress the evolution of the American literary identity. “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe, respectively, illustrate protagonists on journeys to fulfill their own desires. Utilizing setting and the motif of guilt, Hawthorne and Poe create stories where a protagonist completes a journey that eventually leads to the realization that a clean conscience has a crucial role to one 's life. Throughout both short stories, the settings of the protagonists’ physical journeys parallel their emotional ones. Hawthorne utilizes a dark, mystical forest to highlight the fact that the path Brown takes is an abnormal one. Similarly, Poe uses the dark catacombs of Italy filled with the dead to showcase the path Montresor and Fortunato take to their desired destination for the live burial of Fortunato. Additionally, in the course of their journeys, each of the main characters reflect on their actions and both come to realize the acts they have committed are reprehensible. Hawthorne takes Brown on a journey where he realizes over time the extent of the sins he has committed and suffers guilt for his hypocrisy toward others. Montresor, determined to bury Fortunato alive, demonstrates signs of guilt even
When it comes to reading literature the most challenging yet important task is to understand the purpose of the author's writing. In Romantic era literature understanding the emotions and thoughts that are created in the reader's mind are essential to gaining a clear message that the writer is trying to send. In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death” the narrator immediately introduces the “Red Death”; a disease that has been spreading throughout Prince Prospero’s country; killing his people within half an hour of contracting the disease. Throughout the story the author continuously uses diction and syntax to create suspense and evoke a grim tone to the reader. In the “Masque of The Red Death” Poe produces fearful imagery in the reader's mind through creating a supernatural presence in the setting.
As a gothic writer, Edgar Allan Poe created horror using gloom as his weapon. Hidden within the suspenseful story of “The Masque of Red Death” is an allegorical tale of how individuals deal with the fear of death as time passes. Frantic activities and pleasures (as represented by Prince Prospero and his guests) seek to wall out the threat of death. However, the story reminds the reader that death comes “like a thief in the night”(Poe 3), and even those who seek peace and safety shall not escape. Poe uses symbolism to illustrate that man cannot hide from his own mortality.