The Unique Writing Style in Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of Red Death

Edgar Allan Poe, 40, passed October 7th 1849 in Baltimore of congestion of the brain. He was born Edgar Poe on January 19th 1809 in Boston, MA to David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Poe, later John Allan and France's Allan. He was married to his first cousin, Virginia Clemm Poe on September 22nd 1835, who died of tuberculosis at age 24. He wrote short stories about his struggles in life and his misfortunes. He survived by his siblings, William and Rosalie Poe. He did not have any children or remaining immediate family. His stories will forever be a part of American Literature as pieces of art.

Edgar Allan Poe incorporated his own life into his stories and poems by including his emotions and difficulties with the death of his loved one's, alcoholism, and the afterlife. The death of Poe’s loved ones affected him greatly, and this is shown in many of his poems/stories. In his short story, The Masque of the Red Death, he states, “And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall… And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.” This is saying that the Red Death, which we can infer symbolizes tuberculosis, is killing everybody, and leaving darkness everywhere. This connects to

In the writings “Masque of the Red Death,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and the poem “Alone,” written by Edgar Allan Poe, there are qualities about them that make them similar. Examples of some of these similarities would be isolation, mood, symbolism and death. All of these similarities are common in many of Poe’s writings because of his personal life. Throughout Poe’s life he experienced the deaths of his mother, adopted mother, and wife due to illnesses (Tuberculosis). Because of these deaths, it effected his style of writing, which is depressing, sorrowful and he goes deep into his feelings.

     Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 as Edgar Poe. He was the second son to Elizabeth Arnold Poe and David Poe. Both parents were actors, and shortly after Poe’s birth, his father deserted his family around 1810. Edgar became an orphan before the age of three years, when his mother died on December 8, 1811 in Richmond, Virginia at the age of twenty-four years. His father died at the age of twenty-seven years old. After his mother’s death, the childless couple, John and Frances Allan, took in Poe; his paternal grandparents took in brother William Henry; and foster parents cared for sister Rosalie. Allan was a strict and unemotional tobacco merchant and his wife was

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 to Eliza and David Jr, who were traveling actors, members of a repertory company in Boston. Before Edgar was three, both his parents passed away. John Allan, a wealthy tobacco farmer from Richmond, Virginia, raised him from there on, even though Allan never officially adopted him. By age 13, he had written enough poetry to publish a book, but his headmaster persuaded him not to. However, Poe attended the best schools available and went to University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1825. Although Poe was academically distinguished, he was forced to leave after less than a year due to bad debts and no financial support from Allan. He returned to Richmond to his fiancés home but found out she was engaged to someone else. In 1827, Poe published his first book, “Tamerlane” and a few other poems at age 18. Then the only mother he had ever known had died of tuberculosis. Poe enlisted in the US Military Academy at West Point. Allan

Edgar Allan Poe was born at 33 Hollis Street, Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809. Poe’s parents were struggling actors. His father deserted him, and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was three years old. Young Edgar was taken in by a wealthy tobacco exporter by the name of John Allan, from whom he took his middle name. Most of his early life was lived in Richmond, Virginia, with the exception of a five-year period when the Allan family lived in England. His life in England was described as rather uneventful. Poe, even in his early years, had a proficiency for writing poetry. When he moved back to Virginia, Poe grew attached to young girl in his neighborhood named Sarah Royster. They frequently visited,

Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Shortly after, Poe’s mother, Elizabeth, an actor from an English theatrical family, passed away in Richmond, Virginia in 1811. With the lack of a father as a traveler, David Poe, was hardly around to support him in his life. With Poe’s financial problem getting worse, John Allan, a tobacco exporter and care taker of when he was younger, passed away and left Poe completely out of his will. During this time, Poe published stories and poems in the Messenger. Eventually, Poe married to his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, after being forced through financial problems to move in. When Poe later began to have feelings for Virginia. Facing disagreements with the age difference they married at, Messenger rejected him, putting Poe into a difficult position requiring him to move to New York for editorial work. In 1839, he joined Burton’s Gentlemen’s Magazine, which he later left to create his own literary magazine. Unfortunately, Poe’s business was unsuccessful, so he became an editor for Graham’s Magazine. In

Edgar Allan Poe once said, “We loved with a love that was more than love.” Poe was born January 19, 1809 and died October 7, 1849. Even though Poe died at a very young age he faced many tribulations. First, losing his parents at the mere age of three and being forced to live with his foster father whom he did not get along with. As a teenager Poe was heartbroken when his first love suddenly died. To add onto that Poe was a terrible alcoholic throughout his adulthood. His life finally looked like it was turning around when he married his cousin, Virginia, in 1836. Poe continued to struggle to make money in order to support his family, however he still continued to write. After 11 years of marriage Virginia died of tuberculosis, sending Poe in downward spiral that he

Throughout life, there are many ups and downs, and everyone has to have the bad and good in life. Edgar Allen Poe is famous for his dark written Gothic stories such as The Masque of the Red Death. Edgar Allen Poe tends to get his readers excited while reading because of his choice of words and dark tones he uses to get his themes across, which is more than likely chilling or dark. He lures his readers in by being suspenseful, making the reader not want to quit reading because they want to know what happens next without putting the piece of literature down. Throughout the author’s stories, he typically has ups and downs, one of the downs most likely being death because of the anticipation he makes the readers feel. He

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most mysterious authors that the world of writing has known. Although many critics have different views on Poe's writing style, Harold Bloom summed it up best when he said, "Poe has an uncanny talent for exposing our common nightmares and hysteria lurking beneath our carefully structured lives".(Bloom 7 ). Many of Poe’s works can be related back to his life. Poe had many problems such as psychological illness, alcohol addiction, and gambling issues. There is also the fact that Poe’s life was full of heart aches such as the fact that everyone that Poe would grow to love would leave him or die. Since Poe’s works are so closely related to his life or inspired by his life struggles one can correctly assume

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer who believed every single word contained meaning and in his own words expressed this idea in brevity only he is capable, "…there should be no word written, of which tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design." (Poe 244). To this effect, Poe drenches his works in symbolism and allegory. Especially in shorter works, Poe assigns meaning to the smallest object, explicitly deriving exurbanite significance within concise descriptions. "The Masque of the Red Death" tells the story of a Prince Prospero who along with his one thousand friends sought a haven from the plague that was ravishing their country. They lived together in the prince's luxurious abbey with all the amenities and

the Red Death shows the futile attempts by a prince and his guests of a party,

Throughout the history of literature we see an obvious string of religion connecting most works to the core of their beginnings. From creation stories of tribes, to colonial poems, to the twisted mind of Edgar Allan Poe, there is a connection. Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” may not seem to portray the ideas of religion but through close examination, the association will become less cloudy. Poe’s use of symbolism, narrator, word choice, helps readers unmask the idea of religion.

Death is a terrifying prospect for most people; imagine being face to face with it. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death”, the revelers are in this very situation. Prince Prospero’s country is being devastated by the Red Death. A plaque that results in a painful, gruesome, death. Therefore, Prince Prospero being the selfish, uncaring man he is, locked himself and a thousand of his lighthearted friends in his abbey to hide from the Red Death. After 6 months of seclusion Prince Prospero throws a masquerade to celebrate that they were still free of the Red Death. It is at this masquerade that a gruesome mummer appears before Prince Prospero and all the revelers, and death quickly follows. In this short story, Poe personifies death through the mummer who appears like a thief in the night, stealing the lives of Prince Prospero and his court.

Poe married his cousin Virginia Clemm in 1836,she was only 13, then in 1837 they went to New York there he published the narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym his only novel. In the summer of 1846 he moved with his wife to a cottage in what was a rural area in Bronx N.Y; she died there of tuberculosis in January of 1947.On October 3, 1949, in Baltimore a stranger found him delirious and in need of medical attention, a few days later he died at the age of 40 from unknown causes.