Theme Of Death And Dying In Gothic Literature

As a child, Poe would watch his mother perform on stage every night. He would be sitting front row watching the beautiful actress commit suicide every night due to her role as Juliet from Shakespeare's famous play. After the curtains closed, Poe’s mother would take young Edgar and go on with her evening (Edgar Allan Poe). Now, as an impressionable young child, Poe would see his mother die on stage and then see her “come back to life”. This led to Poe’s fascination with death. In “The Raven”, “Annabel Lee”, and “The Cask of Amontillado”, death is the main component. In “The Raven”, Poe talks about a man who was going mad while trying to forget his love who had just died. The fact that this woman is dead contributes to Poe’s theme of death. Now, this is not the only piece of literature that has to do with a man’s love dying, in the poem “Annabel Lee” Poe

Usually, fairy tales are in connection to big and illustrious happy endings. But in Edgar Allan Poe’s case, it is evident that they do not exist, for his stories more often than not bear a grotesque demeanor. His life was surrounded by death. All of the women in his life died young, including his mother, sister, and wife. By the age of three, he had experienced what most would not experience until nearly the middle or end of their lives. Living in such an atmosphere allowed Poe to reach deep into his emotions when writing. Edgar Allan Poe was known for his macabre metaphors. These metaphors challenged the reader to endeavor themselves into his simple words; coming to find the gothic elements portrayed. He most commonly portrayed love and death in his poems. Poe is even credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. Edgar Allan Poe utilizes symbolism and portrays an envious love tale, ending in tragedy to expose the speaker’s emotional state in the poem “Annabel Lee.”

The story “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner and the poem “Annabel Lee” By Edgar Allan Poe are famous pieces of literature that draw many similarities. “A Rose For Emily” is in the point of view of the townspeople after Miss Emily Grierson has died. Emily has always been a subject of gossip in the town and all her secrets are soon unfolded. The Narrator is the main character of “Annabel Lee” whose story begins as he tells a tale of his lover Annabel Lee’s death, which is said to be caused by the jealousy of angels. While these stories may seem very different, both pieces are forms of gothic literature, and share themes like Alienation and Loneliness after death.

This story is a gothic tale because Poe talks about the gloomy night and the decaying surroundings. He also brings up a haunted house, the potential of burying someone alive, and dying of fear.

The fear of the unknown is a common Gothic theme that is used to create fear and uncertainty in the responder. This is achieved through the use of a number of different techniques and conventions. The fear of the unknown is expressed through dark, uncertain and mysterious circumstances cause responders to feel vulnerable and fearful. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula the overpowering force of the sublime, the prominence of religion, death and use of darkness accompanied by typical Gothic techniques evoke a fear of the unknown in responders. This common Gothic themes can also be observed in The Road by Cormac McCarthy, in which the fear of the unknown is enhanced by the sublime, the prominence of religion, death and the use of darkness. Furthermore,

The theme death has always played a crucial role in literature. Death surrounds us and our everyday life, something that we must adapt and accept. Whether its on television or newpaper, you'll probobly hear about the death of an individual or even a group. Most people have their own ideas and attitude towards it, but many consider this to be a tragic event due to many reasons. For those who suffered greatly from despair, living their life miserably and hopelessly, it could actually be a relief to them. Death effects not only you, but also those around you, while some people may stay unaffected depending on how they perceive it.

Edgar Allan Poe is a famous well known writer known for his dark and gothic horror stories such as “The Tell-Tale Heart” and many others. The well-known author had a rough life which dealt with a lot of death, so most of his stories revolve around this idea. In “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Masque of the Red Death” Poe uses similar themes or darkness to convey tone and conflict throughout the story. His writing style is dark and revolves around one main concept: death. Edgar Allan Poe uses diction and syntax, setting and conflict, and characterization in his writing style to develop his stories.

Gothic literature uses wide ranging themes and gothic elements to convey its story. Gothic literature short stories can range from romance to horror to supernatural occurrences. Horacio Quiroga’s “The Feather Pillow,” Richard Matheson’s “Prey,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” all incorporate the following gothic elements: violence, revenge, hallucinations, nightmares, and psychological issues.

Gothic literature contains many thematic elements such as horror, death, and even at times romanticism. This type of literature incorporates various different elements, in order to evoke the emotions of terror. There are many authors who are extremely talented and are still remembered and read in classrooms today. These are authors like Edgar Allan Poe, best known for his mysterious poems and short stories, Richard Matheson and Horacio Quiroga, who have all incorporated psychological problems and violence themes in their short stories in order to fascinate the readers and add suspense to the story. These three gothic authors correlate the themes of violence and the psychological/ mental issues in order to depict anticipation and terror

In these gothic literature short stories regarding romanticism the authors often use many elements that pertain to fear, however, the most prevalent themes in: “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, “Prey” by Richard Matheson, “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, and “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga are grotesqueness and violence. The authors utilize grotesqueness and violence in order to furthermore portray a dismal mood, foreshadow events to come, and to further entice the reader.

The classic short story of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, written by one of the all time masters of horror, Edgar Allen Poe, has always been used as an excellent example of Gothic fiction. Edgar Allen Poe specialized in the art of gothic writing and wrote many stories that portrayed disturbing events and delved deeply into the minds of its characters. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," Poe revolves the plot around a raving individual who, insisting that he is sane, murders an old man because of his` “vulture eye”. The three main gothic elements that are evident in this story are the unique setting, the theme of death and decay, and the presence of madness.

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

“The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe is a fantastic short story, but how does it fit into literature? The story uses elements and techniques that delve into the gothic genre and allows the reader to be introduced to a darker reality. In “The Tell Tale Heart”, gothic elements reveal themselves in the short story through the use of setting and also through the use of characterization. These two elements are key components which demonstrate gothic features and help to classify this story as gothic literature. Murder and the supernatural elements also show that this text can be considered within the gothic genre of literature.

In the poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, by Emily Dickinson and “Home Burial”, by Robert Frost, literary elements are used throughout both poems to get the message the authors are trying to portray. One main important literary element that is used to entice the reader, is symbolism, because it helps the authors describe something without actual describing it. Symbolism is also used because it shows how significant an object is. Characterization is also an important literary technique because it, gives the reader an idea on how the character would act, work, and their values in life. Death is a topic that is used in both poems. Also, every character express their opinion about death differently.

Picture this. The father of modern crime and detective stories, known as Edgar Allan Poe, is sitting down about to write a beautiful piece of writing and BAM! He whisks away into a story of love, death, and just plain out horror; either characters are losing someone near and dear to their hearts or they are plotting to kill. Edgar Allan Poe, at a very young age, lost both of his parents, and later on in life, lost his wife to tuberculosis, so in one way or another, these stories reflect off of his personal experiences. A major theme in Poe’s writings is death. The theme of death is seen throughout the works of Annabel Lee, the Cask of Amontillado, the Raven, and the Black Cat.