Best known for his poems and short fiction, Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston on Jan. 19, 1809, deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story from tale to art. He for the most part created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his time. Poe died Oct. Poe’s parents were touring actors; both died before he was three years old, and he was taken into the home of John Allan, a wealthy merchant in Richmond, Va. , and baptized Edgar Allan Poe.
His childhood was uneventful, although he studied for five years in England between the years of 1815 through 1920. In 1826 he entered the University of Virginia, however, he only attended for a year. Although a good student, he ran up large gambling debts that Allan refused to pay. Allan prevented his return to the university and broke off Poe’s engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster, his girlfriend. Having no where to turn, Poe enlisted in the army. He had, however, already written and printed his first book at his own expense: Tamerlane and Other Poems, verses
Temporarily approved, Allan secured Poe’s release from the army and his appointment to West Point but refused to provide financial support. After six months Poe apparently contrived to be dismissed from West Point for disobedience of orders. His fellow cadets, however, contributed the funds for the publication of Poems by Edgar A. Poe. Poe next took up residence in Baltimore with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia, and turned to fiction as a way to support himself.
In 1832 the Philadelphia Saturday Courier published five of his stories, all comic or satiric. Poe, his aunt, and Virginia oved to Richmond in 1835, and he became editor of the Southern Literary Messenger and married Virginia, who was not yet fourteen years old. His contributions undoubtedly increased the magazine’s circulation, but they offended its owner, who also took exception to Poe’s drinking. In New York City, then in Philadelphia and again in New York Poe sought to establish himself as a force in literary journalism, but with only moderate success.
He did succeed, however, in formulating influential literary theories and in demonstrating mastery of the forms he favored, highly musical poems and short prose narratives. The tale Poe considered his finest, The Fall of The House of Usher, which was to become one of his most famous stories. Virginia’s death in January 1847 was a heavy blow, but Poe continued to write and lecture. In the summer of 1849 he revisited Richmond, lectured, and was accepted anew by the fiancee he had lost in 1826.
After his return north he was found unconscious on a Baltimore street. In a brief obituary the Baltimore Clipper reported that Poe had died of congestion of the brain. The short story is a prose narrative that can be told or read on a single occasion. It is believed to be the oldest form of prose fiction. Originating with primitive accounts of supernatural encounters, short narratives have existed in the form of parables, fairy tales, folk tales, legends, and fables throughout history.
Edgar Allan Poe perfected what has come to be known as the classic form, as opposed to the later hard-boiled form developed in the 1920s. The classic form is the story in which a seemingly impossible crime has been committed and the detective relies on his or her superior perception, intellect, and often arcane knowledge to solve Edgar Allan Poes, The Fall of the House of Usher takes on the same basic literary hemes as do most of his stories, suspense imparticular.
However, he also uses the supernatural in this story as well. Poes vast description enables the reader to place himself with the narrator, and get a better feeling of what is truly going on with the story. Using a nameless narrator allows the reader to use his imagination on to what the narrator looks like; is it the reader himself? Poe? or a figment of Poes imagination? That is to forever be unknown. However, it is also part of the reason Poes work has become the superlative of the short story.
The story takes place mainly in the House of the Usher family, the exact location in is not entioned, however, the surroundings seem very gloomy; the house itself is described as decaying, Poe obviously was trying to give the reader a mental image of a dark, immense, house, Throughout the story, Poe’s imagery of the house and the inanimate objects inside serve to give a supernatural atmosphere to the story. By giving inanimate objects almost life-like characteristics, he is giving the house a supernatural quality.
This supernatural element serves to make Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher interesting and suspenseful in his treatment of the house’s effect on its inhabitants. It also allows the house to become, in my opinion, the most important character of the story, although it is inanimate. However, three tangible characters play the decisive role in this story: Lady Madeline, Roderick Usher, and the un-named narrator. Lady Madeline, the twin sister of Roderick Usher, is introduced as a character, however, never speaks a word throughout the entire story.
In fact, she is absent from most of the book. Poe seems to present her as a ghostlike figure. Lady Madeline had the tendency to roam the house, not taking notice to anything, or anyone. According to the narrator, Lady Madeline “passed slowly hrough a remote portion of the apartment, and, without having noticed [his] presence, disappeared. At the narrator’s arrival, she goes to her bedroom and falls into a catatonic state. The narrator, after the decision that she is not waking up, helps bury and put her away in a vault, however, with her reappearance, he flees.
It becomes apparent that Madeline had fallen to the mental disorder which seems to plague the House of Usher. Roderick Usher, the old child hood friend of the narrator, and head of the house, plays a rather distinctive role in the story. He comes from a rather wealthy family in which he now stakes laim to the family money. Roderick, as the narrator tells the reader, had once been an attractive man.
However, his appearance deteriorated over time. At first meeting with Roderick, the narrator spoke of the radical change in his friends appearance, to the point in which “I doubted to whom I spoke. Roderick’s altered appearance probably was caused by his insanity. The narrator notes various symptom from which he bases his opinion that Roderick is not mentally sane: excessive nervous agitation. His actions were alternately vivacious and sullen, his voice varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision. Roderick’s state worsens throughout the story. He becomes increasingly restless and unstable, especially after the burial of his sister. He is not able to sleep and claims that he hears noises.
Generally, Roderick is an unstable man, his capability to remain sane is far gone at the point in which he is introduced. The narrator, although he remains nameless, appears to be a man of common sense. He shows his good heartedness in going to help an old child hood friend, whom he has lost contact with prior to the letter sent by Roderick. With his arrival to the house, he observes Usher and concludes that his friend has a mental disorder. He looks for natural scientific explanations for what Roderick senses. The narrator’s tone throughout the story suggests that he cannot understand Usher.
Oddly enough, it becomes obvious in the beginning of the story that the narrator is superstitious. When he looks upon the house, even before he met Roderick Usher, he observes “There can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition. ” When he and Roderick go down to bury Madeline, he speculates that she may not be completely dead yet. However, rather than mentioning his suspicion to his friend, he remains silent and ontinues the burial. The narrator comes across as more of a practical man, trying to dismiss strange occurrences as coincidence, or natural occurrences.
For example, when Roderick claims that there are ghosts in the house, the narrator feels fear too, but he dismisses Roderick’s and his own fear by attributing them to a natural cause. In the end, this fear finally overcomes him. The three characters of course are unique people with distinct characteristics, but they are tied together by the same type of mental disorder. All of them suffer from insanity, yet each responds differently. Lady Madeline seems to accept the fact that she is insane and continues her life with that knowledge. Roderick Usher appears realize his mental state and struggles very hard to hold on to his sanity.
The narrator, who is slowly but surely contracting the disease, wants to deny what he sees, hears, and senses. Unlike the other two characters, however, he escapes the insanity that is, The House of Usher. In The Fall of the House of Usher has an unusual conflict occurring. Unlike most stories, the conflict does not fall between to animate objects, instead it falls between man, and a inanimate object, a house. Although the conflict is not coming from the house itself, however, more the supernatural beings which inhabit it. They do, however, reflect themselves upon the house.
In this case, the house and its beings which inhabit it, reign over the characters. In the story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe explores the inner workings of the human imagination but, at the same time, cautions the reader about the destructive dangers which can result from it. When fantasy suppresses reality, as in Roderick’s case, what results is madness and the decay of mental stability. Madeline’s return and death reunites the twin natures of their ingle being. The focus of this story is the narrator’s reaction to and understanding of these strange events.
To look into the dark imagination where fantasy becomes reality is to evoke madness and loss of stability. The narrator has made a journey into the unknown world of the mind and is nearly destroyed by it. The story covers a period of approximately six months during the reign of the Red Death. The action takes place in the deep seclusion of the main charactor, Prince Prosperos castle, in which he has invited the higher standing people of his village. Here these people will stay until the Red Death has passed the town by. In party, food, wine and dancing, they will all live, while the lower class townspeople die.
The masque takes place in the imperial suite which consisted of seven, very distinct rooms. This story has no characters in the usual sense which stand out in order to give the story a more in-depth view to the characters . The only character whom speaks is Prince Prospero. His name suggests happiness and good fortune, however, ironically that is not the case. Within the Prince’s abbey, he has created a world of his imagination with masked figures that reflect his own ersonal tastes.
These dancers are all a product of the Prince’s imagination, Poe refers to them as “a multitude of dreams. Even when the “Red Death” enters, Poe refers to this character as figure or a mummer who “was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The conflict in this story is very obvious. On the surface it is apparent that conflict is between the Red Death and the people within the castle. However, an underlying conflict can be seen if approached correctly. In my opinion, the conflict can be seen as one between those who eel that their lives are more precious then others, therefor they try to escape death by secluding themselves from those with less money and lower social status.
I find the theme of this story to be the most noticeable of all compared to other works of Poe. Poe, without question, is trying to show that no one escapes death. Human happiness, as represented by Prince Prospero, seeks to wall out the threat of death. Death comes like a thief is the night, without warning. Obviously, this is shown in the story, for no walls, money, or time was going to save these people from the inevitable appearance of the red death. Poe, for the most part, uses an allegory as the literary theme in The Masque of the Red Death.
I do not see the story as one intended to scare or keep the reader in suspense, however, more to leave the reader with a message concerning death, and trying to prevent the inevitable. Very little description is used throughout the story, excluding the description the most important roles in the story; the seven rooms, and the Red Death. I believe this is written the way it is in order to keep the reader focused on what is important, what is underneath the surface. The story covers a period of approximately eight days with most of the important action occurring each night around midnight.
The location is the home of an elderly man in which the narrator has become a caretaker. The main scene takes place on the eighth night of the story, starting at twelve o clock at night and ending some time after four thirty in the morning. This story contains a nameless narrator, an old man and the police who enter near the end of the story after the mention, that they were called by a neighbor whose suspicions had been aroused upon hearing a scream in the night. The narrator however, becomes the true focus of the ale. This narrator may be male or female because Poe uses only “I” and “me” in reference to this character.
It can be assumed by the readers that the narrator is a male because of a male author using a first person point of view; however, it is quite possible that the narrator might very well be a female. Poe was creating a story whose impact could be changed simply by imagining this horrendous and vile deed being committed by a woman. The theme of this story is based around the idea that human nature and morality can force a person to feel a guilt so strong, that it might force you to believe things that are not so. Human nature is a delicate balance of good and evil.
Most of the time this balance is maintained; however, when there is a shift, for whatever reason, the dark side tends to surface. How and why this dark side emerges differs from person to person. What may push one individual over the edge will only cause a minor distraction in another. In this case, it is the vulture eye of the old man that makes the narrator unable to bare his presence for much longer. It is this irrational fear which evokes the dark side of the narrator, and eventually leads to murder. The narrator plans, executes and conceals the crime.
However, it is not to be concealed for long, for the constant nagging of the narrators deed is soon to evoke a confession. The conflict in The Tell Tail Heart is not only between the old man and the narrator, however it is also between the narrator and his or her own self. The conflict between the narrator and the old man is more of a one sided disharmony. The narrator finds the, what is to be believed, dead eye to be intolerable, however, the old man is unaware of these feelings. The conflict is between him or her self and the eye of the old man. That dispute seems to be settled after the urder of the old man by the narrator.
However, it is soon seen that the conflict, after all, was between the narrator alone, not anything, or anyone else. The narrator thought that the murder of the old man would rid him or her of the dilemma of the evil eye, this, as was seen is not true. Even after the death, the narrator feels the presence, and hears the heart of the old man beating. As in almost all of Poes works, suspense is used plentifully throughout the story. It is used very strongly with towards the end of the story, during the part concerning the dead heart beating. Irony, however, is also used, although sparingly.
The perfect murder, as it was thought by the narrator, on the contrary, it failed due to a hasty confession. The story begins around dusk, one evening during the carnival season in an unnamed European city. The atmosphere is set along the lines of the period of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The location quickly changes from the lighthearted activities associated with such a festival to the damp, dark catacombs under Montressor’s large estate which helps to establish the sinister atmosphere of the story. The change from the lively carnival progressing in the streets, to the enacing catacombs leaves for an interesting setting change.
Although several characters are mentioned in this story, the true focus lies upon Montresor, the diabolical narrator of this tale of horror, who pledges revenge upon Fortunato, a long time friend of his for an insult, said long ago, that was misinterpreted. When the two meet during the carnival season, there is a warm greeting with excessive shaking of hands which Montresor attributes to the fact that Fortunato had been drinking. Montresor also appears to be happy to see Fortunato, although it is in false pretense. Fortunato’s clown costume is appropriate for the carnival season. owever, also ironic, for what is to take place, is anything but a joke.
“The Cask of Amontillado is a sufficient tale of revenge. Montresor pledges revenge upon Fortunato for an insult. He intends to seek vengeance in support of his family motto: “No one assails me with impunity. ” It is important for Montresor to have his victim know what is happening to him. Montresor will derive pleasure from the fact that his victim, Fortunato, will suffer the pain of being buried alive, and be aware of the fact all along. Poe does not intend for the eader to sympathize with Montresor because he has been wronged by Fortunato, but rather to judge him.
In structure, there can be no doubt, that both Montresor’s plan of revenge and Poe’s story are carefully crafted to create the desired effect of pure evil. The conflict in this story is the bond that holds the story together. As said before, the insult in-which Fortunato inflicted on Montresor sometime in the past, has led up to this night, in-which Montresor finds adequate to seek revenge. After a friendly meeting, and invite back to his home, Montresor begins to bask in the pleasure of knowing that his foes doom in approaching. Luring Fortunato with a very fine wine, Amontillado, both men make their way to Montresors cask.
Aware of the fact that Fortunato is feeling the affects of the alcohol, Montresor makes his move. The story moves to Montresor placing the bricks tier by tier to cover the wall in-which he has chained Fortunato in. As the last brick is places, Fortunato begins to play the whole thing off as a joke, however, he soons realizes it it anything but that. It grows quite for a short time, but then Montresor hears the sinister laugh of his foe followed by no explanation. Poe, using again a customary literary technique, turns foreshadowing. Although there are hints of other techniques, I feel that foreshadowing is best represented.
Throughout the walk towards Montresors casks, he is constantly dropping hints on to what is about to take place the cough is merely nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough. True, true. Obviously, Montresor is not intending to give away his plan, however, it seems that he is amusing himself with his clues that Fortunato is not paying any attention to. Although it is hinted in the beginning of the story about what is to be Fortunatos fate, it is never specifically stated. The clues that Montresor drops along the lines of conversation allow us to get a clearer idea of what is to take place.
The Black Cat As the story begins, the narrator is in jail awaiting his execution, which will occur on the following day, for the brutal murder of his wife. At that point, the rest of the story is told in flashback, as the narrator pens. The story moves to the events occurring prior to his crime. The narrator tells of the events occurring, taking place mainly in his home, however, moving only seldomly to other locations, such as the local tavern. Although several characters are mentioned in his story, the true focus lies upon the, again nameless narrator.
He speaks of himself with the up-most regard until the events in-which he is focusing on begin to occur. It is easy to point out that the man’s personality had undergone a drastic transformation which he attributes to his abuse of alcohol and the perverse side of his nature, which the alcohol seemed to evoke. The reader also discovers that the narrator is superstitious. Oddly, he states that he once was especially fond of animals, and he was pleased to find a similar fondness for pets in his wife. The cat was a large, beautiful animal who was entirely black. Pluto, as he was called, was the narrator’s favorite pet.
He alone fed him, and Pluto followed the narrator wherever he went. Two minor roles are played by the narrators wife, and the local police department, whom discover the body of the narrators murdered wife. The Black Cat unlike The Tell Tale Heart does not deal with premeditated murder. It is explained that the narrator appears to be a happily married man, who has always been exceedingly kind and gentle. He attributes his downfall to perverseness. Perverseness provides the rationale for otherwise unjustifiable acts, such as killing the first cat or rapping with his cane upon he plastered-up wall behind which stood his wife’s corpse.
He had no justification for this, yet proceeded to do so as he wished. It can be argued that what the narrator calls perverseness is actually the working of his conscience. Guilt about his alcoholism seems to the narrator the perverseness which causes him to kill the first cat. Guilt about those actions indirectly leads to the murder of his wife who had shown him the gallows on the second cat’s breast. The narrators feeling of triumph after thinking he had covered his crime perfectly shows his total disregard for he life of his loved one. Poe uses two literary techniques that in-turn make up the bulk of the story.
Foreshadowing and flashback are clearly shown throughout the story. Poe’s pronounced use of foreshadowing leads the reader from one event to the next by using such statements as “one night,” “one morning,” “on the night of the day. ” Within the first few paragraphs of the story, the narrator foreshadows that he will violently harm his wife. The most important foreshadowing clue given is the fact that the story starts off with the narrator in prison awaiting his execution, this lone shows that sometime before the conclusion of the story that the narrators fate will take a treacherous turn.
The story itself is based upon a flashback. The narrator is writing his story as he awaits his execution, all of what is being told had already occurred. This leaves the reader to speculate the reasons why the narrator is telling his story from prison. Poe, in his tradition, allows suspense to play a role through telling the story in a flashback style. The conflict, as in The Tell Tale Heart is not only between the narrator and an outside character, however, it is also with himself. The obvious conflict is between the two black cats and the narrator.
It is stated that the conflict peeked with the minor attack of the cat on the mans hand, however, the narrator is not sure why his feelings towards the animal changed, although he believes that alcohol played a role in that. On the other hand, a conflict, the most important one at that, seems to take place in the narrator himself. Superstition mixed with the effects of alcohol seemed to place the man in a demented state. Oddly, he committed his most brutal act of killing his wife while he was not under the influence. It is not directly stated what made the man snap as e did, possibly that is what Poe wanted, for us to decide on our own.
The wild, eerie and wildly tormented world of Edgar Allan Poe has enchanted the reader of his work since after his death.. His achievements are particularly great considering the miserable life he led, both personally and publicly. Poes stories remain different, yet similar at the same time, able to tie into each other however in a way, completely abstract from any other. Although he was never an acclaimed writer until after his death, his work up to this day and those preceding it, will be remembered as great works.