Comparing Poe's The Cask Of Amontillado And The Raven?

1411 Words6 Pages

Edgar Allan Poe, the author of both “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Raven,” was a literary specialist in horror and suspenseful fiction, known for his ability to compose and express vivid macabre tales that delve deep into the darkest chasms of the human psyche. Much like the two pieces noted, sundry of his stories frequently feature common gothic literature themes of death, madness, gloom, and employ a strong sense of symbolism for more nuanced meaning. Poe’s astounding stories are due to the implementation of common signature American gothic literature elements, which is most likely due to the historical context of the time period. During the early to mid 19th century, writers under the genre of Romanticism and gothic literature were accumulating …show more content…

In many circumstances, just like “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Raven,” his writings tapped deep into the complexities of the human mind, exploring mentally ill genre tropes of madness, inevitability, fear, and hopelessness (Shulman, 1970). In the aggregate, Edgar Allan Poe's works exhibit a consistent use of gothic literature elements which are shaped by both his personal experiences of grief and loss, and his deteriorating mental state. Through his portrayal of complex characters and his use of haunting language, Poe's stories offer a unique exploration of the deepest aspects of the human mind and have had a lasting impact on the genre of horror and suspenseful fiction. Although many argue that an individual’s past doesn’t portray their character, his legacies are renownedly marked by a distinctive style of layered plots, internally-complex characters, and the application of language that is both evocative and haunting. Even to this day, Poe’s influence on the genre of macabre, horror, and mystery provokes readers to dive deeper into the reflection of the mind (Shulman, …show more content…

When analyzing the characters presented in the tales, the reader will find that although they differ in motives and illnesses, they are both consumed by intense emotions and mental instability from significant circumstances that occurred in the past. In “The Raven,” the main character is portrayed as a lonely individual who is suffering from melancholic depression, coping with the loss of their previous lover, Lenore. Assumingly, the narrator's difficulty in coping with the loss of his deceased lover has led him to obsess over memories of her, ultimately provoking him to descend into a deep state of depression, obsession, and psychological suffering. In stanza six, Poe displays the narrator’s psychological state by writing: Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream