Edgar Allan Poe And The Masque Of Red Death

Edgar Allan Poe, an eerie author, was always writing dark stories and poems, which was unusual for the time period he wrote in. During his writing career he wrote many stories that were closely related to his life, especially tragic love stories. When many of his girlfriends and family died, he went mad, drank a lot and eventually died. After reading Poe’s stories that include topics like people in love who pass, dying from tuberculosis and being caught between rationality and irrationality, it is evident that he drew from his own life as inspiration.
Poe was constantly devastated by his significant other dying and this happens in lots of his stories and poems too. For example, in The Bridal Ballad, it says “ And My Lord he loves me well.”

After lots of Poe’s closest treasures were lost because of Tuberculosis, he wrote a story inspired by Tuberculosis. The Masque of Red Death, is a story based on the character Prince Prospero, that was very daring a threw a large party, despite the red death being the air. In the Masque of red Death, it states, “Then, summoning the wild courage of despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped unutterable horror at finding the grave cerements and corpse-like mask which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible form.” (Poe) This quote is describing the red death as frightening figure, going to kill everyone because there was no cure for the red death. In Poe’s life many people were captured by the red death and were not able to survive, such as Virginia, one of his closest lovers. Also in The Masque of Red Death, it says, “And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And the darkness and the red death held illimitable dominion over all.” (Poe) This quote is basically saying that the red death killed everyone in the story and now holds power, similar to what happened in Poe’s life. In Poe’s life he lost his Mother, Virginia and a few other important

In The Tell Tale Heart, the character buries another person under his floorboards because he didn 't’ like the ways his eye looked, which makes us pretty sure he had some type of mental illness and was mad like Poe at the end of his life. For example, in The Tell Tale Heart, it says, “Now this is the point you fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. [...] You should have seen how wisely I proceeded with what caution with what foresight with what dissimulation I went to work.” (Poe) This quote shows that the character didn’t know if he was mad or not. Also in The Tell Tale Heart it says, “I heard all the things in heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then am I mad?” (Poe). This also shows how the character thought he wasn’t mad, but we know he is mad. In Poe’s stories the characters have normal things that happen and things that make them seem mad, just like in Poe’s life. Poe was normal at first, then after losing many loved ones he became mad and towards the end of his life, he went to formal things when he was drunk and he shaved his mustache because he thought people were trying to capture him, which makes it definite that he was