The Tell Tale Heart Comparison

In this assignment I will be comparing and contrasting The Tell Tale Heart, written by Edgar Allen Poe and The Cold Embrace written by Mary E. Braddon. These two horror stories share similarities, however they also have their differences.

One of the main differences in these stories is the technique the author chooses to open the story, which creates a certain tone for the two stories. In our case, both stories open with the main character giving a message to the reader of their life. For example, in The Cold Embrace, the reader is pleased when introducing the “young” man in the story, due to his craft and “handsome[ness]”. However, The Tell Tale Heart, unwraps with the man giving a brief message displaying how he was “nervous”, which makes

In The Cold Embrace, the man is motivated by business, which eventually leads to the death of his wife that he once loved. By freely abandoning his wife, he probably didn't assume she would come back to haunt him wearing his mother’s ring. However, in the The Tell Tale Heart, the man is fueled by anger, even though he claims to have “loved the old man”. This anger began with the old man’s vulture eye, which he referred to as the “Evil Eye”. But, despite these differences, both stories share a similar symbolism, which control the main characters. In The Cold Embrace, for instance, the symbolism of the “Golden Serpent” is strong. It originally began as a joyous thought, a symbol of “eternity”, for the man, giving him the ability to know her from amongst “a thousand”. Consequently, after leaving her, she takes her revenge, and exhibits her hatred by haunting him with her chilled ghostly fingers grasping her lover’s neck. While, in The Tell Tale Heart, the symbolism of the “Evil Eye” generated anger, as the text says “Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold”. The “Evil Eye” was so powerful it legit controlled him and led the him to kill the old man. Due to the emotions employed by the authors into the main characters as, symbolism played a key role as they pursued their