In today’s world, the genre of romance has a very different connotation than it did over 150 years ago. Nowadays, romance novels are typically about two people falling in love and living happily-ever-after. However, in the beginning to mid 1800’s, the idea of Romance didn’t have much to do with relationships. The era of Romanticism was one that was marked by a strong contrast against the ideals of the more scientific Enlightenment that had occurred some years previously. It is in this period that many famous writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and many more first made their presence known as serious American authors. As a writer, Edgar Allan Poe was drastically influenced by core Romantic ideals such as the importance of emotions, art, and beauty, and this influence is present in his works such as “The Raven” and “The Cask of Amontillado.”
Throughout all of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing, the presence of Romanticism is shown in many ways, such as an emphasis on the strange, bizarre, and unexpected, as well as the importance of the emotions that a reader or person …show more content…
The story begins with the narrator, Montresor, expressing his desire to revenge himself upon Fortunato for a “thousand injuries” (Poe 714), and this immediately gives the reader the impression that the narrator is at least slightly mentally unhinged. The scene is set during a carnival in a time period some fifty years prior to Montresor’s current retelling, which applies to Romanticism as the setting is somewhat obscure and the time is not current. The fact that Montresor buries Fortunato alive is extremely shocking to the reader, as is Montresor’s apparent cold-heartedness and his unapologetic manner. Montresor’s actions, although premeditated, seem dominated by his emotions of hatred toward his victim, and not by any amount of logic or
Throughout all of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing, the presence of Romanticism is shown in many ways, such as an emphasis on the strange, bizarre, and unexpected, as well as the importance of the emotions that a reader or person …show more content…
The story begins with the narrator, Montresor, expressing his desire to revenge himself upon Fortunato for a “thousand injuries” (Poe 714), and this immediately gives the reader the impression that the narrator is at least slightly mentally unhinged. The scene is set during a carnival in a time period some fifty years prior to Montresor’s current retelling, which applies to Romanticism as the setting is somewhat obscure and the time is not current. The fact that Montresor buries Fortunato alive is extremely shocking to the reader, as is Montresor’s apparent cold-heartedness and his unapologetic manner. Montresor’s actions, although premeditated, seem dominated by his emotions of hatred toward his victim, and not by any amount of logic or