Similarities Between The Cask Of Amontillado And The Masque Of The Red Death

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809-October 7, 1849), a famous American writer, suffered much tragedy and death throughout his life. Examples include his mother, wife, and foster mother all prematurely dying from tuberculosis, and both his true and foster father abandoning him. Such a cruel life influenced his writing heavily. His works are extremely recognizable for many reasons, such as having a dark plot or sinister setting. In fact, many of his works possess uncanny parallels; his writings are very similar to one another. Using 3 of Poe’s stories as an example, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, and “The Masque of the Red Death”, this fact is exemplified.
One of the large parallels between all of these works of literature …show more content…
In fact, simply the state of many characters’ mind is brought directly into question. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Fortunato is completely enraptured at even the concept of amontillado, repeating it over and over, and ignoring his health to get a taste, saying he “shall not die of a cough.” Montresor, meanwhile, takes great pleasure in mocking Fortunato’s struggle for life, “re-echoing” his screams, and further teasing him about amontillado. The fact that Montresor kills Fortunato is disturbing enough, but it is stated that despite “the thousand injuries of Fortunato” the narrator had borne, he only wanted to murder him when Fortunato “ventured upon insult.” Clearly, neither of these characters are in a healthy state of mind, and, as stated before, this is Poe’s literature, so similarities can be spotted in his other works. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, while the people are not generically insane, it can be noted that they rely far too heavily on their emotions in such terrible times. Not only the guests, but the guards, too, locked up in fear of the blood-dabbled stranger. The prince, boring aloft “a drawn dagger” approached the stranger in anger, and only when he fell “prostrate in death” did all rush towards the stranger, which, unfortunately, meant their demise. Their emotions did not help the situation in the slightest. Of course, as stated before, this is Poe’s literature. Nothing else could be expected. For more …show more content…
In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, the lands surrounding the house possessed “white trunks of decayed trees”, and the exterior of the house being described as “dull” and “faintly discernable” with “eye-like windows”-most certainly not an area one would want to normally waltz into. This uncomfortable and tense atmosphere also appears in “The Cask of Amontillado”, where it is stated the catacombs, an already frightening place, is “insufferably damp” and “encrusted with nitre”, showing this place is truly terrible to remain in, complementing the miserable mood. Even in “The Masque of the Red Death”, where the main setting was an “extensive and magnificent structure”, the world outside, in contrast, is where “The ‘Red Death’ had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous.” The castle was a seemingly impenetrable and happy place. Despite this, even in a jubilant place, there was a single, totally contrasting room, having “blood-colored panes” and “black velvet tapestries”, in addition to a “gigantic clock of ebony”. This can be identified as the inevitable death waiting for all of them, whether naturally or by the Red Death. In the end, the halls are “blood-bedewed”, a contrast that truly shakes the reader from the initial grand setting. Poe is very recognizable for all of these kinds of settings, after