Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

George R.R Martin, an American novelist, once said, “Love is madness and lust is poison.” Yet, the loss of the same love can oftentimes leave people in a state of anguish. In the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe, the protagonist is trapped in melancholia after the loss of his wife Lenore. The author uses two gothic conventions; decay and emotion to manifest the main character’s madness driven by grief. The gothic convention of decay demonstrated how sorrow prompted the protagonists’ madness…

Subjectivity Another characteristic of dark romanticism found in "Ligeia" is subjectivity. All Poe's stories were written in the first person narration. Poe's way to shorten the distance and to get closer to the reader is by using first person voice. When the distance is close, the reader get all events and information from the narrator. So, the only source of information presented was by the narrator . It is impassible to considers the work not subjective since it built on the…

literature that incorporates a hidden meaning in the story with the use of sinister violence. In this particular story, the narrator’s use of the first-person point of view, symbolism through the characters, and the eerie setting create a fascinating tale. Edgar Allan Poe’s story is told from the first-person point of view. The twist to this story, though, is that Poe is not actually in it. The narrator is anonymous and keeps it that way through the whole…

The author, T.F. Hodge, known for writing the book From Inside I Rise said, “Manipulation, fueled with good intent, can be a blessing. But when used wickedly, it is the beginning of a magician's karmic calamity”. The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey is about a psychiatric ward where the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, hold control over her patients through immoral means. A new patient, Randle McMurphy, doesn’t like the ideals of the ward and fights back. Manipulation is very…

the short stories written by two famous authors at different times and in different places. Despite different countries and times, A & P and Araby have so much in common. Similarities can be clearly seen in the context and settings of story. Both tales portrays the darkness and gloominess of the cities. Sammy, like the narrator of Araby, in A&P describes his town in by referring to every people around him as sheep. He vividly describes the distinction between his town and beach. In both short…

The House Says It All In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” a powerful atmosphere is created. Although set on a simple, “dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year” (Poe 420), there is a sense of deterioration, insanity, and even murder portrayed in this short story. The Usher mansion is carefully crafted to heighten the mood and atmosphere of the story. A great deal of time is spent specifically embodying the setting. Poe brilliantly illustrates,…

Have you read or heard of the two short stories that are called The Tell a Tale Heart or the Short story that is called called There Will Come Soft Rains. They are both short stories written by authors with different writing styles that are quite unique. Both stories were very different written by very different authors The Tell a Tale Heart was written by the author Edgar Allan Poe. The other story’s author that wrote the story There Will Come Soft Rains was named Ray Bradbury. The Authors…

There is a well-known saying that things are not what they always what they seem to be. This is the focal point of Roald Dahl’s short story “The Landlady,” a tale that is as seemingly charming as it is creepy. Throughout the story, Dahl creates an eerie theme of duality that emphasizes the catastrophic results that stem from the unfulfilled desire for human companionship. This largely explored theme heavily foreshadows the abrupt, but telling conclusion of the story that shows the true human…

The “farmhouse” is a crucial setting to my book “The Dogs”. Dark, isolated, dingy, and a discreet place in a small town called Wolf Hollow. One of the main reasons this house qualified for their stay was because it was in a quiet neighbourhood and in midst of a dense cornfield making it hardly visible to transient passerby. Of course, an ideal hideout for a woman who doesn’t want a speculative audience and in particular wants to steer clear of her abusive and promiscuous husband’s company. The…

One common characteristic of Romanticism is the importance of the initiative and emotional and rejection of the rational and intellectual. Such is the case in “Usher.” Those who are skeptical in Poe’s Romantic influences would use this aspect of Romanticism to claim that he is not a Romantic because throughout the story the narrator attempts to explain the unexplainable with the rational. An example of this is when the narrator attributes an “iciness, a sinking, a sinking, a sickening of the…