The Tormented Life of Edgar Allan Poe “The Short Life”

Background Born His mother died during his youth and his father abandoned them After the death of his grandmother married his 13- year-old cousin, Virginia in 1835 Virginia died in 1847 Died in 1849

Education of Poe Entered and dropped from both the University of Virginia and West Point Ran into debt and started borrowing money, gambling and getting deeper into debt

Writing Style of Poe Wrote in a Gothic Style Deep and intense Explorations of а world of dream and of nightmare In his stories the past is darker, mоrе ominous and oppresses his heroes and heroines

Poe’s Characters Many of his characters аrе filled with madness Obsessed with the irrational side of the mind

Famous Works –Short Stories –Poems The Pit and the Pendulum The Fall of the House of Usher Tell-Tale Heart The Cask of the Amontillado The Masque of the Red Death The Raven Lenore

The Cask of Amontillado

Background –The Cask of Amontillado Published 1846 One theory for the inspiration for story was a feud Poe had with 2 other poets The story was somewhat controversial for focusing his story on a crime with no apparent motive, and a murderer with no apparent remorse

The Cask of Amontillado –Overview The story is narrated by Montresor, who carries a grudge against Fortunato for an offense that is never explained Montresor leads a drunken Fortunato through a series of chambers beneath his palazzo

The Cask of Amontillado –Overview Although Fortunato has a horrible cough the promise of a taste of Amontillado spurs him deeper and deeper into the underground When the two men reach the last underground chamber, Montresor chains Fortunato to the wall, builds a new wall to seal him in, and leaves him to die

Literary Focus –Themes and Conflicts Revenge Madness Deception Remorse vs. Lack of Remorse Pride Friendship Power and Respect Social Clases and Social Significance within Society

Literary Focus –Symbols Montresor’s Coat of Arms and motto, Nemo me impune lacessit –Irony The Usage of a Trowel A foot in a blue background crushing a snake whose fangs are embedded in the foot's heel “No one attacks me with impunity” –Both the coat of arms and motto are representative of Montresor’s lust for revenge –He will crush Fortunado for the “injuries” he has given Fortunado belongs to a secret society called the Freemasons Montresor says he is also a mason, but then produces a trowel used for regular masonery work Fortunado thinks this action is trivial, but the trowel ends up playing an integral part in his demise.

Literary Focus –Point of View Told in the first person by Montresor By presenting the story in the first person, Poe puts the reader at the mercy of an unreliable narrator, a mad man, who decides what to tell and what to leave out.

FortunatoMontresor's sworn enemy, Fortunato displays no uneasiness in Montresor's company, and is unaware that his friend is plotting against him. Fortunato is a proud connoisseur of fine wine He is urged on by the chance of sampling some rare Amontillado

LuchesiAcquaintance of Montresor's and Fortunato's A rival wine expert of Fortunado’s Montresor keeps Fortunato on the trail of the Amontillado by threatening to allow Luchesi to sample it first

Montresor Holds a grudge against his friend Fortunato, who has committed several unnamed offenses against him Wealthy and lives in a palazzo Has planned murder of Fortunado Telling the story fifty years after it has taken place he reveals no regret for his actions

Red Death The Masque of the

The Masque of Red Death –Background Poe’s fictional Red Death is probably based on the Black Death, which killed as many as two thirds of the population in some regions in Europe Poe calls the plague “the Red Death” because victims oozed blood from painful sores.

Summary Theme In this story a fourteenth- century prince gives a costume party, or masque, to try to forget about the epidemic raging all around him. Inevitibility of death (regardless how much money you have) Human weakness and fear Arrogance Death

Allegory Symbol A narrative that is really a double story. One story takes place on the surface. Under the surface the story’s characters and events represent abstract ideas Something that is itself and yet also represents something else –Can be read both as a chilling ghost story and as an allegory representing the inevitability of death. –Prospero’s name (Prospero means prosperous) –The stranger’s appearance (Dressed like the Grim Reaper or Death) –The arrangement of the seven halls The rooms of the palace, lined up in a series, allegorically represent the stages of life. Their colors (black=death), (red=blood) Clock marking the inevitable passage of time.

Characters –Prince Prospero –The Stranger Prince Prospero invites a thousand lords and ladies to escape death by living luxuriously in his castle until the pestilence passes. To entertain his guests Prospero hosts a masquerade party that takes place in seven halls, each a different color. At the stroke of midnight, a tall figure in a blood-splattered burial costume appears. Prospero demands that his friends seize the intruder, but everyone is frozen with fear as the stranger slowly walks through the rooms.