Post by swilz on Nov 1, 2007 20:25:07 GMT -5
i was wondering if you guys could help me with the revision of my essay on edgar allan poe:
In the past century, Edgar Allan Poe has lived on even after his death, with many names trailing him. Names that echo father of the modern day horror story, and patriarch of suspense and thrills. As it is known, Edgar Allan Poe uses the 1st person point of view in his many short stories. But why would he put himself inside the mind of the maniacal murderer, Montressor, in his tale of trepidation: “The Cask of Amontillado”? Montresor tells his tale of revenge smugly, as he invites the reader to applaud his cleverness much like the narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart." By telling the story from Montressor's point of view, Poe forces the reader to look into the inner workings of a murderer's mind. This story has representations of both Poe’s life and Montressor’s through the dark symbolism, verbal and situational irony, and imagery. Poe has used this story to interpret many events in his lifetime, mostly the darkened and shadowed years.
Though Edgar Allan Poe’s life was blighted by the deaths of his parents, he managed to bring many of his experiences into his stories. Take the costume of Fortuanto for instance, it is red. A red that mimics the deep foreboding shade of blood, the same blood that is coughed up when one is smitten with TB. TB is of course the same disease that killed Poe’s mother. The color red has many meanings, some of them being passion and anger. The state of mind of our friend Montressor is anger, a passionate anger that is the flame in his murderous black soul. Fortunato’s jester costume is special, for not only does it hold one symbol, but a few others. The bells on Fortunato’s conical cap symbolize the liveliness of this poor victim of revenge, “The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap jingled as he strode” (Poe. Perhaps Poe only came alive at the marriage to Virginia Clem. A marriage that was announced by the chime of wedding bells. Bells lady and gentleman, the symbol of life.
St. George and the Dragon. Adam and Eve. One revolves around the topic of the destruction of evil; the latter involves the creation of sin. The Montressor coat-of-arms remain thus: “a huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel” (Poe 155). The foot crushing the snake symbolizes the destruction of evil. Montressor’s evil. The motto is also significant, “Nemo me impune lecessit” (Poe 155) which means, “I will not be attacked with impunity”. Montressor was attacked with impunity, which means he was attacked in a way that could not be charged by whatever justice system they had back then. Fortunato could not be punished by the justice system, so Montressor decided to put matters into his own hands. He destroys his evil by sinning. A sin that is considered a MORTAL sin, a sin created by Adam and Eve for their doings. Murder is the sin he created for himself.
He who was so happy when Montressor brought the acclaimed Amontillado, he who ambled and met his end in the catacombs; Fortunato the wine taster killed by one of his only loves, wine. Ironic isn’t it? Other forms of irony in “The Cask of Amontillado”is a form of verbal irony, and that is the fact that no matter how many times Fortunato said he was completely fine: “‘Enough,’ he said; ‘the cough's a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough,’” (Poe) he ended dying in the end, a sick, lonely man. He remains a subject of ironic behavior that envelopes this whole story. Poe, though he could’ve became a successful man had an alcohol addiction.
Imagery is related to the symbolic effect of the story. The catacombs are the center of action in this short story.
“At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared anotherless spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris. Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this manner. From the fourth side the bones had been thrown down, and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size. Within the wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones, we perceived a still interior crypt or recess, in depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or seven. It seemed to have been constructed for no especial use within itself, but formed merely the interval between two of the colossal supports of the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite.”
Catacombs are the burial places of the dead, and therefore a symbol of death. Moreover, the shackles and chains in the depths of the catacombs symbolize Fortunato’s trapped and doomed soul. Poe was trapped, trapped in poverty, his own personal hell. He was doomed to this life, a life he never wanted but got. He was around many burial places in his lifetime, first that of his mother’s, then that of his foster mother’s and what topped it off was the death of his beloved Virginia.
In conclusion, “The Cask of Amontillado” is a story jam-packed with the symbols that is of both the story itself, and of Poe. The bells, the catacombs the irony of Death are both symbolic of both “The Cask of Amontillado” and of Edgar Allan Poe’s epic and tragic life.
POE AND THE CONNECTION
In the past century, Edgar Allan Poe has lived on even after his death, with many names trailing him. Names that echo father of the modern day horror story, and patriarch of suspense and thrills. As it is known, Edgar Allan Poe uses the 1st person point of view in his many short stories. But why would he put himself inside the mind of the maniacal murderer, Montressor, in his tale of trepidation: “The Cask of Amontillado”? Montresor tells his tale of revenge smugly, as he invites the reader to applaud his cleverness much like the narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart." By telling the story from Montressor's point of view, Poe forces the reader to look into the inner workings of a murderer's mind. This story has representations of both Poe’s life and Montressor’s through the dark symbolism, verbal and situational irony, and imagery. Poe has used this story to interpret many events in his lifetime, mostly the darkened and shadowed years.
Though Edgar Allan Poe’s life was blighted by the deaths of his parents, he managed to bring many of his experiences into his stories. Take the costume of Fortuanto for instance, it is red. A red that mimics the deep foreboding shade of blood, the same blood that is coughed up when one is smitten with TB. TB is of course the same disease that killed Poe’s mother. The color red has many meanings, some of them being passion and anger. The state of mind of our friend Montressor is anger, a passionate anger that is the flame in his murderous black soul. Fortunato’s jester costume is special, for not only does it hold one symbol, but a few others. The bells on Fortunato’s conical cap symbolize the liveliness of this poor victim of revenge, “The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap jingled as he strode” (Poe. Perhaps Poe only came alive at the marriage to Virginia Clem. A marriage that was announced by the chime of wedding bells. Bells lady and gentleman, the symbol of life.
St. George and the Dragon. Adam and Eve. One revolves around the topic of the destruction of evil; the latter involves the creation of sin. The Montressor coat-of-arms remain thus: “a huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel” (Poe 155). The foot crushing the snake symbolizes the destruction of evil. Montressor’s evil. The motto is also significant, “Nemo me impune lecessit” (Poe 155) which means, “I will not be attacked with impunity”. Montressor was attacked with impunity, which means he was attacked in a way that could not be charged by whatever justice system they had back then. Fortunato could not be punished by the justice system, so Montressor decided to put matters into his own hands. He destroys his evil by sinning. A sin that is considered a MORTAL sin, a sin created by Adam and Eve for their doings. Murder is the sin he created for himself.
He who was so happy when Montressor brought the acclaimed Amontillado, he who ambled and met his end in the catacombs; Fortunato the wine taster killed by one of his only loves, wine. Ironic isn’t it? Other forms of irony in “The Cask of Amontillado”is a form of verbal irony, and that is the fact that no matter how many times Fortunato said he was completely fine: “‘Enough,’ he said; ‘the cough's a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough,’” (Poe) he ended dying in the end, a sick, lonely man. He remains a subject of ironic behavior that envelopes this whole story. Poe, though he could’ve became a successful man had an alcohol addiction.
Imagery is related to the symbolic effect of the story. The catacombs are the center of action in this short story.
“At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared anotherless spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris. Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this manner. From the fourth side the bones had been thrown down, and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size. Within the wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones, we perceived a still interior crypt or recess, in depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or seven. It seemed to have been constructed for no especial use within itself, but formed merely the interval between two of the colossal supports of the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite.”
Catacombs are the burial places of the dead, and therefore a symbol of death. Moreover, the shackles and chains in the depths of the catacombs symbolize Fortunato’s trapped and doomed soul. Poe was trapped, trapped in poverty, his own personal hell. He was doomed to this life, a life he never wanted but got. He was around many burial places in his lifetime, first that of his mother’s, then that of his foster mother’s and what topped it off was the death of his beloved Virginia.
In conclusion, “The Cask of Amontillado” is a story jam-packed with the symbols that is of both the story itself, and of Poe. The bells, the catacombs the irony of Death are both symbolic of both “The Cask of Amontillado” and of Edgar Allan Poe’s epic and tragic life.
