English Literature Coursework Essay

Compargon and business at least two short stories by Edgar Allen Poe, pay limited attention to exercise setting, atmospheric state, characterisation, theme and language. end-to-end this es tell I provide be comparing and contrasting Edgar Allen Poes The sable cast and The barrel of Amontillado. Edgar Allen Poe had a particular preference to what though was good make-up he trustd that a story should go on suspense and focus and whole proficiencys should be enjoymentd to build this tension for a big finish, his unity of effects. piecey a(prenominal) of Poes stories ar genuinely Gothic and disgraceful, this can be seen to energize been influenced by the long chain of real(prenominal) traumatic regularts in his life such(prenominal) as losing two parents, losing his married woman, alcoholic drinkism and delusions. He should never be called crazy himself save his stories often involve crazy cashiers and characters.I leave behind commencement ceremonyly s tart of with the setting in The bbl of Amontillado, this is a story set in old Italy in which our chief(prenominal) character Montressor has been gravely insulted by Fortunato and to pose his punish he buries him lively subduedsome underneath his mansion. The setting in the Cask is sinister and in addition ironic. Its set in a mansion during the genus Circus, the mansion itself is actually gothic and creepy which pees us the gothic element, but the fact that its set during pleasure estate is very ironic as circus is supposed to be a sentence of joy and gaiety non a time for evil murders such as this.The background this murder actually assimilates coiffe is withal due to the carnival, as during it a lot of social boundaries are dropped and laws are little firmly enforced which confines him this calamity to get a way of life with murder. The exertion itself is set deep in Montressors root wine cellar, his khatacombs, which provides is with a very gothic atmo sphere. The deeper they descend into the cellar can also been seen as raillery for descending into hell which prepares us a nonher(prenominal) grade to the setting of this level.The Black Cat is a story set all at crime syndi big regorgee in which a very st take to the woods series of effects say place and the fabri computed axial tomographyor who was formerly a very fond animal caramel brown extends their enemy and ends up eliminateing sensation cat and attempting to kill his stake but instead kills his wife, who he walls up in his cellar and accidently walls up the cat alive with her. During this time we witness his slow retributively into utter madness. The setting as I said is all at the cashier home, this is ironic as the home is where we are supposed to liveliness close serious and to the highest degree well(p) but it this tale its where these crazy and rather disturbing events defecate place, this affects the ref in a way which makes them think that the home is peradventure non so secure as they once apprehension and challenges their views of safety and security.The safety of home is a total contrast to the sinister events that take place. This is similar to the Cask as all deaths in both stories take place in the narrators home, but is contrasted as in the Cask he was practically in envision of where the death could have interpreted place as he was more sane, but it in The Black Cat he is less in control and the death of his wife was more spur of the moment. The murder in the barrel was very much thought out and everything was planned to the brook full point but in the relentless cat he is often drunk or not in a safe state of oral sex when the murders are committed.I leave behind now compare and contrast the atmosphere in both stories. In the Cask Poe take a shits a gothic atmosphere by describing the scenery very glorious and in a hugely gothic distributor point. Such as upon the damp ground of the catacombs of the montressors which gives up a vivid pick up of a huge damp cellar lined with cob-webs and rats. Also the madness of the carnival is ironic for the madness of the deeds thats going to take place.In the corrosive cat the gothic atmosphere is created by the huge range of gothic books and very dramatic writing. During the story in that respect are series of very ungovernable doings such as the play arrive at of deaths unmatchable being a cat and the separate his wife. There are also lots of hints towards to otherworldly elements scratch off with the connection between black cats and witches by the narrators wife, which we can attach played on his mind end-to-end the story and may have mite to part of his downfall. Both stories have a huge intensity and a wide build up of tension. Both stories create terror and a gothic atmosphere. direct I will discuss the largest of all subjects from the two stories, the narrators. The narrator in the Cask is a very proud man and n ot easily annoyed as Poe says that he say bared most of Forunatos but once he is gravely insulted he believes he has to go to the consequence of murder to gain his revenge and regain his dignity. Id say the character is actually rather authoritative as he doesnt come along to be insane, that acquiring revenge the only way he thinks he can, and he often mentions that what hes doing is just part of kind-heartede nature and everyone does it just maybe not on this scale. His state of mind is evenhandedly secure, he seems to exist on the nose what hes doing and just how hes going to do it and everything seems very much planned out to the utter last detail. His only slip would seem to be right at the end when he starts to call out Fortunatos take a leak where it would seem that hes starting to feel regret already for what hes doing.Hes very manipulative as he knows exactly what things to say to make Fortunato come with him, such as mentioning Luchresi as he knows that Fortunato would be in competition with him and would be greedy to see him take it to Luchresi instead of him, he fundamentally uses him as a lure, even though that is all we hear most Luchresi its enough to sway Fortunato into the montressors deep vaults. straightway for the narrator in the black cat, at the beginning of the story he is make out to be a very respectful and animal loving character. In the case of this particular character I can easily say that he is unreliable as he is clearly insane.Un handle the narrator in the cask, during his rational disintegration he starts to hallucinate. Such as the enormous, flat cat he imagines in house after the death of his first cat, and secondly the gallows appearing in the tussock of white hair on the second cat. The gallows are used as foreshadowing, maybe his death, or other death in his household or his impending capture. throughout the story the narrators state of mind deteriates behind, one reason for this could be his alcoholism tha t had taken control of him. He calls the alcohol ogre intemperance which he says had altered his for the worse, this shows that the narrator can see whats slowly happening to himself but blames it on the alcohol as he calls it a fiend. This adds another layer to the alcohol and leads up to believe that the narrators state of mind is not totally secure. So irrelevant the narrator in the cask we feel that he is rather out of control of his actions and his state of mind.The third subject parity I will make is in the language of the two stories. In the cask Poe uses a huge array of lingual devices. There is extensive vocabulary throughout the prose which gives it depth and great vivid detail such as deep dark crypt this has two descriptive adjectives and alliteration in a tiny space. This gives the tale resourcefulness of this evil crypt and mysterious vaults. He also uses several instances of repetition to describe and give the story yet another layer or depth and emphasis in part icular important events in the prose a succession of loud and shrill screams. He also has a wide range of sentence structure, simple, compound and complex. The complex sentences in this prose build tension and then a compound or simple on for impact.All of these techniques create and build tension and intensity. There is also irony, for causa the use of appearance versus truth where the narrator presents himself as one way when infact in reality it is clearly obvious they are not. bode is also used, this is when a particular event is mentioned or hinted at will become later in the story. Such as when Fortunato is suffering from a cough and upon ingress the vaults has a sudden coughing take on after which montressor requests that they leave but prospered insists that the coughs a accredited nothing it will not kill me. I shall not get of a cough. This is seen as foreshadowing his future, true he will not die of a cough, but he will die in these vaults.In the black cat Poe us es irony in his very first paragraph, chaste household events when we know that they are clearly far from mere household events. Poe also uses personification the most rhetorical is when he personifies the alcohol to give it another layer and it would also give someone to blame his irrational behavior on. The use of irony is noticeable when the narrator reveals that his first cats name was Pluto, who, in Hellenic mythology, is the lord of the underworld.This could also tap into the supernatural element of the tale which could be the reason for the narrators physiological downfall. Poe uses the technique of rhetorical questions to probe at the reader and leave an unanswered question in the readers head. Such as who has not, a carbon times, found himself committing a vile or a silly action, for no other reason that because he knows he should not?. This particular rhetorical question is basically talking about this perverse nerve in everyone and about basic piece nature, which is something that we can all relate to as readers and could also, be the narrator trying to confirm his actions as part of everyday human nature.Poes vocabulary is very vicious, emotional and demonic, such as demons, exhault, damned and distortion. These emotive words play on the emotions and are much better than just normal descriptive words. Once again, like the Cask, intensity is created and built throughout the story, and both have foreshadowing, symbolism and good diction. An example of foreshadowing in the black cat could be the narrators hallucination of the gallows appearing in his second cats fur, this could be foreshadowing a death that he could be tie in to including himself.The last category I will be comparing and contrasting is themes in the tale. In the cask Poe explores several themes, such as the dropping of moral boundaries at the time of carnivals and their consequences, such as crime. Poe is just using this bound to show this. avenge is also another theme exp lored in this tale and once again this is an extremity to show that. It is also to explore the narrators state of mind and to esteem the reader.In the black cat Poe explores the thought that everyone has a perverse side and uses this extremity to show that. Like the cask, it also explores the narrators state of mind and to treasure the reader.