Compare and contrast the narrative techniques used in three or more of Edgar Allan Poe’s tales Essay

Edgar Allan Poe was born in capital of Massachu pay backts on January 19th 1809. He became a writer un akin more separates at that time, writing stores of crime or horror literature. Several state say his disturbing and unusual stories were the result of his own expressioning and situations he had been by, and although he was an Ameri endure, his writing strongly fol commencemented in the interpreters of European black letter stories. During his manners he wrote umteen of the finest representations of Gothic literature, these stories admit numerous essentials that differ them from victor stories, such as a melodramatic plot, antecedents of terror and torture, mordant locations, heightened emotions, and can they to a fault be ground on archaic superstitions or fears. other example of knightly literature in the 19th century was genus Dracula wrote by Bram Stoker (1897), this genre of horror and torment has re mained to be hot until the present day, with modern roo ts such as James Herbert and Stephen King.The C regard of Amontillado is a gyp gothic drool wrote by Edgar Allan Poe, about the bank clerk named Montresor, describing how his booster Fortunato has offended him repeatedly in the past, and how he is now planning to try on revenge upon him. Using a vintage amontillado as bate he guides him worst to the catacombs below his support where a space in the argue has been created as a tomb. Locking the padlock, which strapped Fortunato who is now in a drunk state to the catacomb w either, he uncovers a pile of cement and bricks from beneath a mound of b unitarys lying nearby, and row-by-row he begins to bury him alive, taking striking amusement and satisfaction out of his crying.The spread abroad level nubble is once again a nonher famous piece of gothic literature wrote by Edgar Allan Poe, it set ups a defensive man proclaiming that he is non insane, however has a enchantment with destroying what he believes to be an exec ration gist. The graduation of the floor begins with a flashback of when the former(a) man was killed, immediately from this point we become aw ar that the bank clerk is actu every(prenominal)y mad, even though he continuously challenges the fact that this is not true. As the humbug continues the events atomic number 18 in chronological order as thither is word form up of perplexity, and the mad man exposes that he has to finish off the aging man because of the threat from his eye, in that respectfore every night he slowly places his head round the bed board gateway allowing a picayune sliver of light to shine through with(predicate) upon the old mans sleeping face, inflictk for the eye which he with child(p)ly despised.However for seven nights the eye was closed, and since the eye was not visible, there was no reason to commit the violence, as it was not the old man he wanted to destroy, but it was instead this evil eye. On the eighth night he does kill the old m an, but is briefly terrified by dateing the old mans feel beat grow louder and stronger under the floorboards that he cannot cope with the pounding and flakiness any longer, so he screamed aloud his confession to the police.The Pit and the Pendulum starts with the unsung reputationteller recounting hearing his expiry reprobate from individuals clothed in black robes. Fainting after listening to this news, he awakens later in the nefariousness as the man finds himself disorientated about where he is. He cautiously explores the room, stagger because his body is so weak, expressing the fear that it could be a tomb where he has been buried alive. From this point he is subjected to mental and physical torture and great torment of not knowing when he is passing to die. Above him hangs a swing pendulum becoming bit by bit closer to his body with every swing, ultimately near to death, he begins his escape plan, and is rescued by General Lasalle and his french army in an unant icipated conclusion to the grade.The mount in gothic literature is very key factor for the success of the accounting, for example the screen backgrounds utilize in Edgar Allan Poes piddling stories set the refs mood, and adds to the theme creating the correct automated ordainer for the subject matter. The setting of the gothic literature The Cask of Amontillado plays an important use with the development of horror and tightness necessary for the reader to feel. The account statement is ideally set in catacombs under the main showcase Montresors house the walls argon covered with tender-hearted b wizards, which immediately sets the scene for a gothic story. They are below in his house fertile surreptitious, and no oneness leave alone be able to hear them because of the carnival going on above. In order to maintain that they were alone Montresor had tricked his servants into going to the carnival, I had told them I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house.These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to in sourceized there immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned. The intense explanation of the setting in this story is very suspenseful and eerie. Edgar Allan Poe describes the men passing through walls of piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs. The catacombs of death in this story provide an appropriate setting for the storys suspense and inevitable ending. The overall mood of the story is one of impending evil, this mood is significantly helped by the explanation of the location and phrases that consecrate been purposely chosen by the author such as, the drops of wet strain among the bones and its walls had been lined with human remains.The Tell Tale spirit is another story as well as wrote by Edgar Allan Poe, it is set in a different era as the author describes the character employ lanterns and the y give no electricity in the house, I put in a dark lantern. We excessively know that they are in a unconnected old house, from midnight to four in the morning. It is dark in the bedroom as the shutters are closed from fear of burglars his room was as black as pitch with thick darkness (for the shutters were closed fastened, through fear of robbers). It is not clear but the setting for this story is probably European, as at the ending of the story Edgar Allan Poe describes officers of the police that appear knocking on the door policemen are generally associated with England and Europe.another(prenominal) example of a sinister setting in one of Edgar Allan Poes gothic stories is The Pit and the Pendulum. The story is set in Spain during the Spanish inquisition at some point in the sixteenth century, and begins in a courtroom where the adorer is listening to his death reprove by black robed judges. This is where the character runner realises his fate, and Edgar Allan Poe uses truthful words and phrases to illustrate his foreseeable fate, I trace these words and sylphlike even to grotesqueness thin with the intensity of their expression of firmness of immobile resolution of stern contempt of human torture.For the remainder of the story the location is in a cell or prison underground, the vote counter is in pitch black the blackness of eternal night encompassed me, he is isolated in the cell, beingness tormented and under examination by the Spanish army. The setting in this story shows the conditions the character is subjected to, the pit in the middle of the floor was intended for his death, though he tripped and exposed the ditch. nowadays subject to more torture, he is beneath a scorch pendulum, gradually moving closer towards his body. The floor is covered in rats as Poe portrays them as fresh troops, hurriedly, with ravenous eyes, which again adds to the disturbing setting of this story, which in turn helps the reader understand the situation the character is in.In all of these gothic stories wrote by Edgar Allan Poe, he has chosen to use a sinister setting, frequently in an isolated place such as the catacombs or a prison cell. As severally(prenominal) story changes and develops, so do the surroundings, becoming more dark and threatening.In these cardinal short stories Edgar Allan Poe uses genuine characters to build up and develop the story. The main character in each story is called the protagonist, and the antagonist is the character who normally fights against him. In The Cask of Amontillado, the protagonist in Montresor, as he is the main character and also the narrator, he forms most of the story with the theme of his revenge. During the story Montresor explains what happened the night Fortunato was killed. Montresor is also sensed through the fib to be very intelligent, since he premeditated the slay so that no one would discover his plans, we can also tell of his intelligence by what he spoke to Fortunat o. He asked for assistance in wine tasting, but says if he is busy he will ask Luchesi , this causes Fortunato want to help even more as Montresor is now exploitation reverse psychology on him, as you are engaged, I am on my way to see Luchesi. If anyone has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell me.Montresor knew that burying him alive would give the best reward in form of revenge, and the greatest satisfaction and fulfilment for him. Since the story is wrote in basic person the author does not give a detailed description of Montresor as it is though the author is re apprisal the story. We are told however his feelings and emotions and the reader is accordingly left form their own opinions on this character through study their attitudes and actions. For example it is very clear to the reader Montresors hate towards Fortunato convinced(p) his determination for vengeance. The antagonist in The Cask of Amontillado is Fortunato, as he fights for his sprightliness and is the oppos ition of the protagonist. The auditory senses perception of the character has to be again determined from Montresors thoughts and feelings. Montresors opinion at the start of the story is evil and wicked towards him as he has offended him in the past, although the reader may agree with this at the beginning, near the end we begin to sympathise with Fortunato for being under torture.Much like the Cask of Amontillado, the story The Tell Tale feel has both a protagonist and an antagonist. The protagonist in this story is the narrator, we do not know his name but he is a servant in the house for the old man. From the opening of the story the character is seeking to persuade the audience that he is not insane, because he believes he is extremely intellectual for slaughtering the evil eye. Later on in the story it comes apparent to the audience that this man is in naive realism insane, proof of this comes at the end when he believes he can hear the old mans heartbeat, It was a low, dull, quick well-grounded much a sound a watch dresss when enveloped in cotton.From the description in the tale we can understand the narrators fear of the eye as he gives a detailed portrayal he describes it as one of his eyes resembled that of a caribe a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold and so by degrees very gradually I made up my mind to undertake the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever. Edgar Allan Poe does not give a in depth description of the antagonist, however we do know that he is an old man and that he has cataracts on his eyes, this is what is do the narrator think that they are evil. We are left with our own rendition of what the man is like. We are however given a clue, which is that, we now that he is a pleasant man from the quote He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. Again like the Cask of Amontillado the story is wrote in stolon person and is although the author is re telling the story.In The Pit and the Pendulum there is only one main character, this is the man who has heard his death sentence and is now being tortured in the prison, and he is also the narrator recounting what has happened to him. The only other characters in the story are the Spanish army who are torturing the man. The protagonist begins the story with a retrospection if a previous trial in which he now finds himself in a dungeon room being held capture. Throughout the story the character is faced with many situations for example mental and physical torture also facing death many times until eventually he is saved and released by the French army. Again like The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell Tale Heart, the Pit and the Pendulum is wrote in first person, and therefore gives the effect of the author retelling the story.All three of these stories share the same pattern of how the characters are utilize and represented in the gothic stories. Edgar Allan Poe has firstly chose t o wrote all of the tales in first person achieving the effect of him retelling the story as if it has actually happened before to him, toil this has left the reader to make their own analysis and judgements about the characters, leave uncertainties about the characters never actually knowing who they are and what they are like.Themes are very important in creating the right mood for a gothic story they are use in all three of the short gothic stories by Edgar Allan Poe. It is very common of this genre to have themes of in force(p) versus evil, and light versus dark. The Cask of Amontillado is a powerful tale of revenge. Montresor, the sinister narrator of this story, pledges revenge upon Fortunato for a past insult. At this time we also see many other themes projected to the reader by development Montresor, for example death, satisfaction and horror. He wanted to be satisfied that he had affluent revenge upon Fortunato we know this from the choice of torture which was slow and thorough, watching him suffer. The themes in The Cask of Amontillado are also shown using the setting of the story. When the two characters embark the catacombs, the setting represents the theme of death and horror as the tombs are draw with key adjectives as being lined with human remains and the drops of moisture trickle among the bones.In The Tell Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe has utilize very strong themes of murder, fear and insanity. The main theme in this gothic story is fear and this is mostly presented through the protagonist. The protagonist has been use to show his fear for the eye, which is often draw through the way he talks and describes it as evil, one of his eyes resembled that of a vulture. Other main themes in this story are insanity and madness, immediately at the beginning of the story the narrator challenges that he isnt mad How, then, am I mad?, nevertheless as the story continues we begin to see more of his mental illness awaiting the end of the story when the protagonist is drove exceedingly mad by the old mans heartbeat that he confesses his crime.The themes in this story are also presented though the characters, setting and actions. The theme of fear is shown through actions in the story the main action taken place is murdering the old man, and the dissection of his body. From this we are able to see that the man feared the eyes so much, that he has to rid himself of the eye forever and take the old mans life. Fear is also represented through symbolism in the story, the author has made sure that the eye is illuminated in a wicked and fearful way, qualification sure that the audience understands the protagonists fear for the eye, and is also why the author chooses to forbear his main focus on the description of the eye. on that point are also many themes in The Pit and the Pendulum however the main one being the theme of torture. This is presented through the key character in the story as he is the one being subjected to the suffe ring. We see his distress throughout the story when he is being put through mental and physical torture. The theme of torment can also be represented through the setting in the tale. The depressing atmosphere of an old, dark damp dungeon in Toledo helps towards the general theme of the story significantly. The writer uses words such as damp and cold, all of these helping to establish the theme, as many of them are associated with evil and horrific situations. After reading this story you are left with a message never to give up, this is clear in the story as the protagonist by no means hands over his life to death even in the situations he is under.Edgar Allan Poe has utilize the same techniques for representing the theme in all three of these stories. In each of them he has used the characters, setting, actions and symbolism to illustrate and help the audience tell the different themes. An additional akinity between these three stories is that they all include a theme of death. By using a range of taradiddle techniques in all three of these short gothic stories Edgar Allan Poe has been able to make the reader aware of the circumstances the characters are in, being able to do this also makes the story more realistic and enjoyable for the reader. By using first person in all three of these stories it grabs the readers attention pulling them straight into what is happening in the story, making them feel involved.The language in a story is a very important narrative technique used in most gothic literature, and is guardedly selected to construct a successful use of imaging and to build tension this can also be done with various vocabulary and sentence structure. The Cask of Amontillado uses language techniques to build suspense and to generate an imagery of the deep dark catacombs.There is use of commas which make pauses is in the text, building up anticipation and adding to the tension, an example of this is when Edgar Allan Poe is describing the passage t o the tombs We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and descended again, arriving at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux or else to glow than flame. The author also uses the effect of imagery in his stories this is used to illustrate the setting that the characters are in. An example of this is Walls had been lined with human remains, which produces a dim and wicked atmosphere. Phrases such as these are essential for the readers imagination, it also helps build up the tension amongst the reader as it reminds them of the death that is soon to come later on in the story.Another story, in which Edgar Allan Poe uses language to build the effect of tension and to make the audience more cautious of the situation in the tale, is The Tell Tale Heart. Instantly at the opening, there are short sentences that make the audience slow down with their reading, which in turn builds up the tension in the story Object there was none. Passion the re was none. I love the old man. He had never wronged me. Another technique to develop suspense is by using lots of hyphens for long pauses.These have been used many times throughout the Tell Tale Heart, particularly when the author has to increase anxiety of when the character enters the chamber on the eight night, I undid the lantern cautiously oh, so cautiously cautiously I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. Imagery has also been used in this story for the description of the eye, the effect this has on the reader makes them wary of the eye as it is described as evil and vulture like. The author has also used imagery when the man enters the bedroom on the eight night, he describes the room and every action by the character, His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers), and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I unplowed pushing on steadily, st eadily..The Pit and the Pendulum also has the use of imagery in the language, which is essential for the tale to be appreciate by the reader. The original focus in the story is describing the setting this has been done by using many powerful adjectives and adverbs. During the story Edgar Allan Poe has used a list of three commas to slow the text down, for example then silence, and stillness, and night were the universe. insofar again similar to the other stories wrote by Edgar Allan Poe, the Pit and the Pendulum uses imagery to build up the tension an example of this is when the character first begins to see the pendulum swinging down steadily down it crept. By repeating the word down it represents the repetitive and continuous swinging of the pendulum from side to side. There is repetition in the Pit and the pendulum to emphasize the point that he is now free from the swinging pendulum, For the moment, at lest, I was free. Free and in the grasp of Inquisition There is also allit eration of sidelong, shrinking, and slow I slid from the embrace of the bandage.To localize a gothic story from a normal tale there are certain factors which you recognize that can tell you the story is going to be of a gothic genre. The Tell Tale Heart has telling features so that the reader knows it is a gothic story, the first of these being is that it has both a protagonist and an antagonist, this is the main character and someone who fights against him. It also includes a subconscious fear that the man has of the evil eye, which continues through the story with heightened emotions, lots of terror and suspense. There is a sinister location of an old house isolated at night, and a theme of life versus death. In the Cask of Amontillado much like the Tell Tale Heart there is also both an antagonist and a protagonist, Fortunato and Montresor.The story is also based on an old superstition of being buried alive, as this is what happens to Fortunato in the catacombs. During the story there is heightened emotions and build up of terror and tension, there is a melodramatic plot and a sinister location of deep underground where no one can hear them in the family tomb. The protagonist in the Pit and the Pendulum is the man who is being tortured, heightened emotions are shown in this story through the terror and fear of death. There is lots of melodrama like in the other two stories as the torture is being dragged out. Once again like in many of Edgar Allan Poe stories the setting is very sinister, as he is in a damp black room containing a pit in the middle, covered in rats. There are themes of good versus evil and life versus death in this story. All these factors of the gothic genre are used to recognize and understand these stories, based in selective features which they contain.By feel at the three stories wrote by Edgar Allan Poe, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell Tale Heart and the Cask of Amontillado, I can see that there are many similarities between them . The main resemblance is that they have all been wrote in first person, the effect of this is that it draws you into the story and gets the reader involved, I think Edgar Allan Poe has chose to use this on all three of these gothic stories as the reader then has an gain to understanding what is happening in the tale. Another similarity between all three of these stories is the setting. In a gothic story the setting is usually sinister and dark as this helps to the overall effect the story has on its audience, in each story the location is isolated and usually in a dark room. The use of language is also very similar in these three stories, in each of them there is use of hyphens and short sentences all to build up suspense and tension.