The Masque of the Red Death and the Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe Essay Example

this spectral image (which with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully to sustain its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he was seen to be convulsed, in the first moment with a strong shudder either of terror or distaste; but, in the next, his brow reddened with rage. When the Red Death arrives, something changes.

The Red Death feels no more real than anything else at the ball. To that extent, it fits into the dream world. Edgar Allan Poe also used fear as a theme, starting from the first sentence to the last. “When the eyes of Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral image (which with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully to sustain its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he was seen to be convulsed, in the first moment with a strong shudder either of terror or distate. Prince Prospero and his court believe they can avoid death buy partying and this just shows how folly and foolish they are.

Like The Masque of the Red Death, The Tell-Tale Heart has the theme of mortality and reality too. Moreover, the other themes consist of time, “And this I did for seven long nights - every night just at midnight. ” and Cunning&Cleverness, “And then I thrust in my heas. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! ” Some of the symbolims in The Masque of the Red Death is the same in The Tell-Tale Heart. The most important example is the clock/watch.

The big, black, creep clock in Masque of the Red Death

is located in the black room, so it is not hard to guess that it is meant to be a symbol of death and that time flies away. Similarly, in The Tell-Tale Heart, each tick of the watch symbolizes a movement closer to the inevitable death that all humans face. In conclusion, even though the two short stories have their differences, the fundamental message of the author is the same. Both stories are about the dark side of life - disease, guilt, murder ect. The protagonists believe they can overcome these forces and emerge victiorious but one dies and the other goes insane.