Running head: EDGAR ALLAN POE
1
Edgar Allan Poe: A Comparative Analysis of Poe’s Style and Plot Structure
(Student Name)
ENC1102 Composition II
(Name of College)
(Date)
EDGAR ALLAN POE
2
Edgar Allan Poe: A Comparative Analysis of Poe’s Style and Plot Structure
Edgar Allan Poe remains one of the most influential and popular writers of America more
than one hundred years after his death. Poe is known for his morbid subject matter and haunting
plot structures. Perhaps the true genius in Poe lies in his ability to create an effective short story.
Many great writers struggle with creating short stories, however, Poe used the style of short story
to convey the darkness of human delusion in a few simple paragraphs. Truly talented indeed,
Poe had a knack for stirring up the gut and creating a sense of uneasiness in his readers within
moments. This talent is particularly evident in the short stories The Masque of the Red Death,
The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Cask of Amontillado. In these stories, Poe’s style becomes
evident through themes of death and his development of characters through the use of
symbolism. Poe uses this style to create a feeling of uneasiness in the reader, as if Poe is
beckoning the reader to leave the confines of his safely encapsulated world for a few moments so
the he may contemplate the dark and the mysterious side of humanity.
A Theme of Death
In all three of Poe’s short stories there is a theme of death or a fear of dying. Poe’s
Gothic style is found throughout these stories which tell of facing one’s darkest fears. Each story
has an underlying current of death which is revealed directly and symbolically. Poe is not afraid
to speak directly of death but also reveals this theme through the use of symbolism and imagery.
In “The Masque of the Red Death” Poe uses both directness and subterfuge to describe the
disease that is killing many and instilling fear, denial, and paranoia in those who remain alive.
The Pit and the Pendulum is written in more of an unfolding fashion as it takes the reader awhile
to figure out that the character in the story is attempting to allude death by torture. In The Cask
of Amontillado, Poe tells a story of revenge in which the character dies a horrible and tortured
EDGAR ALLAN POE
3
death. While the theme of death and dying is pervasive in Poe’s works, each story portrays this
theme in a unique way.
The Masque of the Red Death is one which begins by Poe telling the reader of a horrible
illness in which, “no pestilence had ever been so fatal or hideous” and one which caused “sharp
pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution” (Poe, 1842,
p.1). Interestingly, while the story’s first lines tell of death and disease, the following paragraphs
tell of Prince Prospero’s extravagant party and the immense fun that he and the guests are
enjoying in Peospero’s chambers. However, Poe uses subtlety to maintain his theme of death
and the fear of disease. Poe mentions the barricades surrounding the chambers, a subtle
inference about measures Prince Prospero has taken to evade the Red Death. The black room
with the ebony clock is symbolic of death and its inevitability with time. Poe describes the
strange ring which the clock makes on the hour and how the guests cease their festivities at the
sound of the clock. The clock symbolizes the reminder that one day each must face his own
death. Poe brilliantly observes the human desire to avoid death as he tells of the pause and
reaction in the guests at the sound of the chime but then how they ignorantly resume their
festivities as if the clock of death never struck. This story probably most obviously contains
Poe’s theme of death, while others are slightly more indirect.
The Pit and the Pendulum is a story of torture and narrowly escaping death, although this
theme is not entirely evident in the beginning. The story begins with a prisoner struggling to
ascertain his location and those who are torturing him. Here, Poe uses subtle imagery to instill
the theme of death with lines such as, “by long suffering my nerves had been unstrung, until I
trembled at the sound of my own voice” and “the SUDDEN extinction of life formed no part of
their most horrible plan” (Poe, 1842, p.1). The prisoner seems to be struggling with both the fear