The Masque of the Red Death vs. the Cask of Amontillado

Lester Small LITR 220 24 February 2013 The Masque of the Red Death vs. The Cask of Amontillado â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† and â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† written by Edgar Allan Poe are somewhat different. The major themes of these stories differ significantly, as does the emphasis placed on each character which dealt more to The Cask of Amontillado† than to â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† Regardless of this, the stories are similar in many ways. For instance, both belong to the literacy of the gothic genre, it shared a small theme, and the characters shared a lot of the same characteristics. Poe known as a great writer how was his overall literary style determined for these two short stories? The similarities of both tales belong to†¦show more content†¦Also, Fortunato of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado was a wealthy aristocrat, who indulged excessively in alcohol, was murdered by Montresor, because of insults. This confirmed Poe’s dislike of both aristocracy and anyone, who overindulged and highlighted another likeness between the two stories. Regardless of the shared minor themes, the major themes of the stories are different. In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† narrating how Montresor took his revenge on Fortunato, therefore being primarily a tale of revenge, whereas, the horrific end of Prince Prospero and his house guest who sought a safe place of protection in his palace indicated the main idea of â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† to be death and how no one could have escaped it and how it came unexpectedly, â€Å"like a thief in the night† (Poe 323). â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† has a symbolic expression to the story. It featured a set of familiar symbols whose meanings combined to send a message. This allegory operated on two levels of meaning: 1) the literal elements of the plot; for example the color of the room and 2) their symbolic counterparts that involved philosophical concepts for example life and death. The story could have been read by the reader as an allegory