Edgar Allen Poe and Humor Essay - 1915 Words

Edgar Allen Poe and Humor Edgar Allen Poe is most often recognized, and certainly most famous, for his poem â€Å"The Raven† as well as other decidedly dark and often gothic poems and stories, stories such as â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher,† â€Å"The Telltale Heart† â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado.† He also wrote many others mostly involving rather macabre, dark topics and characters as well as heavy themes such as insanity, madness, incest, murder and revenge. While this reputation is certainly well earned there is another side of Poe that is not quite so obvious. Poe was also a master of humor, especially in the use of parody and satire. One might ask how is it that a writer with such an inclination towards the darker side of humanity can†¦show more content†¦In the story a woman, Signora Psyche Zenobia, whose real name may very well be Suky Snobbs, is getting advice from the great Mr. Blackwood on how to write an article of the same stature as those in the Black wood magazine, an esteemed literary magazine of the time. Among Mr. Blackwood’s advice is to find a situation or â€Å"such a scrape as no one ever got into before† to get herself in and then proceed to write about the â€Å"sensations† she is experiencing (Poe 341). In the process of writing these sensations she is to use a certain few literary techniques in order to ensure her writing is of Blackwood quality. Some of the situations he uses as past examples are a man who is buried alive and writes about it as well as the man who was baked in an oven and also wrote about it. Poe is essentially the degrading stature of the magazine by comparing the articles it prints to these idiotic stories and his rather pompous and pretentious character who is totally serious as he gives her this advice, much as is the real life magazine is with regards to how ostentatious its writers are. The techniques that Mr. Blackwood gives to Zenobia are actual strategies and common techniques used by many writers in different styles of writing. The problem, and hence the humor, is that Mr. Blackwood tells her about them all at the same time and she interprets this as meaning she should useShow MoreRelatedThe Single Emotional Poeffect995 Words   |  4 PagesWhen reviewing Nathaniel Hawthornes Tales, Edgar Allen Poe pronounced that the short story, if skillfully written, should deliver a single preconceived effect- an effect upon which incidents be fashioned to accommodate that effect. Edgar Allen Poe was indeed a skillful writer. His short story, The Fall of the House of Usher is a flawless example of a story in which all elements contribute to the delivery of a single emotional effect. Poe accomplishes this by achieving a perfect tone, developingRead MoreHumorous Humor Of Edgar Allan Poe s The Dark Hearted 1675 Words   |  7 PagesPoe: Lighthearted Humor in a Darkened Hear t Edgar Allan Poe, the dark hearted author! When speaking of Poe, readers would most likely associate him as a dark and dreary author. His uses of vivid, shadowy imagery and themes of death and despair lurk within the minds of his audiences. Poe, however, subtly injects his works with humor that may not easily be spotted by the human eye. Why exactly would Poe inject humor into his horror stories, since they aren’t comedies? 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Moreover, the pestilence kills quickly and alienates the sick. This is Poes image of death. He only bothers to tell its symptoms. He doesnt go into the fear present inRead MoreThemes in the Writing of Edgar Allan Poe that Mirror his Personal Life1379 Words   |  6 Pages His father an actor abandoned the family when he was one years old and his mother an actress died of tuberculosis when 2 yrs old. His foster parents cared for him as a young child and their last names were Allan. This is where his full name Edgar Allan Poe comes from. When he was in college he wrote all of his walls and came of gloomy and depressed to some classmates. He removed his self from the college because of gambling debts. He marries his very young cousin Virginia Clemm when she was 13yrsRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allen Poe1167 Words   |  5 PagesEdgar Allen Poe’s short story â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is essentially the story of a man, the narrator, Montresor who seeks revenge against a man named Fortunato who insulted him. Montresor meets Fortunato at a carnival, lures him into the tunnels, or catacombs under his home, and buries Fortunato alive. The two images that show the mood and tone of Poe’s story are captured in a simple, black and white comic strip style. The genre of the story translates differently and oddly into the images evenRead MoreLiterary Criticism In The Cask Of Amontillado1087 Words   |  5 PagesFortunato’s success. Prior to reading â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† the book gave a brief life account and background about Edgar Allen Poe. The biography states he was adopted by a wealthy businessman as a result of being an orphan at a very young age. What life circumstances could have fueled Edgar Allen Poe’s creativity and fascination with morbid subject materials? I don’t think Poe would have possessed his sophisticated literary talent had he not had shared in life’s hardships and learned throughRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado Analysis935 Words   |  4 PagesRiley Akers Mr. Hooper English II 531-09 September 2, 2017 The Cask of Amontillado In the short story â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allen Poe, Montressor uses his rival, Fortunato’s, Hubris to plot his revenge for the wrongs Fortunato has done against Montreseor’s family. In the beginning of the story, Montressor explains why he must get his revenge on Fortunato and also explains how Fortunato believes he is a skilled judge of fine wines. His plan to kill Fortunato is to lure him into his wineRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allen Poe872 Words   |  4 Pages In the story â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† written in 1846, by Edgar Allen Poe he speaks about the plot to kill the main character by the name of Fortunato. The murder of Fortunato is committed by a friend named Montresor. Poe never truly reveals how Fortunato s death will occur but he uses, suspense, and Irony to keep the reader entertained. The story is narrated by Montresor, a man who seeks revenge. His plot of revenge is towards a man by the name of Fortunato who is a drunk, but a very distinguished