Compare and Contrast: Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were two phenomenal authors of the Dark Romanticism period. These American authors were two of the first writers to delve into the human mind and create psychological literature. Dark Romanticism examines the conflict between good and evil, the psychological effects of guilt and sin, and the human minds madness and derangement. Poe and Hawthorne both successfully captured the dark romanticism elements, yet they each approach these dismal aspects differently. These two authors share qualities in their writing, but they were extremely different people.
Women as castrators, society’s destruction of natural impulses, and false diagnoses of insanity are some of the themes which are reinforced by the Chief’s madness and hallucinations in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The main weaknesses of using Chief Bromden as the narrator of the novel are due to the fact that the Chief continuously describes his hallucinations as if they were present and constantly has flashbacks of his past which can be confusing. Additionally, his opinions on the events and characters that take place at the ward can be a biased opinion of the Chief. This particularly interferes with our knowledge and understanding about what is actually happening at the ward. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, one very confusing thing that interferes with our understanding of reality and fantasy is Chief
It appears that Hawthorne infers Chillingworth initially had another plan, a plan that would not ruin Arthur Dimmesdale’s life. The questions is, why Chillingworth chose to torture Hester and Dimmesdale when he could of simply revealed that he is Hester’s husband? He could possibly get pleasure from quietly torturing them. It would be too easy on Dimmesdale and Hester to show his true identity so he chooses this plan. "What evil have I done the man?"
However, his definition of mad is different due to his mental illness. He claims to have murdered an old man. He states, “I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture - a pale blue eye, with a film over it.
By him wanting to kill the old man is not really just because of the way that his eye looks. The old mans eye in this story is being compared to “the eye of a vulture”. This comparison represents death. The vulture is known as the bird of prey. The old mans eye may also represent a window to see into the narrator’s soul.
A critic from the Literature Network said “Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" consists of a monologue in which an accused murderer protests his sanity rather than his innocence. The point of view is the criminal's, but the tone is ironic in that his protestation of sanity produces an opposite effect upon the reader. From these two premises stem multiple levels of action in the story. The criminal, for example, appears obsessed with defending his psychic self at whatever cost, but actually his drive is self-destructive since successful defense upon either implied charge— of murder or of criminal insanity— automatically involves admission of guilt upon the other (1).” In summary, when Poe creates two personalities within one character, one part of the character will blame the other part of the character. Eventually on part of the character will give in and accept everything.
In addition, Macbeth’s naivety was also responsible for the tragedies, and his own downfall. He was a literalist, and thus failed to decipher the Weird Sister’s prophecies above the literal sense. The Weird Sister’s words, such as ‘none of woman born shall harm Macbeth,’ were not meant to be taken literally. Macbeth’s inability to read into the hidden meanings was his fatal flaw. It caused him to carelessly believe in his own invincibility, and eventually resulted in his own
The Routed Influence Behind Edgar Allan Poe’s Writing Edgar Allan Poe, considered by many a literary genius who’s crafted poetic tragedies, of horrific tales, consumed with death, suffering and horror, are only humbled by the experiences and misfortune that Poe has lived through from an early age. His life, full of depression, angst, and sorrow, caused by the death of those closest to him, which fell victim to deadly plagues and diseases. To cope, Edgar sought comfort only to the bottom of a bottle, which some claim only further influenced his writings as it deepened his sorrow. Over the course of his life, he wrote hundreds of short stories and poems of which, his writing style was so unique, that without coincidence was influenced
“The Black Cat” begins with the narrator claiming that he has not lost his senses. “…the story for which I am about to pen. I neither expect nor solicit belief. Mad indeed would I be to expect it… yet, mad am I not”. Although the narrator states that he is not mad, it is evident that he is unreliable and has a demented point of view.
Edgar Allan Poe’s writing style in most of his stories is gothic. His writings give a dark and gloomy feeling to the reader. Some of the horrible events that occurred are his parents dying, his foster mother dying, his brother dying, and his wife dying. These events that occurred in Poe’s past life probably caused him to have this type of writing style. He is trying to get the reader to feel as he felt when he went through the hardships in his life.