Dracula And Edgar Allan Poe's A Tell-Tale Heart

After Horace Walpole redefined the term “Gothic” with his literary form that mixed history and fantasy in a way that was meant to create wonder and terror, the term developed to take a on many interconnected meanings. These meanings include “Goths/Visigoths” which Edward Gibbon describes as “a general appellation of rude and warlike barbarism”(Moreland, slide 29). It is also a Medieval style of architecture and an “unwritten” constitution which describes the “ traditional balance of power in British politics between the royalty and the people”(Moreland, slide 31). The final meaning is that of Gothic fiction whose characteristics include: strong emotion (mainly terror/horror), antiquity, haunting, isolation, obscurity/mystery and/or monstrousness/grotesquerie. Among the 18th and 19th century fiction that draw upon and foreground these meanings are Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and Stoker’s Dracula.

Edgar Allan Poe has a dark sense of literary meaning. Within "The Tell-Tale Heart" it 's shown when Poe incorporates dark elements of literacy through the guilt of a murder. Which became forced out by the hypothetical beating of a heart.

“I smiled, for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream.” The Tell Tale Heart is one of Edger Allan Poe’s most famous and creepiest stories. The premise of this gothic short story is that a man’s own insanity gives him away as a murderer. By using the narrators own thoughts as the story Poe displays the mental instability and the unique way of creating a gothic fiction. While other stories written by Poe reflect this same gothic structure and questionable sanity, this story has a unique way of making the reader walk away from the story with an uncomfortable feeling. The mental struggles the narrator faces might as well reflect the depression and other psychological issues Edgar Allan Poe was confronted with in his own life.

The most memorable gothic novels of the Victorian era are impressive due to their appealing characters and eerie plotlines. The memorable Gothic story of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, greatly emphasizes the incredible creation of Victor Frankenstein’s monster, which greatly distinguishes her publication from others of its generation due to the monster’s unique characteristics and expressions of personality. The monster is known to cause destruction within the lives of Victor and his family, but these actions seem to have a justified cause. Within Shelly’s exceptional novel, the horrific monster is intentionally displayed as the victim with a troubled past in order for readers to sympathize with the circumstances of the monster’s creation,

Monsters, those that are real and those that are fake, both have a habit of emitting the same feeling of dread that tends to linger in our minds and make us paranoid enough to look behind ourselves. The term monster, used throughout history and applied to animals and the animalistic behaviour of man, as a way of giving the general public what they want and what they have always wanted which is a ‘label’ as we believe them to be a menace that can’t be or is not worth being helped or rehabilitated. The term monster is also one that feeds the urges of the gothic, one of its many key contributors Mary Shelley, holds the title to what is the possibly the most well renowned pieces of gothic literature, ‘Frankenstein’, a piece of literature that alludes

One of the powerful images conjured up by the words ‘gothic novel’ is that of a shadowy form rising from a mysterious place, Frankenstein’s monster rising from a laboratory table, Dracula creeping from his coffin, or, more generally, the slow opening of a crypt to reveal a dark and obscure figure, which all share in common the concept of Social Ostracisation both to the creator and creature. Gothic writing can be dated back for centuries, Shelly immediately comes to mind with Frankenstein as well as The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis and Dracula by Bram Stoker all can be associated with Social Ostracisation. The concept of

“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly and “Dracula” by Bram Stoker are two gothic novels that censure the Romantic and Victorian eras with supernatural elements in orderly societies. Both of the authors yearn to criticize the standardized expectations for males and females; ultimately, they alter those expectations with fictitious forces that can be able to cause conflicts with the norms. The Creature in “Frankenstein” is reckoned as a filthy and vile fiend in Victor Frankenstein’s eyes; hence, it becomes an exile in the real world. In another perspective, the readers can significantly comprehend the vast experience that the Creature acquires in a cruel society. Count Dracula, unlike the Creature, retains a historical family line in the past, but he

Gothic horror uses “the supernatural” to create a sense of fear – both real and imagined – in a reader. The protagonists in Stephen King’s The Shining and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” endure psychological turmoil as a result of the inanimate coming to life. For instance, the Overlook Hotel and catacombs drive both protagonists to self-destruction from the sense of confinement they produce. Similarly, alcohol is a driving force behind acts of murder. Finally, objects like the boiler in The Shining and the coat of arms in “The Cask of Amontillado” represent the character’s psychological undoing. As such, the inanimate foreshadows the main character’s eventual demise by facilitating their

Gothicism has been a very popular genre of book, through past and present, and Bram Stoker’s, Dracula, is no exception. One of the most widely read novels of all time, Dracula possesses all the features of a classic gothic novel. The various dark and dreary features throughout the entire novel paints a perfect gothic picture for the reader and contribute to the mixture of feelings One gets while reading Dracula. The first feature of Gothicism found in Dracula is a constant and oppressive darkness. This feature is a reoccurring theme that is related to everything in the novel from the characters to the events that take place. Another feature found in Dracula is presence of a

Gothic literature originated in the 19th century, having diverged from the larger Romantic Movement. Like the Romantics, Gothic writers embraced the sublime nature and endeavored to evoke deep emotions in their readers. However, their motives were manifested in a fascination with the exotic and eerie human nature and the effects of guilt, evil, isolation and terror on a human being. Authors employ isolated and grotesque settings, supernatural beings and events, combines horror and romance as well as highlighting overwrought emotions. The ability to captivate reader’s emotional experience through the exploration of human weakness has allowed the Gothic genre to continue into the twenty-first century, modifying to reflect current societal concerns.

One of the powerful images conjured up by the words ‘gothic novel’ is that of a shadowy form rising from a mysterious place, Frankenstein’s monster rising from a laboratory table, Dracula creeping from his coffin, or, more generally, the slow opening of a crypt to reveal a dark and obscure figure, which all share in common the concept of Social Ostracisation both to the creator and creature. Gothic writing can be dated back for centuries, Shelly immediately comes to mind with Frankenstein as well as The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis and Dracula by Bram Stoker all can be associated with Social Ostracisation. The concept of alienating one to refuge, dismissal, and pain are all themes in these

“There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.” This quote from Mary Shelley 's classic gothic novel Frankenstein is very representative of the functional importance of gothic literature to humanity. Gothic literature can be viewed as the dark side of the human soul, as good usually triumphs over evil in storytelling; gothic literature is the release of all the darkness of the human experience usually embodied in a character. When used to describe literature, the word gothic is defined as 'of or relating to a style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate or remote settings and macabre, mysterious, or violent incidents ' (Webster). In addition to these stylings, there are several elements such as the supernatural, heroes, villains, and emotions that are very common of the gothic genre (Marinaro). Frankenstein is often viewed as the archetype of gothic literature, for the novel is certainly the most well known and studied literary work of the gothic genre, and also possibly because of its usage of classic gothic themes. Oscar Wilde 's The Picture of Dorian Gray, however described as gothic literature, departs from many of the listed classic themes. The following will examine the origins of the gothic novel, it 's characteristics, and how the British novels Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray exemplify, by usage

Gothic literature is a deliciously terrifying blend of horror and romance. From Walpole's Castle of Otranto to Shelley's Frankenstein and Stoker's infamous Dracula, as well as Edgar Allen poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, the Gothic novel has been around for centuries, and, despite a few major changes, has maintained some of the basic elements of classic Gothic romance since its very origins. The height of Gothic literature, which was closely aligned with Romanticism, is usually considered to have been the years 1764-1840, but its influence extends to the present day. Gothic literature was focused on elements of death, decay and both physical and psychological terror. These elements were often portrayed by setting, characterization, form, and recurring motifs. The Gothic style also suggests a belief in the supernatural and thus many gothic texts contain an air of mystery and intrigue. Another key aspect in any gothic text is 'evil'. During the emergence of the Gothic literary movement, it is perhaps not surprising that the period was characterised by widespread terror, namely from the French Revolution. Subsequently, the genre became very popular among writers as it enabled them to express their sympathy and concern over such political movements. The presence of the quintessential elements of gothic horror consequently helped to make the genre so alluring to both readers and authors.

Horror is among the most interesting and popular genres in literature. Authors try to use a variety of objects and topics to create stories that deliver creepy experiences to readers. Because of this, psychological horror stands out as the most disturbing style of horror by driving readers through the thoughts of mentally ill people. The sub-genre would not become famous if not because of the mind of the notorious Edgar Allan Poe. One of his best work, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” demonstrated just how the author could masterfully dive into the head of a person. From the first scene of how the narrator decided to kill the old man, Poe showed how a simple object like the eyes could motivate a person to hurt others, thus warning readers about their actions to others because the actions could cost their lives. To fully communicate his message, Poe cleverly used dashes in sentences and chains of short sentences that reflected the narrator’s chaotic mind, exaggerated the influence of the eyes to the narrator that forced him to kill the old man, and made the psychopath talking to readers about his thought process.

“The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls”.-Edgar Allan Poe wrote stories about lots of things like the Tell-tale hearts. The Tell-tale hearts is about a narrator who is creeped out by this old man's eye and he plans to kill him because of it.