Cast of Amontillado

p Cask of Amontillado Themes of Horror in Edgar Allen Poe Perhaps no writer in American literature has as strong a reputation for writing in the macabre and horror tradition as Edgar Allen Poe . In addition to famous short stories such as "The Masque of the Red Death "The Gold Bug "The Tell-Tale Heart " and others , Poe wrote distinguished poetry and criticism as well as a novelette "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym " In one way or another each of Poe 's works in these various idioms showed a clear and constant preoccupation with

death , and also with a confessional technique through which Poe expressed , though scarcely directly , the events and emotional and psychological tribulations of his brief and tortured life . By examining a handful of Poe 's works in fiction , poetry , and criticism , insight into the special role death and personal biography played in Poe 's work can be gained

Poe 's literary career can be envisioned as truly beginning when he was a cadet at West Point , under the auspices of his foster-father father John Allan . Poe 's career at West Point was short and turbulent and ultimately resulted in Poe 's expulsion from the Academy and a complete break between Allan and Poe . During this time , Poe found a subscription list among cadets for his poetry and convinced a publisher to bring out his first book of poems . The stay at West Point can be considered "as an interruption of his real career . He was not aided...