Terror in the Life of Essay

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Poe "not only created art from the essence of his own personal suffering but also came to define himself through this suffering" (263). This is a sorrowful assessment but we can certainly see how Magstreale comes to this conclusion. Terror was not fiction in Poe's world; it was real and it pushed the pen on the paper. Poe took on what some artists might shy away from and that is death. Many of his characters die tragic and gruesome deaths but they are deaths we remember. An example of the power of death is in "The Masque of the Red Death." This tale is unique in that no one manages to escape the grip of death. This is oddly much like the individuals in Poe's life. Nothing could save them from their fate. Humanity's helplessness is demonstrated with Prospero's "strong and lofty wall" (Poe the Masque of the Red Death 614). Nothing could stop death. Poe describes death with detail, telling us his "vesture is dabbled in blood -- and his braod brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror" (Poe 617). This character reveals itself to those in the castle slowly, as they begin to murmur and then become surprised of "terror, of horror, and of disgust" (616).

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Death moves "slow and solemn" and "stalked to and fro among the waltzers" (617). All of this happening while the "Time that flies" (615)is ever present in the back of our minds. Death and how it takes people by surprise when they least expect it is conniving and dreadful.

Edgar Allan Poe experienced a tragic life and it is a miracle that he was able to find anything in that life and make something good from it. From his life, we can see just how much art does reflect life and how useful that art can be. Poe found a release in his art, even if his stories may seem macabre and frightening. These tales gave him a place to escape and they also allowed a place for his fears to call home. Deayh, dying, and loss were common to Poe and when we know this about him, it gives his stories a different meaning. He was being creative with his fiction but he was also coping in one of the best ways he knew how.

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