cask of amontillado and young goodman brown

A detailed Summary of cask of amontillado and young goodman brown

"The Cask of Amontillado" and "Young Goodman Brown" ENC 1102

The Romantic Movement, which originated in Germany but quickly spread to England, France, and beyond, reached America around the year 1820. Romantic ideas centered around art as inspiration, the spiritual and aesthetic dimension of nature, and metaphors of organic growth. Art, rather than science, Romantics argued, could best express universal truth. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" and Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," are both novels from the Romantic Period. Both "The Cask of Amontillado" and "Young Goodman Brown," as well as all Romantic stories, contain at least one of the following: items of Gothicism, items of the Grotesque, or items from Freud's Interpretation of Dreams.

First, both Poe and Hawthorne incorporate a few devices of Gothicism into their story. Both "The Cask of Amontillado" and "Young Goodman Brown" has an unusual or wild setting. Poe and Hawthorne also give their main characters hidden secrets, some that are known from the start, and some that are not yet revealed. In Poe's story, the reader is shown the wild and fantastic settings of both the carnival and Montr

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Finally, both authors use Freud's Interpretation of Dreams to develop their story. Freudian criticism states that the meaning of a literary work lies in the author's psyche, or their Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id is the unconscious self, where someone hides their deepest fears and desires, the things they do not want anyone else to see. Montresor has a desire to keep his good name, and he will stop at nothing to maintain his status, including kill Fortunato. Montresor has a huge ego; he is willing to kill Fortunato because he insulted Montresor. Montresor hides behind this friendly attitude just to lure Fortunato into the catacombs so he can kill him. Montresor never feels any shame or guilt for the actions he took against Fortunato. Montresor felt that he was justified in his decision to kill Fortunato because of the insults spoken against him. Young goodman Brown's Id stands out plain as day, he fears that the town is not who they say they are and that they all lead secret l!

Both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe incorporate a mixture of humor and horror into their short stories. Poe demonstrates this device when Montresor and Fortunato are walking in the catacombs, and Fortunato says, "Enough, the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough," in which Montresor then replies, "True-true" (77). Further into the story we run across this dark humor once again when Fortunato makes a toast saying, "I drink, to the buried that repose around us," and Montresor toasts saying, "And I to your long life" (77). Montresor and the reader are the only people who know what is going to happen to the poor Fortunato. Hawthorne uses foreshadowing as a type of grotesque humor. For example, when goodman Brown enters

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Approximate Word count = 1227
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English