2. Open the following PDF Elements of Gothic Literature
- Scroll down to the "Elements of Gothic Literature" section and look at elements 1-25
- Consider The Devil and Tom Walker and The Masque of the Red Death
- Choose one element from the list that applies to The Devil and Tom Walker and a different element from the list that applies to The Masque of the Red Death
3. Post a comment discussing how one of these elements is seen in each story. Provide specific examples from each story to support your point. Your paragraph should be roughly 10 sentences in length and should include:
- an opening/topic sentence(s)
- analysis and examples
- a transition from your analysis of one story to the next
- a final, concluding sentence.
4. Be sure to post your comment with your name to earn credit
In the story "The Devil and Tom Walker", one of the gothic elements that is portrayed is the element of a stock character that is evil or demonic. In the story, the main antagonist is Satan himself. He pushes the plot of the story forward by his temptations to Tom Walker and his wife. He uses Tom's greed to lead his soul to ruin, and takes him down to Hell in the end of the story.
ReplyDeleteIn the story "The Masque of the Red Death", the gothic element seen in this story is the pursuing of the protagonist. The dark mysterious masked figure in the story takes the life of the protagonist in the end of the story. He also causes fear and doubt in the party as he slowly enters the dark room. The protagonist in the story gets so uncomfortable in the dark figures presence that he tries to murder him in his own home.
The stories include many other gothic elements these are just the few that I found to be the most prominent.
Gothic literature consists of many different elements that can be found in stories like The Devil and Tom Walker and The Masque of the Red Death. In The Devil and Tom Walker the element of possession can be found. Possession can be found within Tom who is miserly and greedy and wants to make as much money as possible and any way possible. Tom would even make deals with the devil to do so. In the end Tom Walker loses his soul to the devil over being miserly. In the Masque of the Red Death a different theme can be seen. This theme is The Outsider. This theme is found when everybody is at the party and a strange masked person appears and is dressed up as a corpse. This is the outsider because everybody is offended by his costume because of the Red Death going on at the time so everybody wants him to be captured. At this time Prince Prospero goes after this masked man and when he touches him Prince Prospero drops over dead. Finally when everybody else finds the masked man they are terrified that he isn't wearing a mask. This symbolizes the Red Death and nobody wants to be plagued with it making the masked man "The Outsider" of the story.
ReplyDeleteIn the story The Devil and Tom Walker, one element of gothic literature that plays a large role is the appearance of the supernatural. The devil and the horse that Tom walker rode into hell were the two supernatural beings in the story. The supernatural in gothic literature gives the reader fear due to it not being normal and not of this world, and thus is unpredictable due to it. In the story The Masque of Red Death, one of the elements of gothic literature that was demonstrated was the setting was in a castle. The castle setting in many gothic stories may give the reader a feeling of confusion and curiosity. Often time’s castles are full of passageways and secret rooms and tunnels, while not in this particular story this is often times the case. In this story there are the different color coordinated rooms that the reader needs to figure out the meaning too, including the black room with the blood red windows. Those are the two most notable gothic elements in the two stories
ReplyDeleteGothic literature consists mainly of stories of horror, the fantastic, and the “darker” supernatural forces. Many stories contain elements of Gothic literature such as the setting, feelings, etc. The Devil and Tom Walker and The Masque of the Red Death are prime examples of stories that contain Gothic elements. The Devil and Tom Walker and The Masque of the Red Death both contain an element of an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. In The Devil and Tom Walker had many instances of suspense and mystery. The Masque of the Red Death also contained elements of suspense and mystery.
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ReplyDeleteOne of the elements of Gothic Literature is the use of the Supernatural. The Supernatural consists of things like ghosts demons and other things not from this world. In the Devil and Tom Walker the supernatural is used to describe the devil and his physical form. The supernatural can be used to evoke fear with a description of a being that is not from this world like that of the devil. The jet black skin and red eyes of the devil allow the reader to identify him as the devil without actually giving his name. The supernatural is also used in the Masque of the Red Death. When the stranger walks into the room the way he is dressed gives off the presence of death causing people to back away from him. Also when they pull off the mask and the clothes of the stranger there is nothing underneath suggesting the Red Death cant actually be seen and that there was some type of spirit under the cloak instead of a person. These are some of the ways the supernatural is used in Gothic Literature.
ReplyDeleteIn "the Masque of the Red Death" there are many Gothic elements. The one who stood out the most was the description of blood through out the story, which is a Gothic Literature element. The description of the seventh room with the scarlet windows "A deep color blood" (Poe 457). Then there is the fact that Prince Prospero was murdered by the "Red Death" and The Red Death having blood come out of its eyes.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Devil and Tom Walker" there are also many Gothic elements. One that stood out was that the Devil, which is a stock character, was involved. The devil is the one who tempted Tom. The Devil also killed Mrs. Walker and gave Tom a large sum of money and made Tom's business flourish. Then, the Devil rode off into the woods with Tom's dead body and took him to Hell.
Though these were both very interesting and grotesque, this is what makes them part of Gothic literature.
Multiple Gothic elements are used to compose the readings "The Devil and Tom Walker" and "The Masque of the Red Death". One Gothic element that is present in "The Devil and Tom Walker" is the element of the supernatural. In the short story Tom Walker comes across the Devil himself and he just can't help but make a deal with him for wealth. Tom sold his soul but then eventually wanted to get out of the deal he made, but the Devil still gets his way and drags Tom into Hell. Locations in these stories can be a Gothic element such as if the story takes place in a palace like “The Masque of the Red Death” does. “The Masque of the Red Death” takes place in Prince Prospero's castle that is surrounded by the Red Death. The palace is thoroughly described with its seven chambers all having a different color. One chamber in particular is black with blood-like scarlet window panes. This chamber also includes a clock that caused confusion whenever it struck a new hour. These Gothic elements along with many others are what allowed these authors to show the dark depths of humanity and allowed for the popularity of the Gothic Literature that people still read today.
ReplyDeleteThe stories "The Devil and Tom Walker" and "The Masque of the Red Death" both include many elements of Gothic literature. One of the major elements of Gothic literature that is seen in "The Devil and Tom Walker" is the appearance of the supernatural. The supernatural element of this story comes into play when the Devil is introduced. Him along with his horse, who takes Tom Walker into hell, are the two characters that are supernatural. In the story "The Masque of the Red Death" the element of Gothic literature that stood out the most to me was potential evil in an individual. The Red Death was an individual that possessed a lot of evil. He showed his evil quality when murdering Prince Prospero. These are only two of the many elements of Gothic literature that we have read thus far.
ReplyDeleteThere was multiple Gothic elements were used to compose the readings "The Devil and Tom Walker" and "The Masque of the Red Death". One Gothic element that is present in "The Devil and Tom Walker" is the element of the supernatural, in the story Tom Walker rode into hell coming across to the Devil himself, and he didn’t want to make a deal with the devil but he does for wealth. Tom sold his soul to the devil but then eventually wanted to get out of the deal he made by becoming a fake Christian , but the Devil still gets his way and drags Tom into Hell. The supernatural element gives the story an uncertain feeling of fear and unpredictable moves. Another Gothic element that is displayed in the story “The Masque of Red Death”, was setting in the castle. A castle is typically seen as scary and mysterious. With castles they normally have secret passages and chambers. Prince Prospero's castle that is surrounded by the Red Death as the story describes it. The palace is described to have seven chambers all having a different color. One chamber is black with scarlet window panes illustrating a blood-like image.
ReplyDeleteSupernatural, is an appearance of an image that mimics any shape or form. It could be bad or good, but in the short story of “The Devil and Tom Walker” it turned out to be evil. The supernatural being appeared, when Tom was turning soil and struck an Indian skull. He heard a voice say “Let that skull alone!” Tom lifted up his eyes, and beheld a great black man seated directly opposite of him, on the stump of a tree. He was exceedingly surprised, having neither heard nor seen anyone approach; and he was still more perplexed on observing, as well as the gathering gloom would permit, that the stranger was neither Negro or Indian” (Irving 352). The shadow just appeared out of nowhere, Tom didn’t see anyone coming nor hear anyone. It is not until the shadowy figure says “since the red men have been exterminated by you white savages, I amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists; I am the great patron and prompter of slave-dealers and the grand-master of the Salem witches” (Irving 354). It is at this point Tom realizes who he is dealing with, it is the devil himself and he is there to punish those who have done others wrong. He is there to ensure those that hunted down the Salem witches and persecuted the Indians will get what they deserve. Only a supernatural being could know and be present for all those things. In the story “The Masque of the Red Death” Prince Prospero encountered a shadowy supernatural being, at a masquerade party held at his castle. The shadowy figure caught up to the Prince at the end of the night, and thrown a dagger in his back, where he lays in the black velvet room, with blood coming out. “And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He has come as a thief in the night” (Poe 461). This is known as the Red Death, he was like the grim reaper stealing lives in the night.
ReplyDelete"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving and The "Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe has high and overwrought emotion. InThe Devil and Tom Walker, Tom feels an overwrought emotions. When he meets the devil he is overwrought because he nervous that it’s the devil but the devil is offering him a deal that gets him away from his wife and gives him riches and anything he wants. That sounds great to him but if he accepts this deal, he will be have to give up his soul after a certain amount of time. Also he has to become evil like the devil. This makes him overwrought but he does it anyway. Prospero was overwrought when he hid himself away. Then he had the ball and actually let people in again. Each room had a different color with a different meaning to it. A masked figure went to the ball. Prospero went to the black room to find the masked figure. He felt overwrought while trying to find the masked figure because he was scared he would get hurt but was anxious to see who the figure is. In the end the figure ended up killing Prospero. People then realized there was no one under the mask. People believe that it was the devil who was under the mask. Both of these stories show overwrought emotions of characters in the stories.
ReplyDeleteAtmosphere of mystery or dispense, this is used in the story, "The Devil and Tom Walker". When Tom goes home to his wife and talks to her about how the Devil wants to make a deal with him where he would be very wealthy but he would give him his soul. She found him stupid for even debating that question, she was very greedy so she said she was going to make a deal with the Devil. So when she went to make a deal with the Devil, she did not return for days. But he soon went to look for her, so he went walking through a swamp. Looking around hearing noises, you would usually expect a jump scare. But nothing happened, which added suspense and mystery. Until Tom found his wife's apron hanging from a tree. Another mystery. So he checked it out and opened it and there laid his wives heart.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Masque of the Red Death" blood is a gothic literature element used. When the story goes through the type of colors the different rooms are, the last room suggest a reddish type window and a black room. The red is said to seem like blood. This explains the effects gothic elements have on stories.
Setting in a castle or haunted house. In "The Devil and Tom Walker" the setting isn't taken in a castle or haunted house but its in a more scarier place. The setting is partly in the woods where the Devil is. It's dark and spookier in the woods. In the "Masque of the Red Death the setting is taken in a house that is like a haunted house. There are different rooms that have different colored walls. The one room is the color red with blood. This shows why both of the stories show the setting in a somewhat castle or haunted house.
ReplyDeleteWithin the story, The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe, there are many gothic elements. The one element that sticks out the most for me would have to be the atmosphere of mystery and suspense. In the story, a character by the name Prince Prospero threw a party in his castle. During a masquerade ball an unknown guest appeared and began to frighten the guests. After the masked person killed Prince Prospero the other guests jumped at the unknown figure. When the mask and costume is removed nothing is to be found which leaves the reader and the people within the story curious. Similar to Edgar Allen Poe’s story, Irving has a supernatural character within the story, The Devil and Tom Walker. Clearly just from the title one could gather that the stock character is The Devil. The Devil becomes one of the main characters when Tom was walking in the woods and comes across a skull. There are many gothic elements within the two literature pieces, but these two were the most noticeable to me.
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