He was left with nothing but his pen and paper and that’s when he was declared as a writer (Teive, De Paola & Munhoz 466). Poe’s family, specifically his father, didn’t want to give him the benefit of the son so he gave him no shares of money therefore, Poe couldn’t afford his school or college fees, so he had to do some illegal deeds like gambling to gain money however, he lost a great deal of money that led to his poverty. Poe has written to his mother in law Maria Clemm and aunt that he has been suffering and has been too ill to the extent of dying, and that is because he has been infected with Cholera epidemic but has later been cured he didn’t suffer from the disease itself but instead from the effects of the Mercury drug he has been taking to cure him (Baldellou 218)īoth Edgar Allan Poe’s parents had departed his life when he wasn’t past 3 years old, as they both died of tuberculosis he was then declared as an orphan and was adopted by another family. Not only did Poe witness the era of tuberculosis but also the era of “Cholera Pandemic”. Furthermore, the cures weren’t proclaimed back then and the only solution was to breathe in some fresh air (Villemin and Koch n.pag.). According to a research done in the University of Virginia, many of the symptoms caused by TB are bloody coughs, tiredness all the time and skin wastes. In the 1800s the White plague or Tuberculosis has been widely spread throughout Europe, reaching America and making it the “third most common cause of death” (Murray 2).

A study conducted under the name “Edgar Allan Poe and Neurology” states that Poe was born in 1809 in America his life hasn’t been festive as he endured many family deaths.

His life hasn’t been quite compelling in fact, it was the opposite, full of traumas. Too bad misfortune had to run after him, Edgar Allan Poe had been destined by bad luck in his life and death and that is reflected in his works. Furthermore, this study is conducted to trace Poe’s earlier life tragedies that led to his usage of gothic features of main protagonists with vengeful desires through psychoanalysis. The purpose behind this study is to investigate how Freud’s psychoanalytical theory is applied in Edgar Allan Poe’s works through both his protagonists the murderer in Tell-Tale heart, Montresor in The Cask of Amontillado and Prospero in The Mask of Red Death.

Last but not least, “The Mask of Red Death” is narrated through a 3rd narrative point of view where a prince called “Prospero” lives in a palace, in the era of the plague where plague comes in a form of Red Death behind a mask and eradicates everyone. He also tries to justify his means of seeking revenge by putting the blame on Fortunato.

Tale of the heart