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It can be seen that Aristotle put much emphasis on the imitation of the events which causing the feeling of horror and mercy, and particularly canonized the bloody slaughter between families which was amazing and unreasonable, because it can “produce a better tragic effect” and more pain.
2.3 Allan Poe’s Explanation to Aesthetic Value
Poe wrote in the Poetic Principle that: “The value of the poem is in the ratio of this elevating excitement. But all excitements are, through a psychalnecessity, transient. That degree of excitement which would entitle a poem to be so called at all, cannot be sustained throughout a composition of any great length. After the lapse on half an hour, at the very utmost, it flags-fails-a revulsion ensues-and then the poem is, in effect, and in fact, no longer such.” What Poe pursues us a beauty over the reality of a kind of untouchable beauty. This kind of beauty which is horrible and mysterious made the tune and theme of Poe’s fiction today.
Poe also thought that the time we were born determined the decay of our life. Everything is going to be nothing. A new universe will be born again and again. This is such a kind of untouchable beauty. The way to die is a kind of beauty. The ultimate beauty will make your soul cry. That’s the reason why he always uses the theme of death and horror in his fiction. Through his short short-stories, he emphasizes that it is death that touches the innermost self by the convulsion of fear, which can be rooted in the mind. It is just the horror of death coming from soul, rather than any other topics that can achieve the sole effect for his gothic novels and for readers to comprehend his unique perspective towards the outer world. The theme of death pervades in almost each of Poe’s works, among which is the extraordinarily and horrifyingly impressed “The Masque of the Red Death”.
3 Deconstruction the Horror of “The Cask of Amontillado”
“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is really attractive. In this short story, Allan Poe not only tells us an attractive and interesting story but also shows us an impressive and powerful image---Montresor. Allan Poe presents such an impressive person to us from two aspects---Montresor`s psychology and his words and deeds.
3.1 The Image and Theme of “The Cask of Amontillado”
Revenge is a powerful force which is used to rationalize a murder. Thus it can be said the character Montresor in Edgar Alan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado "is a typical example. Edgar Allan Poe tells a story of cold, calculated revenge upon the character Fortunato for some insult that is unknown to the reader. Montresor thought long and hard on how he would kill his victim, Fortunato.
In the short story The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe tells in first person of view the protagonist, Montresor’s revenge against Fortunato. Montresor has planned for a long time to seek his revenge against Fortunato, for he had borne the thousand injuries of Fortunato. One day during the carnival season, he caught his opportunity and implemmented his plan in which he could be revenged on Fortuato without getting punished himself. On that day he encountered Fortunato, who wore motley and had drinking much. He told Fortunato that he had bought a pipe of Amontillado and didn’t know whether it was genuine or not. Hearing that, Fortunato insisted on going to identify the authenticity of the wine. Montresor pretended that he failed to refuse fortunato. Then he brought Fortunato to his vaults. When they arrived the most remote end of the crypt, he fettered Fortunato to to iron staples he had prepared in advance and then he began to wall up the entrance of the niche. And when Fortunato finally realized what was happening, it was too late. He had to be left there, buried alive.
The image of Amentillado. It’s the title of the story, and the cause of all the story following it’s appearance. Montresor set a trap with Amontillado. He used it to lure Fortunato. And to Fortunato, Amontillado was a lure. But when Montresor successfully tempted Fortunato with Amontillado, then it became a symbol of death to Fortunato. So Amontillado in this story is a symbol of lure and death to Fortunato. The death theme is a forever theme in Poe’s work. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.” We can see the story foreshadow the end of the story. Death is horrible. But the process to death when knowing the end of death is more horrible. The process is a mystery which arouse the reader most.