A branch in Romanticism explored the uncharted territory of the human mind:
Gothic literature. Gothic writers often explored the insane, the demented and the
supernatural aspects of the human being. Writers like Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel
Hawthorne are often praised for their Gothic works since they use mood and
perplexing plots to display the flaws of the human being as well as illustrating the
nefarious side of human behavior to engross the reader’s attention. In The Masque of
the Red Death and The Minister’s Black Veil, both Poe and Hawthorne achieve of the
stories’ mood by correctly applying a plethora of literary techniques. Although both
authors have a different approach to accomplish the desired mood of suspense,
trepidation and reflection; Poe and Hawthorne has applied the use of imagery to
cultivate the mood to achieve the desired effect it has on readers.
With The Masque of the Red Death, Poe takes advantage of imagery in order to
cultivate the mood desired. By opening the story with a ghastly picture of the victims
of the suffering from the symptoms of the disease of the Red Death, it gives the
intended audience a mild distaste and disgust as they imagine the “profuse bleeding at
the pores” and the “scarlet stains” that define the deadliness of the Red Death. Later
on in the story, we are transported to the palace where the readers and Prince Prospero
believes it is the only sanctuary from the Red Death. But within this ostentatious
palace, the slightest presence of Death and the Red Death is inevitable. With the
descriptions of the seven suites mentioned by Poe, the audience couldn’t help to
notice the seventh apartment. Describing the room being “shrouded in black velvet
tapestries” and using extreme words like “scarlet” and “blood-tinted” to illustrate the
panes makes the setting of the room seem horrifying in the extreme. Not only does it
create an eerie mood that scare off most of Prospero’s guests, but the readers couldn’t
help to think that whether or not this room is linked to the Red Death itself, which
brings suspense into the reader. However, the most salient imagery that Poe skillfully
presents is the mysterious masker that dresses up like the Red Death, since the
presence of this masker is the climax of the whole story. The figure as “tall” and
“gaunt” forebodes a formidable and ominous atmosphere as he is out of the norm in
comparison to the people in the palace. His costume is equally ominous and ghastly as
the masker’s visage and vesture is the “countenance of a stiffen corpse” and “dabbled”
and “besprinkled” with crimson blood that the revelers and the readers could easily
deduce that this figure symbolizes the Red Death. A sense of trepidation strikes into
the population of the palace and the readers would react with anticipation that this
formidable figure is somewhat a prophet of the Red Death. We are then transported
back to the ominous scarlet chamber where the mysterious masker is pursued by
Prince Prospero and his friends and then we realize that the Red Death has infiltrated
the palace disguised as a masker. With the Red Death image brutally massacring the
population in the palace in the conclusion, the readers could reflect by concluding that
no one can escape from death, no matter how wealthy or impoverished you are. But
there is no doubt that Poe couldn’t have aroused the desired mood needed for this
story with his description of the explicit imagery.
Similarly Hawthorne himself also employs imagery with his literary thriller The
Minister’s Black Veil. The author from the start portrays a placid and mediocre Puritan
village waiting in the church anticipating for the arrival of the preacher, Mr. Hooper.
The mood then shifts dramatically when the author depicts one item that is
out-of-the-ordinary: the black veil. The readers may not interpret the veil as the focus
of attention, but Hawthorne’s description of the veil says so otherwise. The audience
in the church was discomforted by the appearance of Mr. Hooper’s “gloomy shade”
while preaching about secret sin in his speech. In fact, most of them were perturbed
by the black veil since they “felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, as if Mr.
Hooper was omniscient behind the mysterious veil and “discovered their hoarded
iniquity of deed or thought.” We as the reader could gradually feel the suspense in the
story as we think that there is a dark force behind the ghastly black veil. In other cases,
the veil is illustrated as an ominous harbinger in many occasions in the story. For the
funeral service, a very superstitious woman speculates how Mr. Hooper laments for
the dead corpse and assures herself the body “slightly shuddered, rustling the shroud
and muslin cap, though the countenance retained the composure of death.” And in the
wedding ceremony, the mood is as equally as sinister as the funeral itself as the
company could “portend nothing but evil.” Although the supposed image of the
wedding is a jocular atmosphere, the veil affects the bride as her “cold fingers
quivered in the tremulous hand of the bridegroom.” We even see Mr. Hooper horrified
by his grotesque image on the glass as he turns pale and “rushes towards the darkness”
escaping the horrific reflection. Throughout the story the veil plays a significant part
being a symbol of secret sin, but through the eyes of the public and the description of
the author, it contains nothing but malevolence. But no matter how the veil is interpret;
the readers would definitely feel a hint of suspense as the salient black veil brings
forth a gloomy atmosphere while reading throughout the story.
Both authors are similar when they apply imagery to vividly describe the images
that are essential in the story, Poe describes the scarlet chamber in the palace to
establish a connection with the Red Death while Hawthorne describes the tremulous
corpse affected by Hooper to link the malicious effect of the veil. But in my opinion,
Poe applies has greater use of imagery to link with the theme of Death and the subject
of the Red Death with the colors and the gory images of agonizing fatalities. Poe is
consistent with those images throughout the story and makes the story livelier and
picturesque. Hawthorne only applies the imagery of the black veil and basically
describes the effects it has on people. I feel that the story it lacks a certain contrast to
the effect of the veil, although it is established by describing Hooper’s relationship
with his fiancé Elizabeth, I have to frank that Poe’s bombastic vocabulary for his
imagery appealed to my attention, and personally, I feel that Poe did a phenomenal
job of creating a gory thriller in comparison to Hawthorne’s ambivalent thriller.
Nevertheless, I believe that both authors achieved their standards of being Gothic
writers by typically applying imagery to their stories. Though both writers were
peculiar in their ways to use imagery to arouse the desired mood of suspense,
trepidation and reflection, they equally accomplish that task with their use of symbols
and images to aggregate the amount of tension and anticipation in the story.