Poe`s perception of death as revealed in his short stories : The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia and The Cask of Amontillado - USD Repository

  POE’S PERCEPTION OF DEATH AS REVEALED

  IN HIS SHORT STORIES: THE MASK OF THE RED DEATH , LIGEIA , AND THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

  By Heindra Pradana

  Student Number: 05 1214 026

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009

  POE’S PERCEPTION OF DEATH AS REVEALED

  IN HIS SHORT STORIES: THE MASK OF THE RED DEATH , LIGEIA , AND THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

  By Heindra Pradana

  Student Number: 05 1214 026

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to address my gratitude to those who have so kindly given favors in finishing my thesis.

  First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Allah SWT for the never ending love and grace. I thank Allah for guiding me pass the hard time in finishing this thesis.

  I am deeply indebted my major sponsor, Henny Herawati, S.Pd.,

  

M.Hum. , who has patiently given me part of her precious time to read, correct,

  and improve my thesis and for lending me her books. I am deeply grateful for her suggestion, advice, assistance, and criticism in every part of my study during the completion of this thesis.

  I also want to express my great honor to Silvia Rehulina Ginting, S.Pd., for becoming my proof reader and for the suggestions and kindness to me. My great honor also goes to Pak Ouda and Bu Dewi for lending me the books I am dying to find that improves my thesis a lot.

  I would like to express my gratitude to all lecturers of English Education Study Program who have given me valuable and everlasting knowledge. The same expression goes to the secretariat staff, Mba Dhanniek and Mba Tari, for helping me in the administration procedures.

  My greatest gratitude is mostly addressed to my beloved parents, Drs.

  

Sarjono and Ibu Suci Nuryanabeti, for supporting me morally and financially,

  for their everlasting love, guidance, and attention. My deeply love also goes to my brothers, Bonggi Prakosa and Welli Prasetya. What a wonderful family I have with all of you.

  I thank all friends of 2005 PBI’s students, especially Adit “Kotak”,

  

Daniel “Dancong” , Wahyu “Joex”, Rimas, Datia, Tunjung, and Nita for being

  great partners in Milestone English Course. I thank my partners in Green Leaf English Course, Vivi “Teh Len”, Putri, Ayik, Intan, Siska, and Dee for the great time we share together.

  I thank my partners in Language Institute of Sanata Dharma University,

  

Bu Retno , Mba Ita, Mba Nana, Mba Ajeng, Mba Tika especially to Dea

  , Dee, Siska, and Tetty, for valuable experience I have with all of you. I

  “Nyolot”

  thank the members of Youth English Community, Mba Icha, Mas Nug, Mas , Mba Venta, Mba Retno, Siska “Oneng”, Tunjung, Jojo, Banu, Rista,

  Ponk

Laras , for the chance to develop myself with all of you, for the laughter, cry, and

  fear we share. I also thank Sedik, Tepan, and Hesti for being my lifetime partners.

  My special thank goes to my beloved Maria Eka Lestari who always accompanies me even in difficult time. I thank her for the great love, support, and understanding.

  Last but not least, I would like to thank all people who I cannot mention their names, for their support and prayer so that I can finish this thesis. May Allah

  SWT grant them with peace, joy, and happiness.

  Heindra Pradana

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Page

  

TITLE PAGE …….……………………………………..……………....... i

  ……............................................................................ ii

  APPROVAL PAGES

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY .......................................... iv

  ……………………………………………... v

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................. vii

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... x

ABSTRAK ………………………………………………………………… xi

  CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A.

  1 Background of the Study……………………………………………… B.

  3 Problem Formulation………………………………………………….

  C.

  3 Objectives of the Study……………………………………………….

  D.

  3 Benefits of the Study………………………………………………….

  E.

  4 Definition of Terms……………………………………………………

  CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A.

  6 Theoretical Review…………………………………………………….

  1.

  6 Critical Approach…………………………………………………...

  2.

  8 Theory of Gothic Fiction……………………………………………

  C.

  15 Theoretical Framework………………………………………………...

  CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY A.

  16 Object of the Study…………………………………………………….

  B.

  18 Approach of the Study………………………………………………… C.

  19 Method of the Study……………………………………………………

  CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS A. Edgar Allan Poe’s Perception of Death as Revealed in The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado……………….

  21 1.

  22 Death Figure………………………………………………………...

  2.

  24 The Cause of Death………...……………………………………… 3.

  27 The Characters’ View of Death…….……………………………...

  B.

  How Poe’s Perception of Death as Revealed in The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado Reflects His Life………

  29 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A.

  34 Conclusions…………………………………………………………….

  B.

  37 Suggestions…………………………………………………………….

  1.

  37 Suggestion for Future Research…………………………………… 2.

  39 Suggestion for English Language Teaching…………………….... …………………………………..………………………… 44

  REFERENCES

  Appendix 1 Lesson Plan and Material of Teaching Intensive Reading II……………...

  46 Appendix 2 Lesson Plan and Material of Teaching Public Speaking I………………...

  58 Appendix 3 Summary of the Short Stories……………………………………………….

  68

  

ABSTRACT

  Pradana, Heindra. (2009). Poe’s Perception of Death as Revealed in His Short Stories: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.

  Death is one of many phenomena that must be faced by every single person in this world. People perceive and face death differently from one to another. This has inspired me to conduct this study. This study discusses Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado which present and reveal death.

  There are two issues that are discussed in this thesis. They are (1) what is Poe’s perception of death as revealed in The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado? and (2) how does Poe’s perception of death as revealed in The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado reflect Poe’s life?

  The method employed in this study is library research. I obtained the data from the three short stories themselves as the primary source. Whereas the secondary sources which are used to answer the issues above are the references from books and electronic articles about literary works and the life of Edgar Allan Poe which are supportive and relevant to this study. The approach I used to analyze the issues is biographical approach since this study refers to the life of Edgar Allan Poe.

  The conclusion of the analysis is that in the three short stories: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe perceives death as something fearful, terrible and horrifying, and not the calm and peaceful one. It can be seen in the analysis by comparing the death figure, the cause of death, and the characters’ view of death in those three short stories.

  Edgar Allan Poe’s perception of death as seen in his short stories: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado is influenced by his real life. During his life, he experienced seeing and facing death of the persons he loved and most of them were so tragic and left great sadness to him. Moreover, his life is rarely happy. He often quarreled with his foster father that led to his intention to take a revenge to his foster father. Those experiences of life are reflected in the work of Edgar Allan Poe as his perception of death itself.

  Besides providing the suggestion for possible future researches on Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado, this thesis also proposes material to teach English by using excerpts of the stories in teaching Intensive Reading II and Public Speaking I.

  

ABSTRAK

  Pradana, Heindra. (2009). Poe’s Perception of Death as Revealed in His Short Stories: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Kematian adalah salah satu dari banyak fenomena yang harus dihadapi oleh setiap orang di dunia ini. Orang-orang melihat dan menghadapi kematian dengan cara yang berbeda satu dengan yang lain. Hal ini telah menginsiprasi saya dalam melakukan penelitian ini. Penelitian ini mendiskusikan tentang cerita pendek Edgar Allan Poe: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado yang menyuguhkan dan mengungkapkan kematian.

  Ada dua isu yang akan didiskusikan dalam skripsi ini, yaitu (1) apa persepsi Poe tentang kematian sebagaimana terlihat di The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado dan (2) bagaimana persepsi Poe tentang kematian sebagaimana terlihat di The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado menggambarkan kehidupan Poe.

  Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi pustaka. Saya mengumpulkan data dari tiga cerita pendek tersebut sebagi sumber utama. Sedangkan sumber tambahan yang digunakan untuk menjawab isu di atas adalah referensi dari buku-buku dan artikel elektronik tentang karya sastra dan kehidupan Edgar Allan Poe yang mendukung dan sesuai dengan penelitian ini. Pendekatan yang saya gunkan untuk menganalisa isu-isu tersebut adalah pendekatan biografi karena penelitian ini berkenaan dengan kehidupan Edgar Allan Poe.

  Kesimpulan dari analisa adalah bahwa di dalam tiga cerita pendek: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe melihat kematian sebagai sesuatu yang menakutkan, mengerikan, dan bukan yang tenang dan damai. Hal ini dapat dilihat di dalam analisa dengan membandingkan sosok kematian, penyebab kematian, dan pandangan karakter terhadap kematian dalam tiga cerita pendek tersebut.

  Persepsi Edgar Allan Poe tentang kematian sebagaimana terlihat di cerita pendek karyanya: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado dipengaruhi oleh kehidupan nyatanya. Selama hidupnya, Poe mengalami, melihat, dan menghadapi kematian dari orang-orang yang dicintainya. Terlebih lagi, hidupnya sangat jarang sekali bahagia, dia sering bertengkar dengan ayah angkatnya dan berujung pada keinginannya untuk membalas dendam. Pengalaman-pengalaman tersebut direfleksikan dalam karyanya sebagai persepsinya tentang kematian itu sendiri.

  Selain menyediakan saran untuk penelitian-penelitian selanjutnya tentang cerita pendek Edgar Allan Poe: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado, skripsi ini juga menawarkan materi pengajaran Bahasa Inggris dengan menggunakan petikan dari cerita pendek di atas untuk Intensive Reading II dan Public Speaking I .

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter consists of five parts. They are the background of study,

  problem formulation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. In background of the study, the writer discusses the reason of choosing the topic. In problem formulation, the writer exemplifies the research problems. Objectives of the study explain the goal of the study. Benefits of the study give explanation on who can get benefits from the study. In the last part, the writer discusses the definition of some terms related to the study.

A. Background of the Study

  Reading literary works can enrich our mind with knowledge. Literary works portray the reality of social life. Danziger and Johnson stated that stories are the imitation of varied experience of human being, the imitation of our life, including human relationship (34). There are many phenomena that can be found in daily life and they are imitated in literary works. From the literary works we can also find the point of view of the author. They show us the way of thinking of the author about something. Moreover, an author usually writes stories based on his or her experience in the society where he or she lives.

  Short stories, as a kind or genre of literary works, also imitate our daily life. From short stories we can also observe the point of view of the author about something. Hence, from short stories we are able to find the reflection of life based on the author’s perception.

  Since literary works portray the phenomena in our life, different kinds of phenomena, such as falling in love, sadness, even death are commonly found in literary works. Those phenomena are usually felt and experienced by the character(s) in the story. The phenomena which happen in our life can be categorized into two groups, planned and unplanned. Some examples of planned phenomena are marriage, graduation, baby born, while one obvious unplanned phenomenon is death. People cannot escape from death and we are all going to die.

  Death as one of various phenomena of our life is often presented in stories. Edgar Allan Poe is one of famous authors who often present death in his stories, even in almost all of his works. The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado are some examples of his works which are related to death. In those short stories, he presents death itself through various symbols.

  This topic is interesting to be discussed because we can understand Poe’s perception of death as presented in his works: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado and how he presents it. By knowing his perception of death and how it is related to his real life, it is expected that it give clear point of view to do the analysis of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. This study, thus, attempts to reveal his perception of death as revealed in The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado and how it reflects his real life.

B. Problem Formulation

  Based on the background stated above, there are two things that would be discussed by the writer in this study. They are:

1. What is Poe’s perception of death as revealed in The Mask of the Red

  Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado? 2.

   How does Poe’s perception of death as revealed in The Mask of the Red

  Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado reflect Poe’s life? C.

   Objectives of the Study

  The objectives of the study are first, to discuss Poe’s perception of death as revealed in his works: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado. The second one, this study aims to exemplify the relation of Poe’s perception of death with his personal life.

D. Benefits of the Study

  There are three benefits of this study. First, this study is hoped to share knowledge and understanding of Edgar Allan Poe and his works. This study can hopefully give additional information for readers who want to study literature especially American short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.

  The second benefit of the study is that it tries to discover something new related with Edgar Allan Poe’s works. This study would provide new information about his perception of death and its relation with his personal life.

  The third benefit is that this study provides activities to English Language teaching. By employing the excerpts of the short stories, one can create materials to teach students in the advanced level because the excerpts provide authentic materials.

E. Definition of terms 1. Perception Perception refers to “the way you notice things, especially with senses”.

  (Oxford Advanced Learner’ Dictionary 986). Whereas according to Lindsay and Norman as re-quoted from www.sapdesignguild.org say “Perception is the process by which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce a meaningful experience of the world” (“Introduction to Perception: Definition of Perception”). This study discusses Poe’s perception of death. Hence it means his point of view of death based on his three short stories: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado.

2. Death

  Death refers to the end of life. It is stated when the being organs are not functioned to support the life system. However, “death” may be the meaning beyond that (Warga 583). He says that there are actually three kinds of death. They are: physical death, sociological death, and psychological death.

  Whereas Aiken in Dying and Death, Bereavement says, “This definition is closest in meaning to biological death, the irreversible breakdown of the oxygen” (6). In this study, death is the physical death, the state when the being organs are not functioned to support the life system of the characters in the stories. Death in this study also refers to the death of people in Edgar Allan Poe’s life.

3. Short story

  Short story is a literary genre of fictional prose narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such as novellas (in the modern sense of the term) and novels (“Short Story”). Whereas taken from Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, short story is:

  “Brief fictional prose narrative. It usually presents a single significant episode or scene involving a limited number of characters. The form encourages economy of setting and concise narration; character is disclosed in action and dramatic encounter but seldom fully developed. A short story may concentrate on the creation of mood rather than the telling of a story.” (“short story”)

  In this study, the writer would focus on three short stories by Edgar Allan Poe: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado.

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE In conducting this study, I present some theories which are relevant to the

  analysis of the short stories. This chapter consists of three sections to be discussed: theoretical review, critical biography of Edgar Allan Poe, and theoretical framework. Theoretical review consists of two sub-sections: critical approach and theory of gothic fiction. Critical approach explains the approach that I applied in this study which is biographical approach. Theory of gothic fiction explains the features of gothic fiction. Critical biography of Edgar Allan Poe exemplifies the biography of Edgar Allan Poe. Theoretical framework explains how the theories are applied in the analysis of this study.

A. Theoretical Review 1. Critical Approach

  As the imitation of life, literary works are rich of values. This makes people give their response based on their own understanding about the works (Guerin vii). In giving their response to literary works, people apply an approach or approaches depending on what they focus on. Rohrberger offers five approaches that can be implemented in the study of literature. They are formalist, biographical, socio-cultural historical, mythopoeic, and psychological approach (Rohrberger 3). Since, in conducting this study I applied biographical approach, Biographical approach is an approach which concerns highly on the appreciation of the author’s idea and personality. Moreover, the work of the author can be said as the reflection of the author’s personality. Using this approach means people have to get as much information and data as possible about the author’s life and development hence they can understand the work of the author better (Rohrberger 8). It is believed that a piece of literary work reflects the emotion, feeling, ideas and personality of the author in reference to his/her personal life.

  According to Wellek and Warren, there are several usages of biographical approach: first, it may explain great many allusions or even words in an author’s work; second, it will help us in understanding the most obvious of all strictly developmental problems in the history of literature – the growth, maturation, and possible decline of the author’s works; third, it accumulates materials for other questions of literary history such as author’s personal association with literary men, author’s travels, the landscape, and cities he lived in (Wellek and Warren 79).

  In addition, the proponents of biographical approach stated that “Biographical materials provide useful facts that could put the reader in a better position to understand and appreciate the literary object” (Rohrberger 8).

  Therefore, biographical approach is very helpful to be applied in this study since there must be relation between author’s life, personality, and his/her work. In addition, author’s life and personality can be employed to enhance the

2. Theory of Gothic Fiction

  The term “gothic” actually can be used to express both art and architecture. Gothic as one of the popular themes in literature was first exposed by Horace Walpole in his novel The Castle of Otranto which was published in 1764 (“Gothic Literature”). Since then, gothic as a literature theme was widely explored and used.

  There are some prominent features of gothic fiction. As quoted from Drabble and Stringer,

  “Frightening or horrifying stories of various kinds have been told in all ages, but the literary tradition confusingly designated as ‘Gothic’ is a distinct modern development in which the characteristic theme is the stranglehold of the past upon the present, or the encroachment of the ‘dark’ ages of oppression upon the ‘enlightened’ modern era.” (“Gothic Fiction”).

  When reading gothic fiction or sometimes known as dark romanticism, some typical features that can be found are: a.

  Terror Anne Radcliffe differentiates the term terror and horror. According to her, terror "expands the soul, and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life" (Radcliffe 643). In gothic fiction, readers can find two kinds of terror that are psychological or physical terror. In other words, terror is something fearful because it is surrounded by gloom and mystery.

  b.

  Mystery Many writers write mystery fiction by creating a case, usually crime case, that needs to be solved and a character will try to solve it. The mystery itself is often related to detective or crime story, there is another kind of mystery, which is supernatural mystery. Edgar Allan Poe is one of famous writers who writes mystery fiction both detective or crime stories and supernatural mystery (“Mystery (fiction)”) c.

  Supernatural According to Marriam-Webster Dictionary, supernatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe (“supernatural”). In fiction supernatural appears as supernatural power such as curse, spells and magic or belief to the life after death. In real life, however, supernatural beliefs exist in many societies around the world (“Supernatural”).

  d.

  Ghosts Ghost means the apparition of the dead people’s spirit. There are many stories of ghosts that can be found. Many writers from many genres present ghost in their story (“Ghost”). Ghost does not always appear as something fearful and scary, sometimes it can appear as something that brings happiness and hope. A famous story that presents ghosts is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

  e.

  Murder Murder is very often presented in crime or detective stories. In gothic fiction, murder corresponds to the dark side of human being (“Gothic Fiction”). Referring to Wikipedia.com, there are five circumstances of a murder. They are insanity, depression, self-defense, unintentional, and diminished capacity (“Murder”). From those circumstances, insanity, depression, and self-defense are common presented in gothic fiction.

  However, there are still some features that can be found in gothic fiction other than those mentioned above. They are haunted houses or gothic architecture, madness, and death itself. Gothic architecture reminds us to our nightmare. Madness is presented as the irrational or abnormal behavior and thoughts of character(s) in the story. Whereas death is presented as not only physical death, but also the death of beauty and the death of God are even more common themes in gothic fiction (“Distinctive Features of Dark Romanticism”).

  Many critics to Edgar Allan Poe say that one of Poe’s specialties is tale about terror or in other words gothic. One of them can be seen in Daniel Hoffman’s Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe: “Where could I have read so terrifying a tale, so horrifying a predicament, so inescapable a servitude to the inexorable movement of time, but in the work of Edgar Allan Poe?” (Hoffman). Therefore, it is necessary to mention the features of gothic fiction in this chapter.

B. Critical Biography of Edgar Allan Poe

  Since the approach applied in this study was biographical approach, in this section I present the life of Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809. He was the second child of Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and David Poe, Jr. He had an elder brother, William Henry Leonard Poe and a younger sister, Rosalie Poe (“Edgar Allan Poe”).

  His father left the family less than a year after Edgar’s birth and his mother who was ill died on December 8, 1811. Poe was taken into the home of John Allan who became his foster mother. This family educated Poe until they moved back to Richmond. There, little Poe made a good friendship with Ebenezer Burling. At this age Poe had showed amazing ability for remembering details and creating ideas from his own imagination. He even wrote poetry on little bits of paper. He wrote almost everything in his poetry: pretty girls he met, romanticism, and even his later specialty, horror and death (Porges 2-12).

  Day by day passed by, because of some economic problems related to his companies, Poe’s foster father got very busy and sensitive and he spent less time with Poe. However, Poe still had companions from Rob Stanard and Robert Mayo. One day, Rob Stanard introduced his mother to Poe and somehow little Poe loved Mrs. Stanard very much. Mrs. Stanard gave her affection to Poe, she listened to his poetry and she comforted Poe. Poe adored Mrs. Stanard very much, but later Mrs. Stanard became very ill and on April 28, 1824 she died. This fact shocked and dragged Poe in a deep sorrow. He lost his first perfect love, Mrs.

  Jane Stanard and it was taking a long time to make him recovered from the sorrow. He recovered from his sorrow after he re-wrote the script of famous Greek story, Helen of Troy, and he changed it into To Helen which represented his great love to Mrs. Stanard. He never knew that death, terror, and evil things would always be near to him (Porges 22-28).

  The teenage Poe continued his life but his relationship with his foster to go to University of Virginia and of course Poe was happy and worried at the same time since he had to leave Elmyra, his “girlfriend” and of course his foster mother and Aunt Nancy. He promised to come back to Myra and he would marry her when he came back. At the University of Virginia, Poe began his studies in schools of ancient and modern language but life in university was not the same as his expectation. Poe described people in University as wild people; they were drinking liquor, fighting among each other, and gambling. Not surprisingly, Poe was influenced by his surroundings. He started to play and his gambling debts were increasing a lot and these made Allan mad. Allan never sent him money again since that and seemed that he did not care about Poe’s future. Being frustrated, Poe decided to move to Boston in April 1827 (Porges 37-53).

  His life in Boston was not getting better, but with the rest of his money, he printed Tamerlane and Other Poems which contained 40 pages in May 1827.

  Having had no money, Poe enrolled himself to the US army with his fake name Edgar A. Perry and his fake age 22. He was put in a group named Battery H. First Artillery and he left Boston to Sullivan’s Island in Charleston Harbor. He was fascinated by the beauty from every detail in Sullivan’s Island and he stored them in his memory. Later, about 15 years, he used what he had observed to write his famous story, The Gold Bug. On March 1, he got message telling him that his foster mother was dying. He hurried home to Richmond but he arrived on the day after Mrs. Allan was buried. He became very sad; he lost two women he had loved, Mrs. Stanard and Mrs. Allan who always supported him. Softened by his

  Baltimore and lived there with his grandmother, his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, his cousin, Virginia, and his elder brother, Henry who was sick. There, his poems titled Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Other Poems was published by Hatch and Dunning in November. Poe went back to his home in Richmond where his foster father who was pleased by his success and his aunt lived. It was not long until he quarreled again with his father and left the house. On August 2, 1831 his brother, Henry Poe died (Porges 55-72).

  Edgar lived with his grandmother, aunt, and cousin poorly. He sent his works several times to competitions or newspapers but he got no payment from that until he won one of them. On October 12, 1833 The Visiter announced the Manuscript Found in a Bottle as the winner. Edgar won the $50 prize. That was his beginning of success but in early 1834 he heard that Allan’s health was failing rapidly so he went to visit him but he was refused by Allan and he was kicked out from the house. When, John Allan finally died on March 27, Edgar did not get any cent from him. Moving back to Baltimore, Poe started to write stories for the Southern Literary Messenger and received small payments from that. However, another shocking incident happened when his grandmother, Mrs. David Poe died on July 7. It was a great sadness to the whole family including Edgar Allan Poe. Loneliness yet led Edgar to drink and use opium (Porges 73-93).

  Poe’s habit of drinking could be stopped when finally he asked his aunt and Virginia moved to Richmond where he worked for The Messenger. He wrote stories and criticism which helped the popularity of the Messenger. Edgar then beautiful pale skin, high forehead, and bright eyes was perfect woman” (Porges 95). Later he used Virginia for his biggest inspiration for some stories such as Berenice, Eleonora, and Ligeia. The story of Ligeia was printed in a Baltimore Magazine in 1838. The characteristics of Ligeia were like his dear Virginia.

  During this success period, Poe’s works such as The Fall of the House of Usher (1839), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841), and The Gold Bug (1843) were printed (Porges 95-106).

  Back before when The Gold Bug was released in 1842, Edgar noticed the serious illness of his wife, Virginia, was the same disease that had taken the life of his brother, Henry Poe. In May, 1842, Edgar left Graham’s Magazine and he then worked for Griswold and in the same year, another story of terror, The Mask of the Red Death was published. This was followed by his other stories, both about detective stories such as The Mystery of Marie Roget and terror and death stories such as The Pit and the Pendulum. For the sake of Virginia’s condition, Poe, Virginia, and his aunt moved for a while to a farmhouse where Virginia could see the river and the green of woods and fields. There, Poe wrote his later greatest poem, The Raven. It was first published on January 29, 1845 in the newspaper, The Evening Mirror. In November 1846, one of his best stories, The Cask of Amontillado was printed in Godey’s but only few months later on January 30, 1847 Virginia died at the age of 24. This was the biggest tragedy of all during Poe’s life; his heart was broken into pieces and it was the start of his decreasing period (Porges 112-128).

  After the death of his beloved wife, Virginia, Poe started to drink heavily and moved from city to city. He also made relationships to several older women.

  However, Poe still wrote some stories during this period such as Hop-Frog. Edgar Allan Poe died on Sunday, October 7, 1849 after previously carried to Washington College Hospital on Wednesday, October 3 (Edgar Allan Poe).

C. Theoretical Framework

  In this section, I summarize and synthesize the contribution of the theories mentioned in the analysis of this study. In this study, I carried out biographical approach to support my analysis since the object of the study is Edgar Allan Poe’s works titled The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado and the problem is the relation of Poe’s life and his perception of death as revealed in those works of Poe. In addition, to develop understanding about Poe’s perception of death as revealed in his three works, I used some distinctive features of gothic fiction to compare the elements of those stories; they are the death figure (ghost or the supernatural), the cause of the death, and the characters’ view of the death. After understanding his perception of death, I could do the analysis about its relation with his life.

  In relating Poe’s perception of death and his life, I needed to know the life or biography of Edgar Allan Poe himself. That is why the biography of Poe is needed to be mentioned in this chapter. After all related theories mentioned above were gained, the analysis of this study could be implemented because it already had supporting theories.

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the methodology in this study. There are three

  subtitles in this chapter. They are: object of the study in which the information on the short stories is presented; approach of the study, discussion on the approaches I applied in this study; and method of the study which tells about the procedures of gathering and arranging the data used in writing this thesis.

A. Object of the Study

  I took three works of Edgar Allan Poe for this literature study. Three of them are dealing with death. The first short story is The Mask of the Red Death which was first published in 1842. It tells about a dangerous disease called Red Death which attacks a country and causes the victims die. Prince Prospero who lives in a palace is not attacked by the disease. He locks the palace and after some times he decides to have a party in the palace to celebrate his being secured from the Red Death. It is a masquerade in which the people attending the party wear masks. Prince Prospero decorates the rooms with different colors: blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and the last one, black. However the guests do not enter the last room colored black because it is gloomy. Everybody is happy until midnight when a mysterious guest appears in the middle of the crowds. His costume is different from the others. He wears a scary mask, a corpse’s face-like mysterious figure, Prospero tries to catch him. They run throughout the rooms and when finally Prince Prospero can catch the figure, he falls and suddenly dies.

  Other guests try to attack the figure but they find nobody inside the mask and cloak. Finally all of them die because the Red Death has come inside the palace (The Mask of the Red Death, Edgar Allan Poe: A Collection of Stories).

  The second short story is Ligeia which tells a story of Lady Ligeia who is so beautiful. The narrator describes Lady Ligeia as tall, slender, and, in her later days, emaciated. The narrator is so obsessed with Ligeia, however as time goes by Lady Ligeia becomes mysteriously ill and just before her death she asks the narrator to read a poem. She dies at the same time as the narrator finishes reading the poem. The narrator feels very sad then he moves to England where he soon marries another woman, Lady Rowena. During the first month after marriage, the narrator knows that Lady Rowena does not like him and soon after that, the narrator starts to do evil thing by giving poison to Rowena. He wants her Lady Ligeia back. Day by day, the condition of Lady Rowena gets worse and finally dies. The next day after Lady Rowena’s death, the narrator sits alone beside her corpse but his mind is thinking about the memory of Ligeia. Something strange happens that night, the narrator sees that Lady Rowena is showing signs of life but only in a very short time. However the memory of Lady Ligeia fills his mind but then suddenly he is so shocked for the corpse stands up and moves to the middle of the room. The narrator is sure that it is the corpse of Lady Rowena but it seems different. He glances to the figure with black hair as raven. He is sure, that it is Collection of Stories). This story was first published in 1838 in a Baltimore Magazine.

  The last short story is The Cask of Amontillado which was first published in 1846 in Godey’s. It tells a story about Fortunato who loves the Spanish wine of Amontillado. However, his close friend, Montressor feels insulted by him somehow and he wants to make revenge. In a carnival season Montressor who wears a mask of black silk approaches Fortunato who wears multicolored costume of the jester, including a cone cap with bells and lures him with Amontillado. They go to Montressor’s vault and because of his curiosity to the Amontillado, Fortunato does not care about his cough and the men walk into the vault, where human bones decorated the walls. When finally they find the Amontilado and Fortunato gets drunk because of it, Montressor binds him with chain to a stone. Montressor then blocks the entrance and traps Fortunato inside the vault. Fortunato screams and at the first time he thinks that it is only a joke made by Montressor. Finally Montressor finishes his job and leaves Fortunato, he buries Fortunato alive (The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe: A Collection of Stories).

B. Approach of the Study

  In this study, I used biographical approach as the primary approach. This approach was used to find how Poe’s perception of death as revealed in his works: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado reflect his life.

  In addition, I analyzed Poe’s perception of death as revealed in his works: The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado. Hence, I attempted to use the features in the text of his works which are the death figure, the cause of the character’s death, and the view or reaction of the character(s) towards death in comparing his three works to reveal his perception of death.

C. Method of the Study

  In this study, I carried out library study. It means that I tried to gather and compile data by doing researches from books. I also used electronic sources to enhance the data as the secondary sources.

  First, I read the primary sources which were Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories I have mentioned previously; they were The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado. The aim of this action is to grasp and understand each story so that I could get the idea of the stories. Second, as my secondary source, I used handbooks related to literary works and the biography of Edgar Allan Poe such as Reading and Writing about Literature by Mary Rohrberger and Samuel Woods, A Short Guide to Writing about Literature by Sylvian Barnet, Edgar Allan Poe by Irwin Porges, and American Literature The Makers and the Making by Cleanth Brooks, et.al. Those were used to find the biographical background of Edgar Allan Poe to support the ideas of his perception of death. I also realized that it was necessary to refer to some electronic sources such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_story. These electronic sources were ideas. The next step was conducting critical analysis using biographical approach. Hence, as the last step I made conclusion and suggestion for teaching implementation.

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS This section is devoted to answer the problems of the research. As stated

  before, the problems of this research are first, Poe’s perception of death as revealed in his three stories The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado and second, how his perception of death as revealed in his stories reflects his life.

  There are two parts of this section. First, Edgar Allan Poe’s perception of death as revealed in The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado. This part discusses Poe’s perception of death which I revealed from his three stories. Second, how Poe’s perception of death as revealed in The Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and The Cask of Amontillado reflects his life, which exemplifies the relation between Poe’s perception of death and his life.