Detailed Comparison of Edgar Allan Poe: Premature Burial and The Masque of the Red Death

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Detailed Comparison of Edgar Allan Poe:
"Premature Burial" and "The Masque of the Red Death"
Premature Burial is a short horror story by Poe in 1844 tackling on the main theme of fright of being buried alive. During the period, he wrote this work, the issue of being buried alive was common and people were afraid of it. As a result, Poe took advantage of the issue that was the interest of the public. The story starts with an unnamed narrator who is afraid that he will be buried alive because of his "attacks of the singular disorder which physicians have agreed to term catalepsy" (Poe 7). The Masque of the Red Death is an allegory story written by Poe trying to convey a message of life and death. It is all about a plaque killing people at an increasing rate in the country in which the prince is less concerned about the misfortunes the people are facing. The prince`s interest is about himself and does all he can to protect himself from suffering from the plague.
The most significant similarity between both works of art by Poe is that of fear of death. In both stories, the protagonists are if great fear of death. While the story of Premature Burial majors on the narrator who is very much afraid of death, the story, The Masque of the Red Death, emphasizes on the main character, the Prince, who is terribly afraid of death. The narrator is the first horror story gives accounts of people who have been buried alive and fears the same might happen to him. He goes ahead to talk to some people so that they do not mistake him with a dead man once he falls unconscious because of his illness. He has witnessed people cry in their graves as they are headed to being buried alive and knows that the same can happen to him because he is suffering form a very serious illness. He is in fact "lost in reveries of death and the idea of premature burial held continual possession of his brain" (9). Similarly, the prince is afraid of death and disassociates from his people in fear that they many infect him with the plague that is killing the people. He keeps his gate locked so that he does not suffer from the illness sweeping the city people. He does not assist in helping the town people because he fears they may infect him with then plague. In fact, he kills the people who are seriously infected by the plague to avoid further infections on the people who are dead.
Both stories are set on the burning issues of the moment. During the time Premature Burial was written, the issue of people being buried alive after being mistaken for the dead was on the increase. During this time, the fear of being buried alive was the interest of the public. The then doctors were experiencing difficult moments in offering treatments to people who were suffering from complex illnesses (About.com). Coffins were made with holes giving space for people who could be buried mistakenly alive to shout for help once they woke up before being buried. People had to draw the attention of others by "striking the iron bar of the coffins" (4). Similarly, The Masque of the Red Death was written when plagues were common and sweeping people in a city. It was also notable that the kings of those days did not associate themselves in helping the people but rather segregated themselves to avoid suffering from the deadly plagues. Showing that such plagues could cause deaths of princes and kings despite the amount of wealth they have, is a clear indication that the princes were supposed to look for preventive measures to avoid dreadful results of the deadly plagues. Basing his stories on real life situations drew that attentions of the public and made his work sell.
It is notable that even though the two stories have similarities, there are significant differences as well. Bo...