Welcome! I'm Carrie, and I love a good story. After majoring in English and film, I'm excited to share what I've learned with you. Whether you're a student, a teacher, or a fellow book nerd who loves to show off your library card, I hope you find something helpful to you.
This was my fiancé's favorite poem. We got tattoos of, "We loved with a love that was more than love." She had the first five words on her, and I had the remainder. She was killed about a year later by a drunk driver, so the poem means even more to me now. Thank you for taking the time to explain it.
A few thoughts about the topic 'Red Death and real pathogens': 1. Tuberculosis. Does cause haemorrhage (pulmonary) and could have been a source of inspiration, yes. But probably not the main one. 2. Smallpox. Interesting idea. Indeed, very bad cases of smallpox ( _purpura_ _variolosa_ ) act very much like Red Death: haemorrhage under the skin, purpuric rash, liquid blood leaving these or other orifices and a guaranteed swift death. Just a fulminant, invariably fatal haemorrhagic fever - Red Death as it is. Not the most common form of smallpox, thankfully - but nowhere near unheard of in Poe's days. 3. Septicaemic plague. Yes. Why not? Septicaemic plague could be described as a bacterial haemorrhagic fever. Judging from Bocaccio's description, many of the medieval cases seem to have started bubonic and went septicaemic in a second stage, which ultimately led to death. 4. One forgotten viral disease well-known in Poe's times: yellow fever. Bad cases go haemorrhagic, so it could have been a source of inspiration. However, yellow fever isn't notorious for the _ebolaesque_ (let me use this term here) total full-body haemorrhage Red Death seems to induce. In the typical bad case, most of the visible haemorrhage is 'just' gastric and often not even obvious as haemorrhage (looks like coffee grounds rather than like blood). 5. Ebola. Or Marburg as virtually the same. Surely Ebola was many readers' first association with the disease described in the story. Only that Ebola and Marburg were unheard of in Poe's times. Haemorrhagic fevers as a whole were not, though, but the most notorious ones (for the modern-day person) - were an absolut secret to us back then (and probably thankfully so). However, I feel all of these possible inspirational factors are just factors. Probably Red Death is just the spherical Archetypal Haemorrhagic Plague in a vacuüm. Blood is life, so the most obvious idea for a murderous plague is to be haemorrhagic. Probably humanity came up with the idea as soon as the first now-extinct haemorrhagic diseases emerged in the Stone Age.
I can’t express fully how appreciative I am of this analysis. It’s as insightful as it is thorough. You touched on quite a number of things I hadn’t even thought of, like the possibility of him being denied admittance into the society of the masons, or the “rest in peace” possibly referring to the narrator. You’ve shed some modern light on Poe, which I’m really appreciative of because his works are so worthy of that kind of attention. You know, i actually was just reading The Black Cat this morning, so that parallel stuck out to me as well. I really look forward to seeking out more videos like this on this channel. Such great work. Thanks!
Lately, I have been obsessed with this channel. I wanted almost every video. The way you explain and analyze is incredible. I really wish you could have a video on The Raven. It would be so helpful.
Carrie, I read this story every year around September. I used to live up near the Tarry town area. Thank you for the historical information you provided in the beginning. I hope you will publish more videos soon.
The story tells us that in order for the wife to spend any time at all with her spouse, she must subject herself to becoming a sitter, which she despises. I do not think she ultimately would have allowed herself to die in the process, so I think she was locked into the room or maybe even chained to the chair. This would explain how a young vibrant woman would have died in weeks. She had to have been made to stay there by force. Empassionate painters typically are drama queens and are not always in their right mind. He was probably maniacal about his creations, defying all logic to complete his ultimate work. He was unable to think straight until the last moment when he determined his painting to be finished. Typically, highlights are last placed, the one in the eye and the one on the mouth simply is an artists 'period' to mark the very end of the work. Because this artwork was finished, framed and was hung shows that there was no effort to conceal any of this. So, I do not think it actually happened. Logic dictates that if it had actually happened, the painter would have been so horrified, he may have hid his paints, hid the body and headed for the hills. However, this isn't how it went....the painting would not have been so carefully framed and hung because those things take care and time. An account of her death would not have been explained so thoroughly in the booklet. But these things happened, almost as if the painting was treated respectfully and with care and was hung. Because it was in the shadows could mean that it was the last painting done by the painter. Maybe the painter was actually an old man and this was his final masterpiece? It was painted in photorealism, and freaked the narrator out, which to me, shows enormous skill, a rare talent...perhaps learned over a lifetime, which would explain the numerous paintings in the room (and maybe would have explained the booklet--which appears to be pretty complete). I think we, as readers, believe this story to actually be taking place, like we typically do of Poe's stories. We want to believe them, right? This one could be very different for Poe. The narrator tells the story and we believe it. However, I do not think it actually happened at all. First of all, the painting itself has been trimmed in an oval shape to fit into the frame (which seems to have been carefully selected for this particular painting). Then, the document on the pillow explains all of the details about the "painting" and the woman's death. These 2 facts show us that this has been staged.
I'm non native English speaker, but I like to study English, and, for me, personally, this text is really useful! Thank you so much for the brilliant explanation!
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Also, I believe the line about the alarm from the incubus sitting upon his very heart is an allusion the Fuseli painting titled, "The Nightmare" of which a demon (known as a "nightmare") is sitting upon a sleeping woman's chest/bosom. I think people back then believed in the myth that nightmare "demons" on your chest is what gave you bad dreams.
Wonderful channel and reviews. You've really understood and explained this story well. It might be worth noting famous horror writer and heir to Poe H.P. Lovecraft's (1890-1937) mention of this story in his treatise _Supernatural Horror in Literature_. Chapter 7 is dedicated to Poe. He writes about this story: "...superiority in detail and proportion is very marked, hints shudderingly of obscure life in inorganic things, and displays an abnormally linked trinity of entities at the end of a long and isolated family history--a brother, his twin sister, and their incredibly ancient house all sharing a single soul and meeting one common dissolution at the same moment." I think you came close to explaining this possible interpretation a bit on your own. Lovecraft is suggesting that the three characters (house and twins) all share a single soul (or conscience). My own interpretation of Lovecraft's words believe he is also suggesting the source of evil for the story is the "shuddering obscure life" that occupies "inorganic things". What that means is that there is some kind of unknown "otherworldly-ness" or "otherness" that is unexplainable that is in some kind of "liminal space", in the very setting itself and is the source of "evil". Much like his story "The Colour Out of Space".
good analysis but a little biased at times. Try taking a more centered viewpoint and analyse from all perspective, instead of just a couple at a time at most
A GREAT VIDEO BUT WASN'T THIS PLACE CALLED "TARRY" TOWN KNOWN FOR THE HUSBANDS TO WAIT AROUND FOR THEIR WIVES TO SHOP ALL DAY?? SO MANY CALL IT TERRY TOWN.
I have a question when you said hint they break the rules but the end of the chapter is it when the milk goes missing you could assume the pigs took it for themselves.
Great analysis Carrie. I am leading a book discussion of the story in a week and you have inspired me. Not really discussed thougjh is who is the narrator in story- the I or me?. I can not decide whether it is Prospero or the Red Death himself. I understood your reason for bringing up the Belshazzar story fron bible. But Belshazzar is not mentioned in Poe's story , as I recall, so I dont think I will bring it up to my group members in discussion.
Every time I read this verse, it still guts me. Anyone who has, at a young age, experienced a deeply pure & naive love will understand why. ♡ " I was a child, and she was a child in this Kingdom by the sea, but we loved with a love that was more than love, I and my Annabel Lee."
Thank you. Hearing you recite this poem which I fell in love with in high school was worth the like alone. Haven't heard it since. Then a brilliant breakdown. Keep going please
Wow, really excellent insights into this obtuse little story! One other note I’ll add-the fact that Ichabod is invited to the party the day of is probably a sign he was invited as an afterthought. But of course, this doesn’t cross his mind!
