The
stories of “Masque of the Red Death” and “Cask of Amontillado” are alike in
that they share a minor theme, although their main subject matter differs
greatly. "The Masque of the Red Death" could be seen as a story
reprimanding the rich who indulge excessively in luxuries at the expense of
others. This can be deduced from the fate of Prince Prospero and his
"thousand hale and light-hearted friends", who lock themselves in a
palace to ensure their protection from the Red Death and provide themselves
with "all of the appliances of pleasure", leaving the rest of the
world to "take care of itself", and their subsequent gruesome deaths.
Likewise, Fortunato of "The Cask of Amontillado", a rich, loved
aristocrat who indulges excessively in such pastimes as "drinking too
much", is brutally murdered by Montresor, confirming Poe's hatred of both
aristocracy and those who overindulge. Despite this shared minor theme, the
major themes of the stories differ, with "The Cask of Amontillado"
recounting how Montresor takes his revenge on Fortunato, and therefore being
primarily a tale of revenge, while the grisly end of Prince Prospero and those
who seek a safe haven with him in his palace indicates the main theme of
"The Masque of the Red Death" to be death, how no one can escape it
and how it comes unexpectedly, "like a thief in the night".
Finally,
the emphasis that each story places on characters varies greatly, although the
characters themselves do share some similarities. "The Cask of
Amontillado" has many details about the two characters, while "The
Masque of the Red Death" doesn't really develop them since they are not
really necessary in order to convey a message. For example, its protagonist,
Prince Prospero, is the only person to speak throughout the tale, and even
still, readers learn little about him, other than that he is a wealthy, selfish
monarch who is supposedly "happy, dauntless and sagacious". On the
other hand, "The Cask of Amontillado" features a couple of well
developed characters, most likely because it is a psychological thriller, for
which interesting characters are necessary, as without intriguing characters
there can be no interesting psyches to be examined. One of these interesting
characters is Montresor, the diabolical narrator of the tale who takes his
revenge against Fortunato for supposed insults, and, though fundamentally
different, he could be described as sharing some character traits with Prince
Prospero of "The Masque of the Red Death". This is evident from
certain events in "The Cask of Amontillado" which indicate Montresor
to be rather inconsiderate of other people, ignorant of the consequences of his
actions and nonchalant at the prospect of the death of others, just like
Prospero. The other main character in "The Cask of Amontillado",
Fortunato also resembles Prospero in some ways, most notably that they both
seem to enjoy festivities, such as the carnival in "The Cask of
Amontillado" and the masquerade ball in "The Masque of the Red
Death". Additionally, they both have ironic names, as they both suffer
gruesome deaths at the end of the story in which they feature, and are
consequently neither fortunate nor prosperous.
