Chopins Cask Of Amontillado, And Poe And Chopin - 1242 Words

The deadly sin of pride has been a plague on humanity for generations. It is the poison that brings out people’s innate sense of superiority from within them. Writers often reflect this part of human nature in their works. In Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"Cask of Amontillado,† (1846) Fortunato tries to prove his ability to judge wine which directly leads to his death, while in Kate Chopin’s â€Å"Desiree’s Baby,† (1892) Armand Aubigny’s total disregard for his wife and son leads to their death and a shocking revelation about himself. While society often encourages confidence, an overabundance of confidence can lead to hubris. By using tragic flaw, irony, and characterization, Poe and Chopin show that pride can lead to one’s downfall. Armand and Fortunato†¦show more content†¦Chopin has Armand display affection toward Desiree and he offers her his family name: â€Å"What did it matter about a name when he could give her one o f the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?† This contrasts Armand’s later behavior in the story but also underscores his pride towards his family name. Desiree also expresses doubt upon Armand’s love for their child. When talking to her mother Desiree says, â€Å"Oh, Armand is the proudest father in the parish [†¦] chiefly because it is a boy, to bear his name; though he says not, —that he would have loved a girl as well. But I know it isn’t true I know he says that to please me† (Chopin). Armand would not care for the child if it does not carry on the family name, bringing to light his true colors. By showing these character’s prideful behavior, Poe and Chopin lead us into to showing how their behavior affects their fates. Furthermore, Aubigny and Fortunato suffer losses when trying to achieve self-gratification motivated by their tragic flaw, demonstrating situation irony. Fortunato tries to prove his knowledge by proving that Mont resor does not actually have amontillado only to foolishly follow his murderer to his death. Fortunato accompanies Montresor to prove his alleged proficiency on recognizing wine, likely to outshine Luchresi: â€Å"And as for Luchresi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado (Poe). Fortunato offers his self-proclaimed expertise to prove hisShow MoreRelatedComparing The Story Of An Hour And The Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allen Poe1207 Words   |  5 Pagesversus man, man versus nature and most importantly man versus self. In â€Å"The story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin and â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allen Poe we see how each writer uses setting, characterization, and dramatic irony to show how allowing others to dictate ones life can lead to disastrous ends. The story settings of Chopin and Poe help to show how repression alters the mind. In Chopin’s, â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† setting is used to show how Mrs. Mallard’s repressed state of mind begins to