Mood Comparison of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”

The literary element of mood portrays the atmosphere of the operate via its words and descriptions in order to generate an emotional response inside the reader. This permits the reader to create an emotional attachment and interest in the story, as effectively as to much better realize the characters’ feelings or emotional situations and the work as a whole. Mood is 1 of the main literary components which brings life and emotion to a story. There are several approaches to portray the mood throughout the literary work – such as the setting, tone, diction, and theme of the story. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” both use mood effectively.

1 of the earliest ways for mood to be developed in a story is by means of the setting. The setting can give a background of the character or the events which take spot. Since the reader will typically find out the setting early on, it supplies one of the very first key introductions to the story and general mood. “The Yellow Wallpaper” begins out with a short introduction to the setting and later on in the story, the narrator describes their short-term residence in higher detail. Via Gilman’s description of the upstairs bedroom and the wallpaper, the reader starts to get an understanding of the narrator’s unease and disgust with the wallpaper and a feel for its value to the story. As the story progresses, the reader can sense an eerie and foreboding feeling of what will come. As in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the mood of “The Tell-Tale Heart” can also be expressed by way of the setting. The setting, even though somewhat vague, plays a worthwhile role in the story’s plot and mood. Even though the old man’s residence is by no means described to the reader in detail, Poe makes use of descriptions such as “his area was as black as pitch with the thick darkness” so the reader can get an idea of the character’s surroundings to visualize the scene (284). Even although a minor description is provided of the old man’s house in “The Tell-Tale Heart”, there is the frequent similarity of the setting in between the two stories. Each narrators are at a house which isn’t theirs, and the role of the houses relate back to the character’s emotional state and apparent insanity. This occurrence could indicate one particular of the similarities in between the two stories’ general moods, as nicely as the feelings and actions of the characters.

Yet another method of producing the mood of a story is by means of the writer’s tone. The tone of a story and the attitude of the writer is what brings about the reader’s feelings and feelings throughout the operate. The point of view of the writer can play a major role in how the reader relates to the story or characters. “The Inform-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are told via 1st particular person as the events of the stories are occurring, so every little thing is getting viewed from the character’s viewpoint. Via the first particular person perspective, the reader is capable to far better realize the character’s feelings and feelings than if it were getting told by way of a third entity. In the two stories, it does not take extended for the reader to figure out the mood of the story and comprehend the narrator’s existing state by way of their descriptions. Poe and Gilman wrote “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by means of the point of view of an individual who comes across to the reader as insane (or a single who is becoming insane). This sense of insanity and the general writing style assist add to the reader’s interest and emotional appeal to the story, along with completely developing the mood.

Mood can also be developed by means of the use of diction. Diction is the writer’s word decision in order to convey characters’ feelings and depict places, events, and other characters. How the author chooses their word option plays a huge element in the reader’s feelings towards the character or event. In a lot of of Poe’s operates, he typically utilizes repetition of words or phrases to portray the mood of the story and the character’s mental state. Similarly to how Poe usually makes use of repetition of words and phrases in a lot of of his stories, Gilman repeats several phrases expressing the narrator’s dislike towards the wallpaper. Each stories are written through 1st person, and both narrators sound much more insane than sane. In “The Inform-Tale Heart”, the narrator continually keeps insisting throughout the story that he is not mad and how he will calmly inform his story. Whereas in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gilman’s word option all through the story consistently make the narrator sound as even though she is frantic and on the verge of going insane in that bedroom (if not already insane). The descriptions Gilman gives in relation to the setting and the narrator’s feelings toward the wallpaper also add to the all round impact of her word decision. Critics recommend that – rather than Gilman basically stating the artistic failure of the wallpaper – the way the wallpaper is described as a grotesque figure “transforms her narrative into a disturbing, startling, and darkly ironic tale” (Hume 477). Gilman’s detailed description of the wallpaper leads readers to turn out to be captivated by it even though also leaving an ominous feeling in the back of the mind. The diction of the story is what enables the reader to get put inside the character’s head in order to recognize how they feel and feel.

Yet another widespread way for mood to be designed in a story is by way of the all round theme. Theme is deemed to be the main idea or which means behind a story. Frequently times, the theme can be left to be determined by the reader since it is not generally stated outright. The two stories portray a dark and ominous theme, and there are many examples all through “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” of the frequent theme of insanity. Among a lot of of Poe’s stories and poems, insanity is a frequent reoccurrence. According to a single critic, Poe creates a theme in his operates “where the lines among sanity and insanity blur in a nightmare atmosphere” (Witherington 472). “The Tell-Tale Heart” creates an insane and nightmare-like feeling in the reader, speaking to the reader as even though they have now become an accomplice to the murder the narrator has committed. Equivalent to the atmosphere of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Yellow Wallpaper” creates an atmosphere of fear and insanity which entertains its readers. This notion of insanity in each stories is a main theme because it would be considered a considerable and repeated notion in each stories. The setting, tone, and diction of a story can all play a function in the reader interpreting the theme and all of these literary methods aid to create and determine the mood of a story.

Mood is one of the literary components which has a major function in a story and the reader’s feelings and thoughts on the story. The mood ensures the reader’s interest and emotional attachment to the story, as effectively as their comprehension of any messages getting conveyed from the writer. Similarities in the moods and tips of two stories will enable the reader to make connections in between the two, as in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”. A well-developed mood will add depth and worth to the writer’s operate. Each “The Inform-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are memorable and stir up similar thoughts and feelings in the reader due to the frequent similarities between their settings, tone, diction, and theme.