The Cask Of Amontillado And The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allen Poe, the author of both The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart, as well as dozens of other works, is suspected to have suffered from various mental illnesses, as well as a dangerous pride. Poe himself once wrote, in a letter to his family, “I do believe God gave me a spark of genius, but He quenched it in misery,” which heavily hinted at depression or other such ‘low mood’ disorders. Such an illness even brought him to a suicide attempt in 1848. However, despite such a melancholic disposition and downcast life, people said he had an “…excitable temperament with a great deal of self-esteem”., to the extent of even refusing to accept money when both he and his wife were too ill to work. Most people compare Poe’s chaotic