THEME Similarities and Differences in "Cask of Amontillado" and "Hop Frog"

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Could somebody please help me with the theme similarities and differences between the 2 stories, "Cask of Amontillado" and "Hop Frog"? If you could also help me with the plot line of both stories. Thank you very much!

Lisa

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2001

Answers

Similarities: Tale of revenge, the use of wine to destroy, cause of downfall, insulted man takes revenge on more powerful noble, costume of jester, chains victim, leaves them beneath, enjoys the revenge, the stupidity of the victim tyrant. Old European(Italian) setting.

Now this is an interesting revisiting of an old tale by Poe. This time around its personal. The king and his court represent the literary world, his enemies and critics and simply the powerful mediocrity that enslaved, impoverished and humiliated him and attacked his wife(symbolic splashing of red wine like blood). This time the avenger is the jester. Nor is this the only tale revisited in Hop Frog. Several other tales are alluded too in a topsy turvy way. The tale is even ruined in a way that mocks all the popular tales(Rue Morgue, Mask of the Red Death, Pit and Pendulum). So in this later tale Poe is not doing the same thing as he attempted in any of the other tales. It is a symbolic mockery or revenge against his world, and no shadow of doubt or regret. Other significant differences is the burning alive, the public murder, not told in first person talking of the past.(That last is signiificant in that Poe is telling a personal parable, not a story as such.)

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002


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