What Does The Castle Symbolize In The Masque Of The Red Death

769 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How edgar allan poe uses allegory in the masque of the red death

Going to extreme measures to hide from something that is inevitable is futile. In the “Masque of the Red death,” a short story by Edgar Allan Poe; the Red Death spreads across Europe from city to city leaving thousand dead. Prince Prospero doesn't want to die so he and some rich friends escape to a castle sealed off from the outside world. The only problem is that nobody can escape death. In “The Masque of the Red Death” Poe uses the symbolism of the castle, rooms 1-7, and the clock to show there is no way to hide from reality. It will always find a way back. The castle is a safe hold from the world that high up people go to for protection. When the Red Death kills half of Prince Prospero's dominions, he takes his rich friends, and seals themselves away from the world in his castle. Poe writes, “When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light hearted from among the knights, and dames of his court, and with these retired the the deep seclusions of one of his castellated alleys”(Poe 82) The castle …show more content…

At the masque the clock rings a deep eerie ring each hour causing people to realize death is approaching, even if they don’t want it to. The quote, “While the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grw pale”(Poe 84), shows the people at the dance realizing in the back of their heads, that they knew death was bound to happen. The clock symbolizes death approaching the partiers. Even the happiest, care free of them all felt the effects of the sudden realization of the fate they ran away from. The seventh room holds the clock that tells the people death is approaching, this is showing that because the rings were coming from the black covered room facing west, death was on its way. With each ring of the clock the people realize it is impossible to hide from the

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Hop Frog And The Cask Of Amontillado

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    By providing symbolism, the setting of each story coerces the reader to think and reflect on the story, its impact, and its deeper meanings. For example the setting of “Hop Frog” provides deeper insights on Hop Frog’s perspective. “In less than half a minute the whole eight orang-outangs were blazing fiercely, amid the shrieks of the multitude who gazed at them from below . . . without the power to render them the slightest assistance” (Poe). Though describing the conflagration of the king and his ministers, this setting can also easily describe the hardships faced by Hop Frog every day while in captivity. Unable to escape the fiery wrath of the king, Hop Frog is forced to suffer while Tripetta is rendered powerless, unable to do anything to assist her friend. While the setting in “Hop Frog” can be used to symbolize the pain and suffering Hop Frog is forced to endure, symbolism can also be seen in the setting of “The Masque of the Red Death”. Focused on the idea that no man can escape death, Poe uses symbolism to entice the reader to subconsciously make connections to discover this idea for his or herself. Many symbols are used throughout “The Masque of the Red Death”, one of them being “a gigantic clock of ebony . . . while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale” (Poe). Though it is never specifically indicated that there is more significance to the clock than illustrated in the given information, one could extrapolate that the clock is a representation of time itself. Time is more or less ignored; however, as time goes on and the end draws near, people pay more attention to it, and are terrified by the reminder that they will all perish in the end. This example is one of many of the symbols used in “The Masque of the Red Death”; like in that of “Hop Frog”, the setting of “The Masque of the Red Death” leaves clues for the reader, encouraging him

    Read More

  • The Courtier In The Masque Of The Red Death

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    All people wish to avoid suffering, and those with wealth usually take too long to realize that they cannot avert it. In the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe tells the readers of death, and how the upper class deals with it. In this story, Prince Prospero and his wealthy friends hide away in a castle to evade death. This obviously does not work, as death is inevitable, but of course, they attempt to save themselves anyways. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe uses the courtiers, Prince Prospero, and the stranger to symbolize the members of the influential upper class and their habit of using their power to postpone their own impending doom.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in The Masque of the Red Death

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    the countenances of those who enter it that there are few…bold enough to set foot within it".

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “The Masque of the Red Death,” the location of the rooms represents the cycle of life and death, with the bright blue room all the way to the east, where the sun rises and the day begins, and the black, morbid room all the way to the west, where the sun sets and the day ends. The reader comes to understand that the most eastern room represents the beginning of life, while the most western room

    Read More

  • What Does The Green Symbolize In The Masque Of The Red Death

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The scarlet stains upon the body, and especially upon the face of the victim, caused terror in those watching the afflicted” (7). The story starts off with the prince getting away to a castle with his healthy friends. They were going to throw a masque party, and all was going well until the masker showed up. Everyone was scared including the knights. As the masker made its way from the blue room to the black room, nobody moved. The prince felt like it was his job to get up and take control. He entered the black room with the Masker and that’s when everyone heard a scream, the prince was dead. Eventually, all his friends dropped dead too. In “The Masque of the Red Death” the seven rooms represent the seven stages of life; infancy, childhood,

    Read More

  • The Masque of the Red Death: Symbolism

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author, Edgar Allan Poe, using illusion or misdirection keeps the reader is suspense throughout this story called "The Masque of the Red Death". Symbolism such as the colored rooms, the impressive clock, the feeling of celebration being at a party all makes this story feel like a fairytale. Poe used this fairytale style and converts it into a nightmare in disguise.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in The Masque of the Red Death

    1690 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poe continues to develop his point that no one escapes death through the setting. Not only does he use the exterior and how it was constructed to tell what precautions P...

    Read More

  • What Does The Dark Room Symbolize In The Masque Of The Red Death

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    Towards the end of the story, the people encounter the masked man resembling the Red Death and Prospero chases him through the rooms. When the people follow Poe states “ Then summoning the wild courage of despair a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment.”(10). They avoided the black room all night but when all the chaos happened they threw themselves in the room to find out what happened. Just like they eventually went into the room they were avoiding, they eventually all died. The black room symbolizes death, the room was always they and unavoidable just like death

    Read More

  • Setting and Organization in Poe's The Masque (Mask) of the Red Death

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning, the general situation is explained and the broad location of the story is established. While a dreadful disease ravages the countryside, Prince Prospero and his friends lock themselves up to escape and forget the fate of their neighbors. Their plan is easily identifiable, and the audience can certainly relate to their wish to leave the world behind them and exist in a processed utopia. The description of an isolated and hidden abbey reflects the prince's wish for concealment and his indifference to his responsibilities to the commoners. Poe stresses the magnificent height of the fortress walls and the welded iron gates to enforce an image of strength and protection. He also includes the entrapmen...

    Read More

  • The Masque Of The Red Death Symbolism Analysis

    460 Words  | 1 Pages

    “The Masque of the Red Death” was written by Edgar Allen Poe in the 19th century. This story was written during the Gothic era. The stories that are written in the Gothic era is usually has to do with death, and lots of people were fascinated by the stories. There are many symbols in “The Masque of the Red Death”, yet I chose three, the first is all the colors of the room, second is the ebony clock and the last is the inside and outside of the abbey.

    Read More

  • The Masque Of The Red Death Analysis

    1932 Words  | 4 Pages

    Each line, every detail seems to tie into a deeper meaning that carries the reader throughout the story alongside the narrator and partygoers, all the while laden with hints and deeper meanings that progress rapidly toward the awaiting “horror” of death. With the introduction of the story alone, Poe has already set the stage with the background on the horrifying “pestilence” and its effects on the human body. By aptly naming it the “Red Death,” Poe is already conjuring images of the gruesome, painful deaths of history’s great plagues, particularly the black death which nearly shares its name, as well “the redness and the horror of blood” (Poe 438). It is here that the story takes a turn with the introduction of Prince Prospero himself, momentarily placing thoughts of the Red Death on the

    Read More

  • Imagery In The Masque Of The Red Death

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allan Poe uses imagery, sensory detail and symbolism not only to build suspense, but also to convey the idea that an individual can not hide or run away from death which becomes closer as time passes on. Throughout the story Poe uses imagery details to create suspense in the story. For example when the author is describing the disease that has taken many lives he describes the unfortunate event as, “ Blood was its Avator and its seal- the redness and the horror of blood. One can understand that in the story the tragic death of someone might occur as tragically as the disease is described. Accordingly, as the story progresses the deep shade of the color red is evident in many areas to represent symbolism.

    Read More

  • Comparing Allegory in Masque (Mask) of the Red Death and Dr Heidegger's Experiment

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe's writing style is based on the supernatural and the unknown. In The Masque of the Red Death, Prince Prospero invites the revelers to come to the castle to party until the danger of pestilence is gone. The party was interrupted by an intruder who was dressed in all black (like the Grim Reaper) and was associated with the plague of the "red death." The reaper killed everyone one by one in the end. The Masque of the Red Death is an allegory. An allegory is symbols that are presented in the story that have two levels of meaning. An example can be the clock in the story. The clock told time and represented the time they had left before they died. There were seven chambers that were different colors, and the last chamber was black, which was the last chamber that represented death. I think the seven rooms symbolized the days until you die and the clock symbolized the time until you died.

    Read More

  • Masque Of The Red Death Essay

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story, “Masque of the Red Death” it covers six months during the Red Death.It takes place in a castle which has seven different colored rooms.In the beginning of the story it describes the main character prince Prospero as happy,fearless and wise. Towards the end of the story a new guest appears to the party and everyone is scared and Prospero goes from being happy to mad and in the end the new guest kills Prospero and everyone dies because he was the Red Death. The message in this analogy ,”The Masque of the Red Death “ by Poe is life passes by so quick that you don't realize what's going on until it's your time to die.

    Read More

  • What Is The Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    “And one by one dropped the revelers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall” (Poe, par. 14). After the mummer kills Prince Prospero, the masqueraders in the abbey perish one by one until the ebony clock runs out and none remain. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allan Poe uses the symbolism of the iron fortress, the masque, and the mummer to reveal the theme that man does not have control over their fate, and they cannot run from death.

    Read More

More about What Does The Castle Symbolize In The Masque Of The Red Death

Open Document