How Does Edgar Allan Poe Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death

Edgar Allan Poe was a man of many wonders. The techniques he used in his writings were very unique, and are still considered one of the most iconic today. But what makes Edgar Allan Poe so well-known? Well, Poe had a talent for giving off a gloomy vibe in every story, and leaving his audience with an eerie feeling. His characters, his themes, and his settings are all described so vividly and terrifying that he, most often than not, is able to keep the reader hooked. It was not only after death that he drew in an audience; many people during his lifetime--including his lovers--were drawn to the unhappy quality of that man. Furthermore, it is very common to hear on-going criticism on his grotesque and gothic writing style, but many people don’t

This story is mainly about the inevitability of death, where Prince Prospero locks himself inside his castle designed by himself. In his castle he has seven colored rooms that many believe were used to symbolize the life span of a person, with each room color representing a different stage of life. Poe also included a description of a giant clock that symbolized death approaching every minute. King Prospero locked himself and others in his castle in order to prevent himself from catching the dangerous “Red Death.” Critics believe that the Red Death symbolized both tuberculosis, and possibly the Black Plague that was occurring in Europe during the middle ages. The Red Death’s symptoms described by Poe were, "sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores" which killed the person in a short amount of time. This description of the disease in the short story has similar elements to tuberculosis. Additionally, the Black Death and tuberculosis killed a vast amount of people in Europe including his loved ones. With that being said, after Poe dealt with the death of several of his family members, it is safe to say that he could have felt inspired to write a story based on a personified fictional disease, colored rooms that symbolized the life span of a human, and the inevitability of

In both stories The Black Cat and The Cask of Amontillado both narrative characters struggle with alcoholism, and the use of drugs. Poe’s own struggles of being on alcohol can be seen through the relapsing struggles of his characters as it states in The Black Cat, “…the soul remained untouched, I again plunged into excess, and soon drowned in wine all memory of deed.” With all the stress Edgar Allan Poe was going through, his drinking became excessive killing him slowly, and causing him to have an irregular behavior. In The Cask of Amontillado Poe writes the pun, “I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grâve. He emptied it at a breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light.” This pun implies that the wine is leading the character Fortunato to his