Masque Of Red Death Analysis

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Recommended: An essay about the theme of the masque of the red death

In the novel, The Masque of Red Death, by Edgar allen poe, many visible elements are used to deliver the theme that no human can escape death. Nor the rich or the poor , can prevent such thing. This story is about a country that gets infected with a deadly plague known as the "read death", poe himself experienced how the disease affected people in his life.I believe he used this story to demonstrate his views and feelings towards this fatal disease.The plague causes death within 30 minutes of being infected . In the story , there lived a prince named Prince prospero, with little compassion , that takes refuge in a magnificent palace with his 1000 friends along his knights and dames of his court, where they spend their days partying and drinking as if blinded to what is going on in their country.There were dancers, musicians,bufoons, even wine. The perfect place for majesty.The palace had gates of iron and every door was bolted in. The prince has no care to the people, who are dying , bleeding from pores, living their last days. Instead if the prince even suspected one of them was infected, he automatically would kill them. The prince was a selfish, uncaring, self centered rich ruler who thought his power and money could avoid death. The palace is made up of 7 rooms, all of a different color. There is a blue,purple,green,orange,violet, white and lastly a black one covered with blood. Allegorical elements can be decribed as life or death in this mysterious story. The plague symbolized the death part, and the ball symbolized life. I believe the colors represented the stages of the prince life, legitemanly fnishing in the 7th room where he layed lifeless. The rooms go from east to west , representing the way the sun rises meaning bi... ... middle of paper ... ... color red to represent the plague with the fact that the red death is symptomatic of bleeding from the pores. When the prince is going to face the death he shows cowardice which makes him rage with anger."that the Prince Prospero, maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice." Time is essential in this story, reminds the people of when time is running out and death is unavoidable. Masque of red death is a gothic literature, with dead, unexplainable mysterious frimes.While him and his guest were safe, his people were dying miserably, it shows a lack of character in his part. Instead of seeing the prince as a cold heartless man, you can also see it as just a scared man not wanting to face reality, leading to creating a imaginary world. When poe bring together both worlds at the end of the story, the poor and the rich, it creates a immediate climax.

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