Edgar Allan Poe portrays symbolism in the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”,
by relating to the grandfather clock, the seven suites, and the unfamiliar corpse guest. Published
in 1842, “The Masque of the Red Death” presents Prince Prospero’s efforts to avoid a dangerous
plague by hiding in his castle with many of his good knights and ladies. While the guests have
one never-ending party in Prospero’s fabulous castle, he decides to throw a masquerade ball. As
planned, this party will occur in seven suites consisted of one blue, purple, green, orange, white,
violent, and black. The ball is off to a hit when all of a sudden an unusual guest arrives dressed
as a corpse. Prince Prospero is disgusted and threatened by this figure;
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In this quote, Poe describes the journey Prince Prospero takes through all the six chambers.
But, he halts at the black room when the masked figure approaches him with dagger. In the end,
Prince Prospero dies as well as all the masquerade guests.
As a final point, Edgar Allan Poe signifies one last symbol, the corpse body, to conclude
“The Masque of the Red Death.” The author uses imagery in order for the audience to visualize
what this masked figure looked like. He writes, “The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded
from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was
made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must
have had difficulty in detecting the cheat” (3). The figure, as Poe described, was dressed as a
corpse body. But not any corpse body, it was a corpse body that had died from the black plague
or “the red death.” As stated previously, many were too cowardly to approach this
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As he travels through the six suites, where the
masquerade ball takes place, he stops specifically at the black suite. Here, the unknown guest
addresses Prince Prospero with his dagger. Poe describes the scene as, “within three or four feet
of the retreating figure, when the latter, having attained the extremity of the velvet apartment,
turned suddenly and confronted his pursuer. There was a sharp cry --and the dagger dropped
gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the
Prince Prospero” (4). As this point of the story, Prince Prospero dies and all the rest continuously
die in that black apartment. The unmasked figure portrays death in this short story due to the fact
that when he interrupts Prince Prospero’s ball everyone takes their last breath.
Halimanovic 4
In conclusion, Edgar Allan Poe uses three forms of symbolism to help convey his
message in the story, “The Masque of the Red Death.” These three forms include the grandfather
clock, the seven suites, and the unknown masked figure. Poe’s message to his readers is that no
one can avoid death in any circumstances. To summarize these symbolic points, the
inevitability of death and the futility of trying to escape death. The prince's name, Prospero,
“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,
The deathly ringing of the clock resonated throughout the chambers and faded away like they always had. But this time, the festivities did not flare back to life, for the new figure had control over the attention of everyone. This unique figure was shrouded in a robe as black as a void that covered all of his body except for his face, which was concealed by a peculiar mask. Contrary to the darkness of the robes, the lean mask was a pure, ghostly white with two blood red, curved lines, thicker at the top of the mask and thinner towards the bottom, through the eyes which were void holes. The air around him was cold and stale, like death lingered around him, waiting for its next victim. From the outskirts of the crowd, he moved in closer to the revelers, with each step echoing unnaturally loud. People shuffled away from him, afraid some terrible fate may befall them if they get close in proximity to him, as he strolled toward some unknown destination.
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.
But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and
Zapf, Hubert. “Entropic Imagination in Poe’s ‘The Masque of the Red Death’.” College Literature 16.3 (Fall 1989): p211-218. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 March 2012.
(Poe 840). “The Raven,” is an insight of the experiences Edgar Allan Poe suffered from because of his treacherous
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...
“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.
Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death is an elaborate allegory that combines
Prince Prospero is a man of wealth. He is young, robust, cruel, and extravagant. Prince Prospero was very extravagant because of the fact that when he threw his big party he had everyone dress up in all kinds of different costumes. The prince was also cruel because he only invited certain people to his party and not everyone. Prince
Edgar Allan Poe is very great at setting the mood. In some of his poems and stories, he sets a very distinctive mood/feeling that the reader can feel. In, “The Masque of the Red Death” he does this really well. Poe uses the setting, imagery, and tone to help set the mood. The places, colors, and things that go down helped him tremendously in setting the atmosphere for this story.
Poe is sitting in his room, he explains that he hears something at his “chamber door” (st. 3). By
In "The House of Poe", Richard Wilbur elucidates his criticisms of Poe 's work. He firstly comments on a critic 's purpose, then how Poe 's stories are all allegories. He then addresses the possible opposition to his argument, and then begins his discussion of the common themes in Poe 's writing and provides examples from his stories. This dissertation will analyze Wilbur 's criticism by cross referencing Poe 's work and how it exemplifies Wilbur 's assessment. There is a great deal of evidence to support Wilbur 's theories, but a close examination of each one will determine how legitimate his argument really is.
Poe is known for his melodramatic writing style, but the constant repetition of daunting words is enough to make any reader practically say out loud, “Come on, Poe. Try to be a little subtle, please.”