Death is a terrifying prospect for most people , imagine being face to face with it. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death”, the revelers were in this very situation. Prince Pospero’s country was devastated by the Red Death. A plaque that resulted in a painful, gruesome, death. Prince Pospero being the selfish uncaring man he is, locked himself and a thousand of his lighthearted friends in his abbey to hide from the Red Death. After 6 months of seclusion Prince Pospero throws a masquerade to celebrate that they were still free of the Red Death. It was at this masquerade a gruesome mummer appeared shortly before Prince Pospero and all the revelers to died of the Read Death. In this story Poe personifies death through the mummer who …show more content…
Instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the Prince Pospero” (Poe 4). The rooms go east to west and blue to black velvet. This in itself is very symbolic, beginning to end and birth to death. Prince Pospero following the mummer through the seven rooms represents the prince going through represents the Prince going through the different stages of life and this is very significant. It implies that the mummer is death because he lures Prince Pospero into the final stage of life and when the mummer confronts the Prince he dies of the Red Death. Through all this it can be concluded that the mummer going through the seven rooms leading the prince to his death implies the figure is death and is further strengthened when everything else seemly stops. After Prince Pospero’s death and the presence of the Red Death is acknowledged the ebony clock stops chiming. “ And one by one dropped the revelers [of the Red Death]...the life of the ebony clock went out” (Poe 4). The clock stopping after the figure taking everyone’s life symbolizes that their time in this world had has come to an end and it is the mummer’s job to make sure of it by giving them the Red Death. This further strengthens the idea of the figure being death. The revelers all dying of the plague and the clock stopping helps finalizes that the mummer is death itself.
Edgar Allan Poe personifies death as a mummer who takes the lives of everyone in the abbey. The first clue is seen when the mummer is dressed as a
Imagine dancing through the colorful stages of life, birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and such. However, as you progress through life, you can never shake a sense of foreboding lurking behind you. Suddenly, deep, dark, death devours you. Death, everyone faces it eventually. In the story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, by Edgar Allan Poe, the theme is, “You cannot avoid death.” Poe develops the theme by using many different symbols throughout the story.
Throughout the gothic horror short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe illustrates the struggle of an egotistical prince who refuses to face the inevitable reality of death. Through the downfall of the protagonist, Poe establishes the idea that the inability to face reality often leads to the destruction of the mind. The downfall of the Prince is emphasized by Poe’s use of characterization, setting, and symbolism.
As the human race is always persistent in coming up with new innovations, they have yet to solve one problem: death. The following tale about to unfold before you is an emblem that death is inevitable. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” may seem like a grotesque story, but in reality it shows the symbolism that no one can escape their fate. This story shows that the amount of wealth you have is no match for your ultimate demise.
Death is something that will happen to everyone eventually. Death is not a thing that can be easily shaked off as if it were nothing. Some people fear death, others wait for it, and some don’t give a care in the world, being too busy enjoying life. Death is something that can happen either peacefully or painfully. Death relates to the hidden message in Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” by trying to give the meaning that no matter who the person is and what the person tries to do, no one is capable of being able to escape death.
Everyone fears their own death, thus why some people will do anything to escape it. In Edgar Allan Poe's short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, this fear is experienced by all. In the story, a prince named Prospero and his people try to elude the Red Death through seclusion and isolation in the prince's abbey. However, no walls can stop death since it is unavoidable and inescapable. Throughout the story, Poe uses symbols such as the rooms, the masked figure, and the clock to convey the theme that no one can escape death.
“The Masque of the Red Death,” a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, tells the story of Prince Prospero and his futile attempts to prevent death. During his masquerade party, the prince notices an unusual figure, dressed as the Red Death, and, enraged at the sight of it, Prospero tries to kill it. Poe uses the seventh room, the ebony clock, and the Red Death itself as symbols of death throughout his story.
Liz Brent states, ‘Edgar Allan Poe’s short story ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ may be interpreted variously as a parable for man’s fear of death.’ This specific quote gives great description on the feelings of the main character in this story. The conflicts overall play a major part in the story. As Kenneth Graham says, “If time is the destroyer of all things material, so, too, is the pendulum the destroyer in the pit, and the ebony lock in.” The critic is explaining the overall conflict of this story, and displays how the ebony clock is the symbol for death. In all, conflict is important to the story, as it ties back to the themes and describes the problems occurred.
Edgar Allen Poe's “The Masque of the Red Death” is an extravagant allegory of the futility of trying to escape death. In the story, a prince named Prospero tries to avoid the Red Death through isolation and seclusion. He hides behind the impenetrable walls of his castle and turns his back on the rest of the world. But no walls can stop death because it is unavoidable and inevitable. Through the use of character, setting, point of view, and symbol, Poe reveals the theme that no one, regardless of status, wealth or power can stay the passing of time and the inevitable conclusion of life itself, death.
The fourth and final gothic element Edgar Allan Poe uses in Masque of the Red Death, is the air of mystery and suspense. Poe does this by creating a gloomy setting and entering a ghost that creates mystery because the readers cannot see his face or know what he is or what he is up to. Poe describes him as, “The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave.” There is many ways Poe shows the mystery and suspense, Poe also uses a lot of death and blood to create a mystery because the reader doesn’t know who is going to die next, neither does the characters in the story.
Death is an important theme in Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Masque of the Red Death”.
the Red Death shows the futile attempts by a prince and his guests of a party,
Poe’s use of symbolism is very evident throughout the story of “The Masque of the Red Death”. Much has been made about the meaning of the rooms that fill Prince Prospero’s lavish getaway. One such critique, Brett Zimmerman writes, “It is difficult to believe that a symbolist such as Poe would refuse to assign significance to the hues in a tale otherwise loaded with symbolic and allegorical suggestiveness” (Zimmerman 60). Many agree that the seven rooms represent the seven stages of human existence. The first, blue, signifying the beginnings of life. Keeping in mind Poe’s Neo-Platonism and Transcendentalism stance, the significance of blue is taken a step further. Not only does blue symbolize the beginning of life, but the idea of immortality is apparent when considering these ideas. “Perhaps ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ then, is not quite the bleak existential vision we have long thought it to be”, expounds Zimmerman (Zimmerman 70). Poe’s use of each color is significant to the seven stages
The fear of death drives the actions of several of Poe's characters. In particular, the narrator of "The Premature Burial" obsesses about the possibility of premature burial, and his fear makes him so paranoid that when he wakes up in the berth of a ship, he mistakes it for a grave and has a terrifying experience for no real reason. At the same time, Poe describes several characters whose response to their fear of death is to avoid it, although the usual result of their avoidance is increased trauma. Prince Prospero and his courtiers in "The Masque of the Red Death" try to shut themselves away and ignore the slaughter caused by the Red Death, but death pays no attention to their barriers and kills them en masse. Similarly, the attempt by the narrator to arrest M. Ernest Valdemar at the point of death in "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" only causes the consumptive patient to die and have his body gruesomely dissolve into a
Poe uses allegory to allude to the double meanings of the characters Prince Prospero and the masked figure, as well as the setting of the chambers. Prince Prospero represents prosperity. While his nation is suffering from the “Red Death”, “…he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and lighthearted friends…and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbey” (420). His nobility and wealth give him the ability to ignore the horror around him and live in luxury. This refers to real life in that the privileged are the ones who are able to still live comfortably even if others are in a crisis. Prince Prospero also represents an ignorance, selfishness, and arrogance that come with wealth through right instead of hard work. He believes that “[t]he external world could take care of itself” and that it is “…folly to grieve, or to think” (420). Instead of taking action to help his people, he just leaves them in the grips of the “Red Death”. The “Red Death” is
As a gothic writer, Edgar Allan Poe created horror using gloom as his weapon. Hidden within the suspenseful story of “The Masque of Red Death” is an allegorical tale of how individuals deal with the fear of death as time passes. Frantic activities and pleasures (as represented by Prince Prospero and his guests) seek to wall out the threat of death. However, the story reminds the reader that death comes “like a thief in the night”(Poe 3), and even those who seek peace and safety shall not escape. Poe uses symbolism to illustrate that man cannot hide from his own mortality.