Masque Of The Red Death Analysis

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.

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.

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.

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.

Death can be extremely palpable. It can drive someone to have fear about death. The Masque of the Red Death by Poe tell about the black death in a town that a price tries to escape from. He invites some of his friends and keep them in his abby. As the story goes on, they go trough room that take them though life.

Michael Ruiz once said, “Everyone dies. There’s no point in fighting it.” In Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, there is a disease that kills almost everyone in a country so the king brings all survivors into a castle to prevent it from killing anyone else, although it still ends up getting in from a ghost, and wipes everyone else out. In Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, Poe uses gothic elements such as a gloom setting, supernatural beings, curses, and air of mystery and suspense.

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 mysterious figure causing all the terror is “tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave” (Poe 4). The figure is tall, lean, wearing dark depressing clothing, and appears to be suffering. All of these characters' features represent death. This symbol of death enters the castle of a wealthy and powerful man. The prince dying when the figure approaches him shows Poe’s allegory that death goes after those of all social classes.

the Red Death shows the futile attempts by a prince and his guests of a party,

Did you know that two-thirds of Europe died during the Black Plague? In “The Masque of The Red Death” By Edgar Allen Poe, Prince Prospero tries to avoid The Black Plague by isolating himself and some friends inside his castle. In the poem, “Spirits of the Dead” Also by Edgar Allen Poe, he describes the events that happen to you after you die. “The Masque of the Red Death” And “Spirits of the Dead” By Edgar Allan Poe, both show a painful and terrifying mood, created through word choice and the antagonists. “In Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe shows a painful and terrifying mood by creating tension between the antagonist, The Black Plague, and the protagonist, Prince Prospero. When Prince Prospero goes into the Seventh Room and is murdered,

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

There is a “…gigantic clock of ebony” in the black room, its sound is described as “…clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis” (421). This suggests that the clock has importance, as it is a physical reminder of death. If the story did not use imagery, the reader’s interpretation of it would be completely different.

“Within this ‘deep seclusion’ there is a space, a black room...goes out with the last of the company” (Roth). Although this quote doesn’t say anything specifically about death’s inevitability, the true meaning is hiding behind the symbolism. The black room in which Prince Prospero chases the mummer into is a symbol of the last stage of life; death. The ebony clock is a symbol for the life of the party-goers, once they all die the clock stops chiming; the reason that the clock was ticking and dinging so aggressively was to warn the revellers that their time was running out. The majority of the story was about the different colored halls; these halls are representations of the different stages of life which explains why none of the revellers were afraid of them other than the black hall.

Poe reveals the red death at the masquerade as a symbol of inevitbal death. “The presence of

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.