Edgar Allan Poe, to many, is the father of modern day horror. His famous “The Masque of the Red Death” tells a story of death itself invading the safety of one's home. “The Cask of Amontillado” shares the tale of a man's grudge against a former friend who had insulted him, and the punishment that ensues. In another tale, “The Black Cat”, a story of a kind man turned brutal due to alcoholism is told. In many of his stories, including the three previously stated, the use of various literary tools is present. Such appearance of these literary terms has enhanced his writings, allowing his horrific stories to become what he is remembered for. Out of all of the terms in his works, however, figurative language best represents Poe’s themes of murder, cruelty, …show more content…
When speaking of the Red Death, it is said, “He had come like a thief in the night.” Describing the Red Death's arrival as “like a thief in the night” allows readers to infer how quickly he came, stole something of importance - the life of men, in this case - , and left. Near the beginning, the passage illustrates the signs of the Red Death's Presence. “The scarlet stains...were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men.” The scarlet stains, blood, could not literally shut away men to keep them from health, but their appearance disturbed and frightened others, leading to the victim being left to a cruel, lonely death. Later on, a significant part of the story is explained when the story tells, “It was toward the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence.” This chilling short story truly portrays Poe’s main themes incredibly
Poe uses the symbols of the Red Death and Prince Prospero to show that death is inevitable. “No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal — the redness and the horror of blood.” This quote tells the reader that the Red Death was a very dangerous disease and was horrifying. While the people of the town were dying, Prince Prospero tried hid in his abbey for month. One day, Prospero noticed a strange figure walking through his party. He chased this figure until it stopped in the last black and red room. “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.” After months of hiding, Prince Prospero, who symbolizes humanity’s efforts to prevent death, was finally killed by the Red Death figure, who represents inevitable death. Prince Prospero tried to hide from death by building reinforcements around his abbey. There were walls of iron and the doors were welded shut, but the Red Death figure somehow reached Prince Prospero. This proves the thesis because it show how the Red Death and Prince Prospero represent how a person cannot hide from
“And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.” This quote from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque Of The Red Death”connects the fictional fate of Prince Prospero and his subjects to the . . Red Death to the many loved ones Poe’s life is very similar to those in thelost to tuberculosis in the late 1800s. Poe uses personification and allegories to show emphasize the presence of death that theand fear and presence of death is evident present in his work. Poe uses personification and gory phrases to show bring to the forefront the fear of death that possesses everyone clutches .
In the "Masque of the Red Death," the first sentence, "The Red Death had long devastated the country," sets the tone for the whole story. Poe describes the horrors of the disease, stressing the redness of the blood and the scarlet stains. The disease kills so quickly that one can die within thirty minutes of being infected with the disease. To create a frightening effect
The themes of death and ignorance come together to show that the only action more foolish than fleeing from death, is ignoring it. “The masque of the red death”, though set on the inside of an excessively elaborate party, shows the imminent and constant threat of death. Setting the tone for this macabre motif, Edgar Allen Poe gives a brief prologue to the action of the story stating that “the "red death" had long devastated the country…no pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous” (Poe 1). Prince Prospero, though seemingly unaffected by the near-utter destruction of his kingdom cannot shake the inevitable demise he sees coming, therefore most of his actions are dictated by his fear of death.
Edgar Allan Poe is known for some of the most horrifying stories ever written through out time. He worked with the natural world, animals, and weather to create chilling literature. Two most notable thrillers are “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Poe was infatuated with death, disfigurement, and dark characteristics of the world. He could mix characters, setting, theme,and mood in a way that readers are automatically drawn into reading. Both of these short stories have the same major aspects in common.
Unnerving, spooky, disturbing, frightful… All common characteristics of a hauntingly terrific tale by the famous Edgar Allan Poe. His story “The Masque of the Red Death” brought a grotesque taste to the horror genre throughout the 19th century with the use of literary devices. To summarize, Poe’s story discussed, in detail, the horrifying inevitability of death, which reveal the value of a device known as symbolism used by Poe in this literary work. As people are familiar with, Poe’s psychological weaknesses spurred his creativity to which he poured his problems into Gothic Literature, and he produced these unforeseen symbols as pawns of his life. In this popular short story, subtle objects are manipulated to reflect Edgar Allan Poe’s misfortunes. Symbolism is used throughout his short years of living as a narrative device for his eerie publications. Within this composition, I will be justifying how Poe’s influence on the use of symbolism constructed a disturbed and almost misleading
Edgar Allan Poe is a famous well known writer known for his dark and gothic horror stories such as “The Tell-Tale Heart” and many others. The well-known author had a rough life which dealt with a lot of death, so most of his stories revolve around this idea. In “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Masque of the Red Death” Poe uses similar themes or darkness to convey tone and conflict throughout the story. His writing style is dark and revolves around one main concept: death. Edgar Allan Poe uses diction and syntax, setting and conflict, and characterization in his writing style to develop his stories.
Edgar Allan Poe was a writer who believed every single word contained meaning and in his own words expressed this idea in brevity only he is capable, " there should be no word written, of which tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design." (Poe 244). To this effect, Poe drenches his works in symbolism and allegory. Especially in shorter works, Poe assigns meaning to the smallest object, explicitly deriving exurbanite significance within concise descriptions. "The Masque of the Red Death" tells the story of a Prince Prospero who along with his one thousand friends sought a haven from the plague that was ravishing their country. They lived together in the prince 's luxurious abbey with all the amenities and
Edgar Allan Poe is a famous american author who wrote many poems and short stories. His stories almost always have a deeper meaning behind them. In the short story “The Masque of the Red Death” Edgar Allan Poe uses a mixture of stylistic elements such as symbolism, diction, figurative language, and imagery to scare the audience, show how being selfish is problematic, and point out the inevitability of death.
“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe is an eerie short story about the “Red Death”, Poe’s twist on the Black Plague. This plague swept across an unknown kingdom killing many people as it went. There were sharp pain, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. Poe had two main themes for readers to think about. These themes were proven through five main symbols: The ebony clock in the black room, Prince Prospero in the abbey with his friends, the colors of the seven rooms in the abbey, the format of the hallway and rooms and, Prince Prospero running after death through all the rooms.
This story takes place at a time when a plague has struck the land. Many people think that the Red Death that Poe is writing about could have came from a real life plague called the Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague. That plague wiped out almost a quarter of Europe's population in the middle ages. Poe, through his stories, tries to touch the emotion which humans consciously suppress. This is why Poe personifies death in his story. People more easily relate to death when it takes the form of a person that we can see and touch instead of something inanimate that appears without warning.
The red death had killed many people in the time of the story. In Poe's short story The Masque of the Red Death Poe said "The "Red Death" had long long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or hideous" (Poe). Back in the days the story was written, the red death had killed you within the half hour if you had been contaminated with it. Red death was a big fear in the story.
The Red Death symbolizes death and blood. It is Poe’s own version of the bubonic plague or Black Death.”...Who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him…”(3). In the story, Prince Prospero thinks that the Red Death is a masquerader who mocks those who are dying outside of the chamber. However, it is not exactly a natural human being, it is a supernatural being. In the end, Prospero ends up getting eliminated by the Red Death when he runs and tries to kill it with a dagger. “Blood was its Avatar and its seal -- the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution.” (3). In the story, the Red Death kills in a gruesome and disturbing manner. No matter how protected and secluded you can be, it is impossible for death to be
Edgar Allan Poe was a writer who believed every single word contained meaning and in his own words expressed this idea in brevity only he is capable, " there should be no word written, of which tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design." (Poe 244). To this effect, Poe drenches his works in symbolism and allegory. Especially in shorter works, Poe assigns meaning to the smallest object, explicitly deriving exurbanite significance within concise descriptions. "The Masque of the Red Death" tells the story of a Prince Prospero who along with his one thousand friends sought a haven from the plague that was ravishing their country. They lived together in the prince's luxurious abbey with all the amenities and
The beginning of the short story Edgar Allan Poe uses a metaphor catalog of macabre details usually Gothic fiction (Osipova 25). Edgar Allan Poe comes out with very strong details to how the red death kills the people from the start he has a gruesome tone to the story. This is shown at the beginning to help the tone progress as the story goes on. All the macabre detailing throughout the story helped convey how unpleasant and terrifying the red death is and why Prospero desire to conceal from it. When he decides to take people with him to the palace he thinks that he will be safe however since the red death is all the peoples guilt and fears it goes after them because Prospero fears it the most. “Poe’s use of ambiguity here is masterful; the physical reactions he describes could very well be consistent with terror, distaste, and rage, but they could just as likely be symptomatic of the disease”.(Bennett 46). Poe select to make The Mask Of The Red Death a very terrorizing story conveying that you can't hide from fear because sooner or later it will get you. The way the people feel whenever they get the disease is very crucial to the story because they are being taken over by their guilt. All of the terror that people feel could just be some sign of the disease which is the red death. The narrator plays an important role in The Mask of The Red Death because it is 3rd person which whose everyone's feelings. In the end scene where the Red Death is actually shown as the Grim Reaper is three things omniscient narrator, supernatural being, and the dreaded plague itself (Guercio 76). Edgar Allan Poe changes the point of view throughout the story to give it a different effect and angle to how the tone is set. At the part when the red death uses third person omniscient it shows the people reading the book how important it is. He uses that type of view to show that he is over everyone else. The narrator is the only one that uses third person and the fact that the red death uses it tells everyone that is has a higher value that how they have portrayed him the entire story. It shows its real self in other words takes off his mask to reveal his true power over people.