Could Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” been about the Ebola virus?
There are multiple thing you can connect from both in order prove this theory however there are multiple thing that could disprove it. Join me as we explore both sides of this argument. First of the main connection people make is the blood leaking for the human pores. In the article “Outbreak” it states “Your skin erupts in bruises and large, bloody blisters.” This is just one connection that people have made between the the fictional story and the real virus. Another connection is the fact the people who had the Ebola virus bled from there nose and eyes. However with these two connections people still say that Poe’s story and the Ebola virus are complete different.
In "The Masque Of The Red Death", Edgar Allan Poe uses words and phrases to create an effect. He uses bold and dark words to help his readers be able to picture a very good image of the story and the mood that he wants to set. When he claiming that, "no pestilence had ever been so fatal ", that let the readers know that is was probably a very strong and gruesome disease that killed many of the town people. When Poe starts the story he starts by describing "The Red Death" and its symptoms. He described it as, "sharp pains, sudden dizziness, profuse bleeding at the pores with dissolution", "seizure process and termination of the disease were the incident of half and hour", he lists the symptoms as if it were a recipe, he is very straightforward and uses words that give an image to every symptom, he completely lets the reads know that "the red death" was a very nasty painful disease and you could imagine how much it made the characters suffer all in half
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
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.
In the words of Seneca the Younger, well-known Roman Philosopher, “Oh, what darkness does great prosperity cast over our minds!”. In Edgar Allan Poe’s 1842 story, “The Masque of The Red Death”. The story takes place during the 1300’s during the ravage that was the Bubonic plague, referred to as the Red Death by Poe. Many argue the identity of the narrator in this story, but it is lucid that they are a figure of biblical proportion due to Poe’s use of allusions to the Bible, “Tempest”, and the Red Death as an Anti-Christ.
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.
Conflicts affect the mood of the main characters in a story, by expressing the insecurities, Death,” a couple of conflicts are exposed throughout the piece. In the story “The Masque of the Red,” a couple of conflicts are expressed throughout this piece. The conflicts man versus fate and man versus himself are the conflicts that are displayed several times within this story. From major conflicts to minor conflicts, this story clarifies the problems that Prince Prospero faces within himself. In addition to Prince Prospero’s problems with himself, this story also explains the conflict of how death is uncontrollable.
“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are best shadowly and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?” (Poe). There is no such thing as having the ability to predict or tame the wrath of death, for all we can do is learn to accept it. In the story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, the main character, Prospero, shows through his arrogant actions that death will forever overpower the human instinct to stay alive. Poe uses symbolism to convey the battle between man and nature through the idea of the masquerade that serves as a fortress against the wrath of the disease, an excuse to disguise the true colors of man, and the honest truth that man will never become immortal.
Edgar Allen Poe, completely transformed the horror genre with his tales reflecting the psychological depth and insight of the the human conditon not previously seen (Poe Museum, no date). Despite his alignment with the horror genre, he was initially taken in by the romantic ideals of consumption. This is portrayed in one of his early short stories, ‘Metzengerstein’, from 1832, where despite the majority of the story following many gothic conventions, the protaganist’s mother dies of consumption. The narrrator of the story asserts that ‘…it is a path I have prayed to follow…I would wish all I love to perish of that gentle disease’ when referring to the mother’s impending death. The narrator’s desperation to die from consumption is implied through the use of the verb ‘prayed’. This verb has connotations of wishing or hoping strongly for a particular outcome (Oxford Dictionaries, 2017): despite the horrific and drawn out process of the disease that we now understand in the 21st Century, this character still desires it thus reflecting the general insensitivty towards the disease. Although influenced early in his career by the romanticized stance on consumption, he changed his portrayal of the disease completely in his short story ‘The Masque of the Red Death’, published in 1842. Very little had advanced in the medical understanding of consumption, but between Poe writing the aforementioned text and ‘The Masque of the Red Death’, his own wife had contracted the disease
Poe who wrote "The Mask Of The Red Death" 200 years ago was not talking about modern day Ebola. Modern day Ebola takes up to 3 months to die. Red death kills the people faster then 30 min.
The Red Death is not based on modern day Ebola. In the story it would take thirty minutes to die but with Ebola it takes about two weeks! Also the virus in the story says people bleed from all there pores. Ebola makes people only bleed from there ears, nose, and eyes. It is unknown on how the epidemic of the red death started. Ebola was started by the host (a bat) was eaten by a human. Also Ebola was in Africa mainly. The Red Death was unknown but most likely Europe.
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
In ‘’the Masque of the Red Death’’ the feeling the author Edgar Allan Poe is trying to give is he wants the readers to feel scared. In the story there are multiple places that Poe is trying to show that it is scary. For example, ‘’ there were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution.” This shows that Poe is trying to make it scary because hearing that this sickness could make you bleed at the pores just puts this awful scary image in the readers head. The Red Death is portraying tuberculosis so when people read this they know that this is a real disease and people actually get it so it makes them worry about if they can get it or not. Another example would be “there were twelve strokes to
When it comes to reading literature the most challenging yet important task is to understand the purpose of the author's writing. In Romantic era literature understanding the emotions and thoughts that are created in the reader's mind are essential to gaining a clear message that the writer is trying to send. In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death” the narrator immediately introduces the “Red Death”; a disease that has been spreading throughout Prince Prospero’s country; killing his people within half an hour of contracting the disease. Throughout the story the author continuously uses diction and syntax to create suspense and evoke a grim tone to the reader. In the “Masque of The Red Death” Poe produces fearful imagery in the reader's mind through creating a supernatural presence in the setting.
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
Have you ever read a story where fantasy is the reality and things do not quite make sense? This is true for “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe. In it is a version of the black plague, which is called the “Red Death”. Prince Prospero secludes a thousand friends and himself from the death around them, but finds that he cannot avoid the inevitable. The author uses many literary devices to create an interesting and meaningful story. One of the devices used is imagery, which evokes the events of the story clearly in the reader’s mind. Another is allegory, which is used by Poe to create another story within his, as it is filled with double meanings. Lastly, Poe utilizes symbolism to give the story meaning. Edgar Allan Poe uses