Fate In The Masque Of The Red Death

“If life must not be taken too seriously, then so neither must death” -Samuel Butler. Many have attempted to live by this philosophy, but when life and death are considered more deeply this statement can be seen as foolish and ignorant. Death is inevitable. Perhaps this is the reason why death is a common subject in Edgar Allan Poe’s literature. In the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe applies abundance of literary devices to substantiate the foolishness of ignoring death’s inevitability.

Death is inevitable in the human life cycle, so how does one attempt to avoid it? Symbolism is defined as the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. Edgar Allan Poe wrote a short story called, “The Masque of the Red Death.” The majority of people believe he is referring to the black plague that has struck the kingdom. Prince Prospero decides to let the kingdom “peasants” take care of themselves while himself, knights, and chosen women isolate themselves in Prospero’s castle. A little while later, Prospero decides to throw a masquerade ball. During the ball, the red death shows itself and kills the prince first and then everyone else that is present. Symbolism is represented with the colors, objects, and time. Therefore, in the short story “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, symbolism is shown in the castle, with the clock, and the seven colored rooms.

Humans can attempt to escape the inevitability of death, but in the end, they are doomed to meet their fate. At first, people might think that they are invulnerable, but just when they think everything is all right, it all falls apart. In the “Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe shows how Prince Prospero and his citizens try to avoid the inevitability of death. He and his subjects hide away in a safe room to avoid the plague or the “Red Death”. Poe uses symbolism in his short story to show that death is inevitable. He shows symbolism through different objects and characters. In the “Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe portrays symbolism through the seven different colored rooms, the Red Death, and the giant, ebony clock.

No one can escape from the grip of death. This simple fact is the only thing that is truly known about any human life on this planet. We can try to live forever but in the end, everything was done in vain. The is a very common theme throughout the stories of one Edgar Allan Poe who was an American author during the mid-1800’s. His gothic style has appealed the masses even into the 21st century due to his dark settings and suspenseful plots. However, most people would not say that a lot of his works are very personal. While this may be true, most of his stories involve hidden objects that you must look closely into his personal life to see. The “The Masque of the Red

The hidden message in Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” is that death cannot be averted from humans because no matter what we do, our life in this world comes to an extent. In the story, there are two main characters, which are Prospero and the Red Death. There was a sickness in the kingdom that was killing many people. So Prospero decided to have a big party that only the rich can go to. When suddenly appeared the “person” with a costume that was known as the “Red Death”. The people were frightened of that person so, Prospero had chased him down, and discovered that it was nothing. He instantly fell to the grown and died, as well as the others in the party.

It can be easily depicted that Christmas is a time of the year to share joyfulness. In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is a character that is effortlessly described as a hardheaded cold man. It is simple to judge the character of Scrooge in this manner, but it is important to recognize the change in his personality throughout the story. Scrooge’s transformation happens very quickly, but he becomes generous and caring only when he is forced to see himself through a stranger’s eyes. By the visitations of three spirits, Scrooge realizes the harsh and ungenerous man that he is. The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge the pitiable child he was, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, shows Scrooge as a neglected corpse. These two images have a significant impact on Scrooge and his development as a character as he reacts to these in a regretful manner.

Most are afraid of this happening, but there is no way they will ever be able to escape it. This happening is death. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” is an iconic piece of gothic literature with a dark theme. He uses normal objects in his story such as rooms and hallways and gives them a deeper meaning to connect to the moral of the story. Poe’s short story is heavy with symbols which lead to the ultimate theme of his piece that there is no way to escape the inevitable no matter what your social standing may be. Poe showcases this thought through his many forms of symbolism to support this theme.

Many writers of literature incorporate symbolic references in their works throughout history and today. One romantic poet and storywriter in particular is excellent in the use of allegory in his poems and stories. This unique writer’s name is Edgar Allan Poe and his tale “The Masque of the Red Death” is one of his most well known pieces of allegoric writing. Although there are numerous symbols in this story, the seven rooms and the fact that death is inevitable are the two most complex symbols that have a deeper meaning, which provokes the reader to think because without carefully considering the clues and content of the story, one would not understand the significance of these symbols.

“Frail humanity can never escape the ravages of time”. Humans are born and will eventually die; it’s the cycle of life. No one can prevent death, but it does not stop people from trying to prolong life. Fate is inevitably predetermined; death is our predetermined fate. In the allegory “The Masque of the Red Death”, written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1842, Poe teaches that death is predestined and that you cannot avoid fate. Poe focuses in on an unusual character, Prince Prospero, who displays strange characteristics in a time of woe. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Poe uses Prospero’s urge for power, struggle for power, and failure to get power, to enhance the theme of fate being ineludible.

Callie Walter Mr. Cassidy Adv. English 10 17 October 2014 The Masque of the Red Death Analysis The Masque of the Red Death is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe demonstrating the inevitability of death. The story describes a horrifying illness that spreads across Europe sometime during the 1800’s.

There is something to be said about fate and how it is often disregarded when one is consumed in the exhilaration of life. Universal fate exists as something that is unknown and feared by all, yet is what links the entire world together. Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death plays with the universal fate of death through the use of religious symbolism, ironic events, and ingenious contrasts. Poe’s strategies create a powerful effect on his readers to rethink life, its boundaries, and the inescapable fate that encloses us all, while not forgetting to continue living life to it’s fullest.

“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and the other begins,” Edgar Allan Poe. There are many people in this world that are afraid of death and try to run from it. The short story “The Masque of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe takes a prince and the only the princes wealthy and royal subjects, and puts them into a castle. Where in this castle, the prince thinks that he and his subjects are safe from the Red Death that has broken out all over the kingdom. Only in return to find out that nobody is safe. Poe also uses an allegory to add extra meaning to the story; people putting someone else's life in danger in order to change their own and escape their fate. In “The Masque

In Aesop’s fable, “The Wolf and the Lamb,” the moral of the story asks the reader to examine the desire for an object—and how we justify our behavior if we cannot obtain that object. This moral is graphically presented through the repeated use of key words to describe the fox’s repeated failure to get what he wants. The fox’s first attempt is foiled as he “just missed” the grapes (35). He attempts “again and again”, running and jumping repeatedly, but has “no greater success” (35). He then becomes disgusted and walks away. These successive descriptions of his failure build to his disdainful comment that the grapes are probably sour (35). The repeated demonstration of fox’s failures and his self-rationalization of why is he walking away—not

    "Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying." Edgar Allen Poe provides us symbolically with the reaction of man to the pursuance of death that Jean Cocteau described before, in his gothic short story, "The Masque of the Red Death." Prince Prospero symbolizes the optimist who seeks to avoid death. The Masqueraders represent the pessimist-the carefree who seek to forget about death. The Masked Red Death is the ultimate realization and enlightenment of death's power over all-the realist view. Poe's work symbolically demonstrates the attitudes of man through Prince Prospero, the Masqueraders, and the Masked Red

Furthermore,the point of view drastically impacts the themes of the story. The themes of the “Masque of the Red Death” are death, time, and madness. Death plays a role coming into the Prince Prospero’s house as a disguise. Time is the theme that in result because death upon had no timing. Madness is the emotion played from both characters but more so on the Red Death. According to Kenneth Graham, “ this third person limited