Irony In The Masque Of The Red Death

Edgar Allan Poe was a famous American writer and literary critic. Poe is best known for his short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and fear. Poe has a magic and dark way of writing. “The Masque of Red Death’’ is one of Poe's most famous stories. He proficiently used some death symbolism, bloody imagery,and skillful figurative language in order to contribute to his purpose to inform his reader impossible to escape from the death no matter who you are.

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.

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.

Edgar Allen Poe’s chilling short story Mask of the Red Death begins with people dropping like flies, as the king of the land decides to take his close friends with him to live in one of his palaces. leaving his subjects to survive on their own. A puzzling creature known as the Red Death has been terrorizing and killing off people one by one, and no one has a way to stop it. Through characterization of both Prospero and the Red Death, Poe foreshadows Prospero’s eventual death in the end of the story.

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.

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.

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 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.

In the short story “Masque of the Red Death”, written by Edgar Allan Poe, it symbolizes irony numerous times throughout the story. One of the often examples of irony is described when the story entails Prince Prospero name as a wealthy prince but ends up dying to the horrifying, twisted, red death, “There was a sharp cry. Fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero”(178). This is especially ironic because his name appears to represents a prince of extraordinary fortunate. Therefore this infers he would have the “the best of luck” but dies due to the horrible plague. While his name is ironic, the rich, noble people at the party also believe that they can elude death but ultimately lead to their demise. In the short story, everyone dies to the

“No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal--the redness and horror of blood” (Poe 446). Edgar Allan Poe is well-known for his gothic elements, bizarre plots, and chilling tones. The short story The Masque of The Red Death by Poe is no different. In the story the kingdom has been long devastated by the horrific “red death”, and their leader is failing to help them. Poe’s short story is strong in various uses of symbolism; thus, leading to the theme that death is inevitable.

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 the outcome of death. The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe is an allegory where every aspect of the story relates to life and death. In Poe’s short story, Prince Prospero has incarcerated all the wealthy and acquaintances in the castle to escape from the Red Death. Prospero goes through many troubles just to escape death, but in the end, death catches up to him. Throughout the story, symbolism is shown through the clock, the seven rooms, and Prince Prospero by each of them representing an aspect of life and death.

By looking at the disease ridden people in “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, one can see how they are alienated, which is important because it reveals the upper class society’s values, their assumptions that they are better than the “common people”, and their arrogance, which is displayed through their actions.

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