The King of Darkness Edgar Allan Poe is the king of darkness. Not only does he write about darkness, he finds ways to show the good; which in the long run, helps a reader to appreciate life. As well as to understand the true meaning. In the short story, The Masque of the Red Death, Poe uses symbolism to contemplate the meaning of difficult subjects that words have a hard time explaining.
While staying true to Poe’s immense style, he incorporates symbolism to strongly show the themes of life and death. The narrator powerfully explains the apartments and what is inside by saying, “the apartments were so irregularly disposed that the vision embraced, but little more than one at a time… These windows were of stained glass whose colors varied”
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No matter what a person's background is, everyone ends up in the same place. Life is ultimately just a journey to death. Poe begins the whole story by saying, “The scarlet stains upon the body, and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid, and sympathy of his fellow men” (Poe 446). Furthermore, he is trying to tell the reader that no matter someone's reputation, no matter their worth, sympathy is the last article they’ll will receive. No matter how prosperous someone is, wealth can not pay for their life. If someone is affected by something, no matter what is done, sequentially, everyone will die. This helps to realize the value of life and that it's not something that should be wasted. While in the castle, Prince Prospero decided the guests deserved a “celebration.” The narrator mentions, “It was toward the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence rages most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thought friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence” (Poe 448). Additionally, Poe included this in the story to show that everyone can put on different faces and hide their fears and troubles.
Poe's short story, The Masque of the Red Death, shows strong examples of symbolism, leading to the theme that death does not discriminate. Although Poe has been known to show his dark side, he has
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
By using different colors and directional location for symbolism, Poe reinforces this theme. For example, our notes directly state that the Seven Colored Rooms are arranged from east to west. These directional locations propose that the furthest to the east room represents birth and beginnings, then as you make your way through the other rooms, (the other stages of life), you finish in the western most room which
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 Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “ The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe tells of a plague that has long devastated the country. The short story revolves around one character in particular, the wealthy Prince Prospero, and how he decides to deal with the situation. This narrative work is an allegory, meaning it has two levels of meaning. It has both a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. An allegory has the overall purpose to teach you a life lesson. The allegory in this short story can be revealed by the symbolic significance of Prince Prospero’s name, the seventh chamber of the abbey, and the ticking clock.
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 symbols in the story “The Masque of the Red Death” function in the work, revealing characteristics and themes of the story as a whole in many ways. Edgar Allan Poe uses a variety of symbols for characters, objects, and even thoughts in his story. These symbols express his ideas, clarify his meaning, and enlarge his literal meanings as he explains how death has no escape. Several of Poe’s symbols include the series of seven rooms, the clock, and the abbey.
Of all the writers in the 19th century, many believe Edgar Allan Poe was the greatest writer for his time. Poe had a dark way of writing because of the horrible life he lived. Many of his lovers died due to tuberculosis and left him alone and forlorn. He lived most of his life in poverty causing him to express his feelings in his writing. Poe’s last words were “Lord, help my poor soul.” Poe never had a happy moment in his life and showed it in all his work throughout his lifetime. In “The Masque of the Red Death” he was able to show the theme that death is inevitable with deep symbols throughout the short story. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death” the author uses symbolism to display the theme that no one can escape death in many different ways.
Symbolism can be a very strong tool for an author. Poe uses symbolism for many purposes in his work. Most of the symbolism in Poe’s work have a sinister underlying. He uses these symbols to teach his readers a lesson and make them think deeper into his story. In Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” the use of symbolism affects the setting, the mood of the reader, and Prince Prospero
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
Where there is fright and fear, there is confusion and consequences. In The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, a pestilence, Red Death, is roaming free. Prince Prospero and the other nobles decided to block out the disease by staying in the prince’s palace and have a masquerade ball. No one is allowed in or out, but everyone is struck with terror knowing that death is coming sometime. The short story was crafted with care, so the literary elements contribute to the picture created at the end. Irony and symbolism leave the largest footprint on Poe’s literature, especially The Masque of the Red Death. When the components of symbolism and irony bond together, fiction becomes reality by conveying the message that the amount of money and protection are false impressions when
Edgar Allen Poe Created many stories all his life and many people read them. But as he progressed he started to get more and more known . One example of one of these stories is “The Masque of The Red Death” . In the “Masque Of The Red Death” Edgar Allen Poe Creates a classic horror story by using death,fear and blood.
Edgar Allan Poe’s works have a recurring theme of death. Both the raven and the mask of red death follows the theme. Both the raven and the mask of the red death Poe uses vivid imagery to develop the theme of death.
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
Poe used the rooms of the fortress as a symbol of the progression of a human life. The fortresses design contains seven distinctly different rooms. H.H. Bell, Jr., an expert on Edgar Allan Poe, has suggested that Poe seems to represent these rooms as an “allegorical representation of Prince Prospero’s life span” (Bell 241). The greatest piece of evidence for this is the order in which Poe arranged the rooms. The first room is positioned in the far eastern side of the mansion and the last room’s placement resides in the far western side. Just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west each day, the arrangement of the rooms suggests the beginning and the end of life. Poe exemplifies this idea with the coloration of the last room. Black, a color connected with night and death, covers the walls in the last room. Also, the color of red seeps through the stained glass windows representing the bloodiness often incorporated with death, particularly the Red Death so feared at this party. Prospero’s guests avoid the last room out of fear, just as the living avoid reminders of death. Meanwhile, music and dancing
However, the raven responds with nothing but the word "Nevermore," leaving the man, and the reader, feeling hopeless and unsettled. A key factor in the way Poe communicates his themes is through the use of symbolism. Namely, his story "The Masque of the Red Death" is a prime example of this. The theme of this short story is death inescapable, regardless of one's wealth. The story is set in a time where a plague is striking many people and Prince Prospero, representing riches and prosperity, believes he and his friends can escape this plague using his money.