Literary Elements In Masque Of The Red Death

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

The author, Edgar Allan Poe, using illusion or misdirection keeps the reader is suspense throughout this story called "The Masque of the Red Death". Symbolism such as the colored rooms, the impressive clock, the feeling of celebration being at a party all makes this story feel like a fairytale. Poe used this fairytale style and converts it into a nightmare in disguise.

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 “Mask of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe uses setting and symbolism to deliver the theme that no one escapes death. The story follows the naïve and pompous Prince Prospero, and his feeble attempt to escape dying from the Black Plague. As the plague spread through his kingdom, the prince called one thousand of his closest friends to reside within the safety of the castle in order to seclude themselves from the horror and death going on outside. During the last months of their seclusion, the prince decided to hold a masquerade ball in order to amuse his many guests living within the confines of the rather odd castle. The dance takes place in a variety of unusual apartments within the castle, spaced apart so the guests would only see one room at a time. The apartments flowed east to west, each decorated in a different color and theme while following a pattern of blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet and finally ending in black. During the ball, guests enjoyed a dreamlike atmosphere as they danced through the many colored apartments, each of them avoiding the final black room. This final dark patterned room contained a large ebony clock which chimed eerily every hour, causing the party goers to pause their merriment for a few moments of uneasy silence. As midnight drew near, a new guest arrived, sporting a costume more ghastly and morose than any other. The mask he wore resembled that of a plague victim, and his clothes resembled a funeral shroud. Prospero became angry

The narrator of “The Masque of The Red Death” is a divine being due to Poe’s liberal use of allusions to the Bible. An example of one of the may aforementioned allusions being, “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all”. Through Poe’s use of the phrase “dominion over all,” he reverses Paul’s statement in Romans 6:9, in which “death hath no more dominion”(Cheney). This section of the Bible, in particular, refers to the resurrection of Christ and how “He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him”(New International Version Romans 6.9). Because of this one can interpret Poe’s allusion to the Red Death as a divine apparition of death. Along with his allusion to Romans 6:9, “Poe inverts the Pauline conception of baptism by presenting his characters being ‘bedewed’ in the unholy baptismal ‘blood’ of the Red Death”(Cheney). Baptism in the New Testament is unquestionable to allow for the sinner’s sins to be removed

In the story “The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe expresses the theme that death is inescapable or inevitable. He expresses this theme through rhetorical devices such as symbolism and allegory. For example, Prince Prospero’s chambers were allegorical because of the rooms’ arrangement which was from east to west. The east represents the beginning of life, while the west represents the end of life. The Darkroom, which was at the end of the hall, symbolized death. It was the room that the guests didn’t want to go in and eventually was the place that they were killed by the Black Death. Another example of symbolism is the clock which as a symbol of the time-lapse of life as a human being. It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western wall a gigantic clock of ebony...and when the minute-hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily (Poe 374). This sentence expresses how compelling the clock is and how it attracts the attention of the masqueraders. The author also uses imagery to build suspense upon the reader. An example would be how the author describes the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood-and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror (Poe 378). This describes the dreadful

Within the story, the masked figure is used as an important symbol in portraying that no one can escape death. The masked figure, who made its presence at midnight, had not been seen by anyone before. The masked figure is described as “tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave” (Poe 5). Furthermore, when the mask of the Red Death appears, it is shocking to all the guests. The reader discovers that this guest is even more strange than all the other guests. The figure resembles a corpse of a victim of the Red Death, thereby symbolizing the presence of the plague, which is the dangerously deadly disease all the guests are attempting to escape from. This comes to show that death finds its way to everyone. The appearance of the

The masks act as a way for the guests to block their guilt from being exposed after leaving people beyond the four walls to fend for themselves. “It was towards 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” (Poe, Par.4). The invitees put on masks to symbolically obscure themselves from the fate of the “Red Death”. Poe is stating that the people are falling into the same arrogant way of thinking as Prospero by trying to escape disease. The party-goers are also hiding from themselves and each other because they selfishly tried to make themselves immune to the disease while leaving the outside world to fend for their lives. The masks being worn also helps give the sense of confidence while being “hidden”, especially Prospero. “ ‘Who dares’-- he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him-- ‘Who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him-that we may know whom we have to hang, at sunrise, from the battlements!’ (Poe, par.11). As soon as Prospero’s eyes landed on the mummer, there was a surge of confidence that shot up within his body in a split second. The mask upon Prospero’s face caused him to act in a boastful and cocky way to try and defeat the mummer, despite

In Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, there are four gothic elements used, a gloomy setting, supernatural beings, curses, and the air of mystery and suspense. These create a gothic theme by making the setting gloomy and dark which makes the story unhappy and colorless, which forms the gothicness of the story. The supernatural beings create a

“The Masque of Red Death” is considered an allegory because it is made of many different symbols, from the clock to the colors of the seven rooms. All of the forms of symbolism come together to make the short story. The allegorical meaning of “Red Death” is in fact, death. Even though there was a castle and a dagger to protect the Prince from the inevitable, he still died in the end with the rest of the characters. The allegorical meaning behind the colors of the seven rooms, are the stages of life. From blue being birth to black being the end, death, Poe illustrates to his readers that the castle is setup to include death even though that is something that is not necessarily wanted by Prince

“The Masque of the Red Death” has a symbolic expression to the story. It featured a set of familiar symbols whose meanings combined to send a message. This allegory operated on two levels of meaning: 1) the literal elements of the plot; for example the color of the room and 2) their symbolic counterparts that involved philosophical concepts for example life and death. The story could have been read by the reader as an allegory

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.

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

At first glance it seems as if Prince Prospero is doing the few others hidden in an abbey alongside himself where he has had the doors welded shut a favor. It looks like he’s trying to prevent them from death. This is no doubt for safety, but it’s also peculiar because it looks as though he is trying to prevent anyone from getting out, not just from getting in. This plot fact gives the story a very threatening atmosphere surrounding the abbey, but it also gives it a sort of power. Since no one can get in, Red Death seemingly can’t reach them. Prince Prospero is also a very uneasy or insane character and these people aren’t just locked up in any abbey with just anyone, they are locked up with the mad Prospero. Months after being locked up, Prince Prospero decides to do something fun and uplifting for the people who are surrounded by a kingdom overcome by death. It seems as though Prince Prospero is trying to lighten the mood for a fun night where he has a

There is a terrible sickness spreading throughout their town. “No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous.” (Poe 78 ) In the story “The Masque of the Red Death” fear is the main theme. Prince Prospero invites a thousand of his friends to his castle. There are seven different colored rooms in the castle. The guests fill all the different