Death is inevitable is the overall theme of the story because death has been and still is a mystery that has generated both fear and horror. The fear and horror generated is an inspiration in subjects that may involve topics of death, the prevention of death even resurrection from death. Poe is greatly influenced by death and one of his characters in the story Prince Prospero took drastic steps to avoid and escape from death. Symbolism is a figure of speech used when an author wants to create a certain mood or emotion in a work of literature; it is the use of an object, person, situation or words to represent something else like an idea in literature(Gill,2006;182).’’Symbolism plays an important role in literature’’ (Knowles, 2006; 129-131). …show more content…
The stages of life in each chamber mean: “one; an infant, mewling and poking in the nurse's arms. Two; the whining of the schoolboy with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail. Three; a lover sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad. Four; a soldier full of strange oaths and bearded like the part. Five; the justice in fair round belly with good capon lined. Six; sixth age shift into the lean and slippered pantaloons. Seven; second childishness and mere oblivion’’ (Shakespeare; …show more content…
In this case Prince Prospero represents or symbolize how out of touch the upper class was with the lower class in society. Perhaps Prospero and his revellers felt they deserved to live and the lower class did not simply because they had money and power. At the end of Poe’s story, however the strike of clock literally becomes a funeral toll as all the revellers experiences death’s strike. Just as the Red Death is viewed from the distance by Prospero and as an abstraction to people. Poe depicts the Red Death as a physical being not an abstraction as death is, this cause Prospero and the revellers to realize and admit that death exists. And since Prospero has ignored and avoided death’s existence by finding escape in his castle, Prospero ends up confronting death through the affliction that is his own mortality; Prospero’s confrontation with the Red death leads him to die by his own dagger in the hands of the Red Death. It is indeed true that there is no escaping death has it will literally happen no matter what a person might do to avoid or escape it. My aim was to relate the significance of the symbols to the theme and in the paragraphs I have proven this by describing each symbol in details and have shown how all of them show the theme of
The themes of death and ignorance come together to show that the only action more foolish than fleeing from death, is ignoring it. “The masque of the red death”, though set on the inside of an excessively elaborate party, shows the imminent and constant threat of death. Setting the tone for this macabre motif, Edgar Allen Poe gives a brief prologue to the action of the story stating that “the "red death" had long devastated the country…no pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous” (Poe 1). Prince Prospero, though seemingly unaffected by the near-utter destruction of his kingdom cannot shake the inevitable demise he sees coming, therefore most of his actions are dictated by his fear of death.
For example the blue represented birth, the green room youth, the orange room adulthood, the white room elderly , the violet room the time before death, and the black room was death. Poe made the prince run through all the stages until death for a specific reason. That is because he wanted to give a greater meaning which is everyone goes through all the 7 stages of life and the cycle repeats for every newborn, none can avoid or run away from them they are unpreventable.
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.
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.
To illustrate his idea that Death cannot be evaded, Poe revolves the entire story around Prince Prospero, who Poe describes as a “...happy and dauntless and sagacious” person (Poe 431). This assertion by Poe leads readers to believe that Prospero is a sensible and lively person, which is further
Death is something everyone frets on a daily basis. Edgar Allan Poe stresses how death is an unavoidable reality in his short story “The Masque of the Red Death”. Prince Prospero, a lying, cowardly, untrustworthy leader pretends to be helping his town as people are suddenly dying off from the Red Death, when he is actually just protecting himself and leaving his town helpless. This story is shown through the use of many symbols and events. Ultimately Poe utilizes symbolism in order to convey the certainty of death.
Tick, tock, tick, tock. Every passing minute, every creeping second brings you closer to the dreaded moment of the arrival of death. The majority of society fears death, whether it’d be due to the pain they fear they might encounter, or the heartache of leaving their loved ones behind. Some people, however, block out the concept of this morbid idea, deluding themselves into believing that death is escapable. Edgar Allan Poe displays this well throughout the short story “The Masque of the Red Death” bringing meaning to the character of Prince Prospero, the seven apartments, and the dreaded Red Death. He ties together these symbols, representing the reoccurring theme of how death itself is inevitable.
It is more or less a proven fact that almost anything Edgar Allen Poe writes has some sort of sadistic plot twist to it, leading to a dark and demented mood. Edgar Allen Poe, the writer of both The Masque of the Red Death and Spirits of the Dead are short stories and poems about death and how in the end it is inescapable and it can not be stopped. A common theme of both is that death is truly inevitable, it can’t be stopped no matter what we do. We can prolong our deaths, but we can not completely stop it.
Poe begins by graphically discussing Bubonic Plague, which he refers to as “The Read Death”. This is a great example of Poe using humanity's’ fear of disease and decay to send shivers up his audience’s spines. Later in the story, Poe magnificently integrates humanity’s final and ultimate terror: The fear of death. Poe cleverly symbolises this in the tale with the seven colored rooms in the Imperial Suite of the fortress in which Prince Prospero and his revelers are trapped, with the first suite symbolising birth, and the last seventh symbolising death. Poe also adds an additional level of fear with the ebony clock in the seventh room, which reminds the revelers each hour that they grow ever closer to their imminent demise. In “The Masque Of The Red Death”, Poe truly shows off his adeptness in pressure point combat, striking in just the right emotional points to send waves of horror through the reader. To cap off his masterful work, Poe introduces the spectral figure of the Red Death to the revelers’ masquerade. This final act truly captures the bleak and horrifying message of the story and sends an even more terrifying emotion to the reader. Poe has no mercy on the arrogant Prince and his conceited companions, and lets the Red Death overtake them one by one as they fruitlessly attempt to break down the doors to the castle that they had previously locked to wall themselves in. “The Masque Of The Red Death” is a story that captures Edgar Allan Poe’s bleak view of humanity as revelers in a pointless masquerade, oblivious to the passage of time and the suffering of others, which is possibly the most frightening thing of
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.
Death is the one thing that nobody can escape. It is this fear of death that brings Edgar Allan Poe’s characters to life in “The Premature Burial” and “The Masque of the Red Death.” It is death itself in these stories that is the main theme that Poe writes about, as the characters all tried to escape their death.
Gothic literature often has a common theme of fear and/or death. Author Edgar Allan Poe is the most well known gothic writer because of his famous dark and frightening short stories such as “The Masque of the Red Death.” Poe is so popular because of his ability to write stories that leave lasting effects on all readers. In this story, he uses many small symbols that then relate to the major symbols, such as Prince Prospero, his name represents his prosperous lifestyle. The setting is in a big fancy castle at a party that is an escape from the reality of death for the guests. Poe uses several strong symbolic elements to lead to his overall theme of inevitable death.
Additionally, Poe uses the repetition of death in his stories in order to illustrate his own feelings surrounding the topic.
Death. This word is a hopeless truth that human beings try to avoid talking about. Everyone that is except for Edgar Allan Poe. Unlike most people, this well-known poet became fixated on this subject. This theme is shown through all of his works along with many other famous authors. Losing a loved one, having a near death experience, or even hearing the word reminds us of our mortality. If we know death is coming eventually, why not get it over with and end it already? The beautiful lie we want to hold on to is that we have something or someone to live for; but do we really? In Gothe’s novella, The Sorrows of Young Werther, and Poe’s poem, Masque of the Red Death, both writers make their readers think about how our whole life is lived to die and there’s nothing that can be done to prevent it.. Through these powerful tragedies, these authors tell us the painful truth.
Death is a subject well known for some people and little to not understood by others. It is the end of all living things that once were and will be. Over time, death has always been a scary thought for everyone. People around the world feared the idea of leaving the world and their loved ones for good. However, there was someone who more than scared, was fascinated, inspired and even interested in death. That was Edgar Allan Poe, an American writer who used the theme of death as a keystone in his writing. Poe’s fascination with death allowed him to create magnificent poems that have been read through the arrows of time. The way his fascination started, how he was influenced and the people he touched with his ideas tell a story, a story of life and death.