Red Death Allegory

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.

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

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.

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

“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.

“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

To deal in absolutes is something everyone should avoid, but no matter who you are or where you're from there is one absolutely everyone faces, death. In “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, the self-preserving protagonist, Prince Prospero, hides a thousand of his closest friends and himself in a castle of his while the plague rages on outside of their walls. His selfishness and guilt lead to his own demise by the end of the story. An underlying motif in the story is that death is inevitable. Of course, Poe, an adept illusionist, doesn't say this outright, but through his use of symbolism the reader discerns that everyone is a victim of mortality.

To those homeless on the streets, a five dollar bill drifting in the wind, which so happens to land at their feet, may symbolize anything from hope to just a meal at McDonald’s. However, to others who are luckily more fortunate, it symbolizes something completely different. It is also ironic how if an everyday citizen loses a five dollar bill, it’s not a big deal to them; but if a povert lost a five dollar bill, it would bring them great despair. In the stories, The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the literary elements, symbolism and irony, are applied heavily. The Masque of the Red Death is about a fatal plague which spread ferociously around a country, killing innocents within half an hour. There is a wealthy prince on the other hand who cheats death by locking him and a thousand of his friends in a castle full of food, drinks, and entertainment while thousands more die a tragic death on the streets everyday. This method doesn’t last for long, though. All the ‘fortunate’ people perish in the end by ‘the red death’. Having said that, The Lottery revolves around a society where each year, out of tradition, there’s a drawing and whoever is picked croaks. The themes conveyed in both short stories are that you can’t delay the inevitable because it will eventually bite back.

In "Masque of the Red Death", there are several differently colored rooms, which at first glance are simply several disparate pigments. After looking at the story as a whole, it is clear that these specific room colors each mean something other than itself. Spoken in "Masque of the Red Death" about two of the seven rooms is, "That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue...The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black..." (Masque 5). The author, between discussing these opposing rooms, mentions the other rooms and their colors, also. Each of these rooms symbolizes the seven stages of life. The blue room represents birth and new life, as it is at the east where the sun rises beginning each new day. Meanwhile, the black room is the farthest west where the sun sets, ending the day. This black room embodies death, which is uncoincidentally where everyone dies in "Masque of the Red

In “Masque of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe, many symbols are used in the story to function in the work and to reveal the characters and themes of the story. Symbols serve many purposes in this story. Poe uses symbols all throughout the story to represent death. Poe’s use of the seven rooms, the clock, and the stranger helps to teach the reader that nothing can escape death. By using these symbols, Poe portray the idea that death can’t be escaped.

“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

Are you afraid of a painful death? There are a few things in life as inevitable as death. In the “Masque of Red Death”, by Edgar Allen Poe, he uses symbolism of the rooms, the clock, and the red death to show that wealth offers no refuge from death because no matter the person's status death is unpreventable. In the short story the “Masque of Red Death”, Edgar Allen Poe uses symbolism of the rooms to show that each of the rooms are each stage of life.

Do you think that the symbols of “Masque of The Red Death” relate to the theme? I think that these symbols do represent the theme. The symbols are; the clock, Prince Prospero, and the colored rooms.

"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe, is much like many of Poe’s other writings in that it makes you think about our behavior toward life. This short story is a great example of how symbols can be used to express another type of expression. I have chosen three examples.

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