Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death

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.

“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 exterior is crinkling and washing away , with blood of the last calling your name.

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

“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

In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Masque of the Red Death,” he uses the symbol of the clock to convey the single emotional effect of fear. One thousand of the prince’s good friends are all hiding out in his castle from the red death. There is no way in and no way out. Inside the castle there are 7 rooms and each has a different color which represents different stages of life. The seventh room is black symbolizing death.

The clock in the “The Masque of the Red Death” is one of major symbols that connect directly to the theme of inevitable death. The clock is in the seventh room westernmost room that is filled with black and “blood red”. The clock itself is ebony, which is a black wood, the color black is a representation of death. The personification of the clock possessing a life confirms even more so that it symbolizes carnage. When everyone dies the clock dies in unison.

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

Edgar Allen Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" takes place in seven connected but carefully separated rooms. The significance of the number seven is apparent throughout our society. The bible chronicles the creation of the world in seven days, there are seven wonders of the world, colleges and universities divide learning into seven subjects and an individuals life is thought to have seven stages. Seven also symbolizes fear and doom as in the seven signs of the apocalypse. Therefore, the seven rooms represent a person's life from pure beginning to its impending death.

Poe uses different symbols in “The Masque of the Red Death”, a clock that shows that life is passing by,different rooms that show the stages of life. Its eerie chiming on the hour is a regular reminder to the people that their lives are drifting away with the time, and that death is approaching. Symbolism is when the author uses something to show

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” deals with the theme of death, and does deal with this topic in a literal form in the presence of the Red Death within the country in which this story takes place at the time. However, the theme of death is most heavily portrayed in the form of symbolism to represent this idea throughout the story.

Poe uses ample amounts of symbolism, to relate The Masque of The Red Death back to people's lives and choices. Poe starts off the story with examples that allude to the theme that death is inevitable. Poe states, “But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious” (Poe 446). That quote gives us the characteristics of the Prince, and some symbolism. His name is supposed to sound like the word “prosper.” His name fits him well, because Prince Prospero thrives at the expense of the people in his kingdom suffering. Prince Prospero chooses to hide himself in his abbey, while his subjects get wiped out by the red death. After five to six months the Prince decides to host a masked ball to entertain his guests, since all of them feel they are superior to death. The rooms in which the masquerade is held are very peculiar. Poe illustrates to us, “These windows were of stained glass whose color varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of the decorations of

The Masque Of The Red Death written by Edgar Allan Poe is a story that incorporates many symbols that is trying to convey a message to the readers. There are humans that are avoiding death because they don’t want to lose their families and friends because of a tragic disease. In the story, there is a terrible disease called “Red Death” which kills millions of people in a masquerade ball that was thrown by Prince Prospero. The symptoms of the “Red Death” are sharp pains, sudden dizziness, profuse bleeding at the pores, and blood stains upon the body and the face of the victims. This lethal disease spread quickly because it happens in just a matter of seconds. People would spot other people with a stain and automatically assumes they have the

The Masque Of The Red Death is an allegory that explains that people are sometimes greedy and selfish. The first symbol is the seven rooms. I think that is a symbol because each room has a different color and has very different decor. The rooms start out as blue, purple, green, violet, white, and the last is blood red. I think that the rooms symbolize the different stages in which you go through when you die. In the story nobody wants to enter the last room because it reminds them of the Red Death. The second symbol I chose was the Masquerade held by the Prince and everyone he brought to the castle was invited. Everyone was having a good time and most of the costumes were very creepy and scary. After a while people started to notice that there

Like when Poe explains, “ This wall had gates of iron, The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts, They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within”. (Poe 456). What is being said is, that they basically locked up the whole premises to prevent anyone or anything to leave or come in so he thought he was safe. Symbolizes that he is willing to do anything which meaning to lock down his whole castle from catching the disease and end up underground. But not just that, the red death still came to them and eliminated what it can and thought to be so. Towards the end, “ And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall”. (Poe 461). Due to the castle being locked down and no one being able to get out, at some point they were all killed by the red death. But, even with everything being close and shut from something, it will somehow or some way find its way to