Symbolism In The 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.

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.

“Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe is about when a plague strikes a kingdom somewhere in Europe. The Prince decides that he can protect himself from this plague by securing himself in his castle. He believes that the plague won’t harm him and that he can defeat death. But he is not so fortunate at the end of the story.The three literary devices that will be discussed are the symbol, tone, and theme.

the end of a day and darkness. Poe uses the element of darkness as a visual representation of

“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.

Edgar Allen Poe uses the colors of the rooms to show the transition from birth to death. In the short story, Poe uses the colors of the rooms in a certain order to show the progression from birth to death. “...at the eastern extremity was hung... in blue… the second chamber was purple… the third was green… the fourth was furnished and lighted with orange--the fifth with white--the sixth with violet. The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet…” The first room was blue, the color of water, the beginning of life. The second was purple, symbolising childhood and royalty, children get weighed on hand and foot and are treated like prince and princesses. The third room was green, plants during the summer when they are at full bloom, the peak of life. Orange was the fourth, meaning autumn and fall, when leaves start to fall off of trees and start to die and decline. The fifth room was white, symbolising old age, when people age their hair turns white. The sixth room was violet, another shade of purple, people start to weigh on you again because you have become dependent on others again and you have become rich in other things such as experiences. The very last room was black, the color for funerals, the black meant death.

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.

Everyone will sin and no one can say that they haven’t because we have all done at least one of the Seven Deadly Sins. In “The Masque of the Red Death” people have the plague and the author uses symbols to help describe the stages up to death. The people are trying to isolate themselves from people outside of the castle that have the plague, but someone gets in and everyone is soon infected. The seven rooms correlate with the seven deadly sins of sloth, greed, envy, gluttony, lust, pride, and wrath.     The first room is paired with sloth and the second room is paired with greed.

Each one having its own unique design and finesse about it. All the rooms were beautiful colored with there own color theme for each. The window pains matched the decoration in all chambers, or did they. The chamber which lies most westwardly of the seven, there are now none of the maskers who venture.”Having black curtains and blood red glass panes. Due to the fact that this chamber matched did not match any of the others, which can be matched with an emotion for each, it most likely has a different meaning. The meaning of pain and suffering is the vibe that this chamber gives. The meaning of each chamber can also be related by the feeling of a person. Each room, whether happy, sad, angry, then the last on of course

The masque of the red death is eerie, and dark story full of symbolism. In "the masque of the red death" written by Edgar Allen Poe has many symbols that identity different meanings. One of the symbolisms in the story is "The fire in the tripods" it means when the fire is on there is life and when the fire goes out there is no more life. In "The Masque of the Red Death" it states "and the flames of the tripod expired. " In the story when the flames went out everyone in the Abby had died.

“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe Prince Prospero, the main character in this story, is an immensely prosperous individual that hosts a party during a deadly pandemic that kills thousands. To host an elaborate party, he sets up 7 rooms each with different colors and arranged from east to west. In this image, it shows the figure, a fool, standing near close to a cliff with a dog alongside. He carries a bindle over his shoulder and a flower in his left hand. The fool and the dog stand clueless and ignorantly near a cliff - Prince Prospero and his guests are oblivious to the red death devastating the countryside.

In the story “The masque of the red death”. How is the symbol representing everything in the story? The symbol represents the clock, prince Prospero, and the room. The clock symbolizes something in the story. It makes loud rings every hour to let the people know something is going on.

In the short story Masque of the Red Death Edgar Allen Poe establishes the effect of terror in many ways. A mixture of the setting, characters, and language make for a chilling tale. The short prologue Poe entices us with begins to set the scene. It explains the “red death” which is sweeping the land and illustrates how this foreboding disease ravishes its victims.

Among Poe’s work, I will typically illustrate these three works “The Black Cat”, “A Tell Tales Heart” , “The Fall of the House of Usher” , and “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” to dedicate the use of symbolism. Other works will be briefly mentioned.