Themes In The Masque Of The Red Death

inevitability of death and the futility of trying to escape death. The prince's name, Prospero,

Prospero orchestrates the events of the play with ease, his magic giving him the power to manipulate the characters and environment around him. This almost omniscient power that is presented pushes the audience to question what is

Prospero's intent throughout the course of The Tempest is neither to revenge himself upon his enemies, nor to reconcile himself with his estranged brother. It is, rather, to orchestrate the reclamation of his lost duchy, Milan, through both his magic and a shrewd manipulation of both the shipwrecked party and the islanders (Caliban and Miranda).

Poe and London express in their writings through similar arrogant protagonists that regardless how powerful one is, no one is able to conquer nature. Prince Prospero’s pompous opinions of himself cause him to physically fight the Red Death, and since no one is stronger than death, he is defeated. Alone in the black room, the prince’s arrogance causes him to draw a dagger in attempt of murdering the “retreating figure”, without engaging in a fight, the Red Death swiftly kills the prince (Poe 4). At this point of the story, Prince Prospero is not behaving like a coward like when he hides from the Red Death, his pride is causing him to believe he has the capability of fighting death. Poe shows through the prince’s determination that one cannot defeat death despite one’s tenacity. While the man in “To Build a Fire” never physically fights death, he is fighting the urgent need of making a fire due to the cold because he believes he is invincible to the freezing weather. The

Michael Ruiz once said, “Everyone dies. There’s no point in fighting it.” In Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, there is a disease that kills almost everyone in a country so the king brings all survivors into a castle to prevent it from killing anyone else, although it still ends up getting in from a ghost, and wipes everyone else out. In Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, Poe uses gothic elements such as a gloom setting, supernatural beings, curses, and air of mystery and suspense.

The environment Prince Prospero and Captain Vidal were placed in caused their behaviours and ideas of death to contrast. Prince Prospero fears death, as displayed through his actions of “deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys”. This portrays Prospero as fearful of death, because he hides from the “pestilence” and allows the external world to “take care of itself”. Captain Vidal however, is portrayed as dauntless and not afraid of death. When in a shootout with his men, Vidal says to one of his men that the best way to die is fighting for a country, and proceeds to shoot an enemy “rebel”. This shows Vidal is not afraid to die, and chases death, rather than hiding from it as Prospero did. Prospero also portrays his fear of death when he “rushed hurriedly through the six chambers”, running

In the story Masque of Red Death Prince Prospero was punished for neglecting his duties as a prince. Prince Prospero didn’t think of his dominions he only thought of himself and the one thousand nobles that he save. Without a second thought he went into hiding with his one thousand nobles to a very secure abbey where the doors were bolted shut allowing no one to enter or leave. No matter how secure the abbey was Prospero and the nobles couldn’t escape the red death.

After breaking his staff and throwing his books into the sea, Prospero is left with little to no power of his own. It is in his last speech in the play, in the epilogue, that he realizes that his magic is nothing without outside help. He no longer has the outside power of his books and staffs to make his magic work so he is weak and vulnerable. Prospero realizes he will never get off

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.

Throughout the year, Prospero has built his own Wizards’ Tower. Here, Prospero teaches young students magic. Even if his wands and his books are gone, he still remembers most of the magic so he can teach other young people. Alonso and Gonzalo end up dying of old age and illness

Prince Prospero does not care for the outside world and leaves them to die at the plague’s hands. Poe details Prince Prospero’s response to the plague with, “When his dominions were half-depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys.” (Poe) Prince Prospero makes no effort to aid his people, instead, isolating himself and his friends to seek protection from the disease. Isolation plays a powerful role here in providing a means of protection that ultimately proves false when the Red Death itself comes into the abbey and all succumb to it. Isolation also serves to prove the failings of self-importance in that no one is above one another. In attempting to shield only themselves, those in the court exhibited a selfish importance that isolation fails to corroborate. Even isolating themselves, Prince Prospero and his courtiers fall victim to the Red Death the same as the rest of the world. As a theme in “The Masque of the Red Death”, isolation does not equate protection and to seek it with a self-important worldview is to bring destruction to yourself. In seeking isolated protection, Prince Prospero is thus exposed in his cowardice and is proven as equal to those dying outside the walls, for he falls victim to the Red Death as well.

the Red Death shows the futile attempts by a prince and his guests of a party,

Poe uses allegory to allude to the double meanings of the characters Prince Prospero and the masked figure, as well as the setting of the chambers. Prince Prospero represents prosperity. While his nation is suffering from the “Red Death”, “…he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and lighthearted friends…and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbey” (420). His nobility and wealth give him the ability to ignore the horror around him and live in luxury. This refers to real life in that the privileged are the ones who are able to still live comfortably even if others are in a crisis. Prince Prospero also represents an ignorance, selfishness, and arrogance that come with wealth through right instead of hard work. He believes that “[t]he external world could take care of itself” and that it is “…folly to grieve, or to think” (420). Instead of taking action to help his people, he just leaves them in the grips of the “Red Death”. The “Red Death” is

With a kingdom in ruins and people dying of disease all around him, Prince Prospero is consumed with no worry except to throw a fabulous masquerade ball for his knights and maidens safely tucked away in his castellated abbey. Separated from the rest of the kingdom dying from disease, Prince Prospero is a coward, afraid of Red Death. Prince Prospero is not an admirable character because of his attempts to cheat death which make him a fool, and by leaving the people of his kingdom to fend for themselves.

Making use of character Prospero, the author shows how the ideologies of an individual assume a different direction after suffering some of the transformation in the society. As the play kicks off, Prospero’s conduct displays a contradiction from the basic tenets of Christian forgiveness. Depending on his good fortune, the character seizes the opportunity to take vengeance of his enemy. The passage that presents the central focus of the book is one that "Prospero hopes that his plan to