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What Is The Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death

Decent Essays

Edgar Allen Poe struck literary gold and constructed a masterpiece that will be immortalized as a classic in his short story “The Masque of the Red Death.” However, Poe originally published this masterpiece under the title “The Mask of the Red Death. A Fantasy.” Poe made his way into the May 1842 issue of a Philadelphia literary magazine called Graham’s Magazine. He later published a slightly revised version of his short story and gave it the name that we all know today, “The Masque of the Red Death.” This version was then published in the July 1845 issue of The Broadway Journal. “The Masque of the Red Death” went on to become one of the most famous gothic short stories of all time (The Masque of the Red Death Introduction). Poe creates such a successful story by utilizing symbolism, integrating major themes, and portraying an artist-hero character. Throughout the story, Edgar Allen Poe relies heavily on symbolism to get his point across. One object that he uses to present the idea of death is the clock. The clock was located in the …show more content…

The characters desire for supernatural beauty drives him towards madness. “In making this wild effort to reach the beauty above, the artist rearranges and transforms material reality.” Prince Prospero matches this description of an artist hero. When he isolates himself and company in an effort to avoid the plague, he is going against normal intellect and behavior. He is also a man of taste. “Poe’s hero will employ his taste and imagination to create a symbolic equivalent of nature’s elements – a combination which can transform earthly reality into the artist’s liberating system of immortal beauty” (Vanderbilt 380). Even though the prince’s actions are seen as an attempt of desperation to avoid the plague, the prince had motives of his

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