...The Inevitability of the Red Death Edgar Allen Poe's “The Masque of the Red Death” is an extravagant allegory of the futility of trying to escape death. In the story, a prince named Prospero tries to avoid the Red Death through isolation and seclusion. He hides behind the impenetrable walls of his castle and turns his back on the rest of the world. But no walls can stop death because it is unavoidable and inevitable. Through the use of character, setting, point of view, and symbol, Poe reveals the theme that no one, regardless of status, wealth or power can stay the passing of time and the inevitable conclusion of life itself, death. Like many of Poe’s works, the number of characters in “Masque of the Red Death” is limited; however they all work to reveal the theme. Only three characters, Prince Prospero, the Thousand Friends and the Masked Figure are mentioned. The central figure of the story is Prince Prospero. The author describes him as “happy and dauntless and sagacious” (Poe, 386). His name is used to infer royalty, wealth and happiness, and suggests that the prince is untroubled by the plague and is confident of his survival and the survival of his one thousand friends. Prospero has been described by scholars as a “feelingless ruling prince” (Wheat, 51). This is due to his apparent lack of concern for the people of his land: “The external world could take care of itself” (Poe, 386). Prospero is a flat character as he remains confident in his survival up to...
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...Many authors use symbolism to heighten the meaning of their themes and ideas by connecting their symbols to commonly known sources or objects. For instance, within Edgar Allen Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” symbolism is used heavily throughout this short story and are linked to some commonly known material. The “Masque of the Red Death” focuses on a chaotic theme of death and chaos. Poe uses symbolism to portray his theme through the seven chambers in the prince’s home and these rooms together are linked by colors and Biblical references. In “Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allen Poe uses symbolism to establish the chaotic theme represented through the seven chambers. First Poe had used symbolism within this short story to establish...
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...Lester Small LITR 220 24 February 2013 The Masque of the Red Death vs. The Cask of Amontillado “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Cask of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allan Poe are somewhat different. The major themes of these stories differ significantly, as does the emphasis placed on each character which dealt more to The Cask of Amontillado” than to “The Masque of the Red Death” Regardless of this, the stories are similar in many ways. For instance, both belong to the literacy of the gothic genre, it shared a small theme, and the characters shared a lot of the same characteristics. Poe known as a great writer how was his overall literary style determined for these two short stories? The similarities of both tales belong to the gothic genre. This is true from large number of features presented in either one or both of the stories. The most prominent were the dreary, damp, and decaying catacombs of the “The Cask of Amontillado” and the dark themes such as death and insanity, which was a consistent presence in both stories, in the forms of madness of Montresor and Prince Prospero and death of Fortunato and Prince Prospero, along with his guest who took shelter from the Red Death in Prospero’s palace. Other features common to the gothic literature of the narratives were mysteries in the shape of the mysterious shrouded figure in “The Masques of the Red Death” and how Montresor would avenge himself against Fortunato in “The Mask of Amontillado” and the fact the setting...
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...refers to literary criticism or literary theory which, in method, concept, or form, is influenced by the tradition of psychoanalysis begun by Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalytic literary criticism is a very common method of analyzing stories such as The White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett, Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe. Sylvia, a shy girl, who is rather naive and innocent. For most of her life has been sheltered from the atrocities of life. Being shielded from the outside world she hasn’t come to the conclusion that people can be bad. However this changes when a handsome and mysterious stranger wanders in her area. At first she intimidated by the man but is very eager to assist the man and wants to make a good impression. When finding the heron true changes begin to form in Sylvia. In sparing the heron she is more confident in her decision and assertive, she is willing ignore a person’s approval in order to preserve a beautiful part of nature. The white heron can represent Sylvia’s purity or innocence. According to psychosexual analysis the tree in which Sylvia climbs can be a phallic symbol for the ornithologist. While going through the forest with the ornithologist, he takes the lead although Sylvia is familiar with the terrain,...
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...Death is going to reach everyone at some point. No matter what advantage a person has in life, they are still going to die. In “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, a village is faced with a deadly plague. The main character, Prince Prospero, decides to gather 1,000 of his friends and family and lock them up in his castle as a way to avoid catching the plague. He then throws a masquerade ball that contains 7 color coded rooms, and the party takes a turn for the worse. Symbolism is used throughout “The Masque of the Red Death,” and it shows that death is inescapable. The first use of symbolism in “The Masque of the Red Death” is shown by the directions the seven rooms flow. On page one, Poe states, “But in the western or black...
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...paranoia and fear, and that causes you to cloud all rational thoughts. In all of Edgar Allan Poe's work, all the main characters experience fear. Poe uses irony, symbol, and imagery to show us how paranoia and fear can distort one's mind causing them to have unhealthy obsessions which leads...
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...The Masque of Red Death People don't really have that much in common, but they do have one big thing in common, that is death. Death is the one thing that no one can stop. The short story "The Masque of Red Death," by Edger Allen Poe shows how that statement is true. Poe was a man who had had many experiences with a disease that killed many people in his life, in his story "The Masque of Red Death," he uses a lot of symbolic messages to express his views and feelings on that disease. Edger Allan Poe stated out with a home life that wasn't very stable. His blood father left when Poe was about one. His mother was an actress that moved Poe's sister, brother , and himself around a lot. Then when he was three she died of tuberculoses. After his mothers death Poe was separated from his sister and brother. Poe was sent to the Allen family. Then when Poe was in his early twenties Mrs. Allen also died of tuberculoses. At the age of twenty-six Poe married his cousin Virginia. She later died of tuberculoses. His brother died of tuberculoses also. In "The Masque of Red Death," Poe uses color as a symbol. He used the colors red, blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. In the story red stand for the death that comes over everyone in the story. In Poe's life it stands for the diseases that has killed everyone...
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...“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe is a dark story about a plague that put thousands of lives in danger. A Prince named Prospero brings one thousand friends into his castle and welds shut the doors to keep the red death out and lift the spirits of the people during the very scary time. In the end though, the red death itself comes into the castle and shows Prince Prospero that no one can escape the plague. The theme of this story is that no matter how rich or powerful a person is, no one can avoid death. This statement is proved in the text with symbols and (characterization)? In “Masque of the Red Death” the ebony clock is a symbol that shows that no one can avoid death. In the story, everyone is dancing and having a good...
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...Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” is a horrifying tale with three allegorical elements. The first element comes into play in the very beginning when the royal court locks themselves up in a fortress, ignoring the dying peasants outside their gates. Poe says “When [Prince Prosepero’s] dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand ... light hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court and with those retire to the seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys” (87). This marks the beginning of Poe’s scolding against ignoring others and selfishness. Instead of helping the dying peasants, Prince Prosepero and his court begin a magnificent party. This leads the second element of the allegory,...
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...In Aesop’s fable, “The Wolf and the Lamb,” the moral of the story asks the reader to examine the desire for an object—and how we justify our behavior if we cannot obtain that object. This moral is graphically presented through the repeated use of key words to describe the fox’s repeated failure to get what he wants. The fox’s first attempt is foiled as he “just missed” the grapes (35). He attempts “again and again”, running and jumping repeatedly, but has “no greater success” (35). He then becomes disgusted and walks away. These successive descriptions of his failure build to his disdainful comment that the grapes are probably sour (35). The repeated demonstration of fox’s failures and his self-rationalization of why is he walking away—not that he has failed but because he has decided that the grapes are sour and he does not want them anyway—cleverly portrays the moral of the fable: if you can’t get it, blame something else, not yourself. It therefore asks the readers to Aesop’s Fables 3 of 93 The Wolf and the Lamb Once upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside, when, looking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning to drink a little lower down. ‘There’s my supper,’ thought he, ‘if only I can find some excuse to seize it.’ Then he called out to the Lamb, ‘How dare you muddle the water from which I am drinking?’ ‘Nay, master, nay,’ said Lambikin; ‘if the water be muddy up there, I cannot be the cause of it, for it runs down from you to me.’ ‘Well...
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...styles/elements. The authors of these short stories have many hidden meaning behind their words. “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edger Allan Poe, the “Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and, “Cast of Amontillado” by Edger Allen Poe have similar styles such as, using symbolism to enhance and foreshadow the reading. The author in Cast of Amontillado uses symbolism through the meaning of the title its self “ Cast of Amontillado” since Amontillado mean wine, and in the story the plot mainly happen based on the characters drinking wine, I thought the name symbolizes the results/effects in an irony way or drinking wine in this story. Since the character lures the other character...
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...Cornelius Hughes Dr. Montgomery LibA 102 October 13, 2009 Poe’s Use of Irony in His Short Stories Gargano says that “Poe intends his readers to keep their powers of analysis and judgment ever alert;…” (178). Poe is not your average type of literary figure. He often uses personification, metaphors, and symbols in order to give hints at details that would otherwise be unknown. These type of tactics help to keep the readers on their toes, otherwise they would be subject to misinterpreting what they read. In particular, Poe was a profound user of irony in his short stories. Poe used irony to depict the errors in his characters’ ways of thinking and their actions. Stories such as “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, and “The Masque of the Red Death” are all short stories that convey this notion. It is my intention to, based on the evidence found and presented, to prove this point. Let us first look at how Poe’s use of irony proves this point in “The Cask of Amontillado.” . The setting of the events is an “evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season” (Poe, “Cask” 426). This setting alone is symbolic for in this time during a carnival, people dressed themselves in costumes, becoming for a short time something other than their normal selves. Both Fortunato and Montresor are outfitted. Fortunato is wearing “a tight-fitted parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells” (426). In short, his attire was much...
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...The Masque of the Red Death “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe is an eerie short story about the “Red Death”, Poe’s twist on the Black Plague. This plague swept across an unknown kingdom killing many people as it went. There were sharp pain, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. Poe had two main themes for readers to think about. These themes were proven through five main symbols: The ebony clock in the black room, Prince Prospero in the abbey with his friends, the colors of the seven rooms in the abbey, the format of the hallway and rooms and, Prince Prospero running after death through all the rooms.One theme that Poe intended to portray is the fact that death can’t be cheated or escaped, no matter how powerful or prosperous a person is. In the short story, Prince Prospero tries to hide from the “Red Death”. After some time the “Red Death” slips into the abbey taking Prince Prospero’s Life. This proves that even the most prosperous die. Another theme that Poe tries to portray is that people can’t go through life feeling that they are invincible and death will never get them. When the ebony clock in the black room tolled out every hour, the guest ignored their nervous sensations and continued with their masquerade. After the ebony clock tolled the last hour of the night, every guest in the abbey died. The ebony clocked symbolizes the time that goes by leading up a person’s death. This ties to into both themes because...
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...As a result to the red death, Prince Prospero gathered his healthy friend together in his abbey. By keeping them in here, he believed he could keep all of them and himself healthy and away from disease. However he did not take into consideration that some of his friends may have looked healthy but could still be carrying diseases. So in actuality his friends could have spread disease all throughout the abbey. Prince Prospero thought his abbey was protection the red death, however it was not that simple. That is why Edgar Allen Poe used the abbey as a symbol of protection from the diseases around the city. There were seven rooms mentioned in the story. On the east end of the abbey there was a blue room; Poe used that color to represent the calmness in one’s life. While on the west end of the abbey was a black room; Poe used that color to represent...
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...The sun rises in the East and sets in the West; the darkness of the night is a symbol of death in this story. There are seven (7) rooms in this castle, six of them were densely crowed and inside them you could appreciate the sound of life. The seventh room was decorated with black velvet tapestries and the windows were scarlet; in this room was the ebony clock. This room was placed as a symbol of death, as a symbol of the final stage on human’s life. Every person in the masquerade was afraid to go inside, this is a symbol of the fear that humanity feels for death. At the end, the prince Prospero and all of the revellers died in this room. This black room represents how dark can be the death, and represents our inability to prevent it. The detailed description of a room plays an important paper in “The Tell-Tale Heart” too. The old man’s room “was as black as pitch with the thick darkness” (Poe). The selection of the words used by Poe is alerting us that something sinister is going to happen in that chamber. As we sleep we are vulnerable, we lose our guard against the surroundings. Our rooms are designed to make us feel protected, safe, and comfortable; Poe destroys this sense of security. In this story, the murderer goes inside the room exploiting the vulnerability of one who is sleeping; even the narrator kills with the bed itself turning the bedroom in a crime zone. In “The Masque of the Red Death” the masquerade is taken place in a Castellated Abbey. The abbey is a place of...
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