Literary Analysis Of 'The Masque Of The Red Death'

The Black Death, also known as The Red Death, killed over sixty percent of Europe’s population. “The Masque of the Red Death”, written by Edgar Allan Poe, is about wealth and privilege, where the prince hides from the Red Death with his revelers. Poe uses symbols such as setting, objects, along with characters to reveal an allegorical theme. Thus being the theme, everyone will perish, even the wealthy and privileged.

In “Mask of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe uses setting and symbolism to deliver the theme that no one escapes death. The story follows the naïve and pompous Prince Prospero, and his feeble attempt to escape dying from the Black Plague. As the plague spread through his kingdom, the prince called one thousand of his closest friends to reside within the safety of the castle in order to seclude themselves from the horror and death going on outside. During the last months of their seclusion, the prince decided to hold a masquerade ball in order to amuse his many guests living within the confines of the rather odd castle. The dance takes place in a variety of unusual apartments within the castle, spaced apart so the guests would only see one room at a time. The apartments flowed east to west, each decorated in a different color and theme while following a pattern of blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet and finally ending in black. During the ball, guests enjoyed a dreamlike atmosphere as they danced through the many colored apartments, each of them avoiding the final black room. This final dark patterned room contained a large ebony clock which chimed eerily every hour, causing the party goers to pause their merriment for a few moments of uneasy silence. As midnight drew near, a new guest arrived, sporting a costume more ghastly and morose than any other. The mask he wore resembled that of a plague victim, and his clothes resembled a funeral shroud. Prospero became angry

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.

Prince Prospero decorates lavishly for the masquerade ball. Each room has a different color as a theme, and the windows contain glass stained to match the respective colors of the rooms. Fair colors paint the faces of everyone. At first they wear masks for the ball, but at the story's conclusion, they all bear the bloody mark that signifies the Red Death. The Red Death, which is characterized by ‘scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim,’ has entered the palace unrecognized (“Explanation”

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.

Many short stories have an underlying message that the author does not directly convey. Logan Pearsall Smith states, “It is not what an author says but what he or she whispers, that is important.” This means that the reader needs to search for a hidden message within the story, as one might say; there is more than meets the eye. Two stories supporting this quote are “The Masque of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Necklace,” by Guy de Maupassant. The characters within these stories that gradually relate and connect to the quote are Prince Prospero and Madame Loisel.

By receiving gifts of any sort, whether in the form of a wrapped present or simple gas money, a child or even young adult adapts a behavior of feeling entitled to what it is they have been given. Both my sisters, who are twins, have this problem. They were the first females to be born into the family, and have been treated as the princesses my mother always wanted. Growing up they always got to have the big birthday parties with plenty of friends and family around. My parents were always willing to shower them with clothing and gifts for the simplest task and accomplishments. The never-ending cycle of receiving without truly earning is the base line for the habit that was formed; if a reward is being collected with little to no output of effort

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

Did Po write the “Masque Of The Red Death” talking about the modern day Ebola. He could have been because Ebola could have been around just not on a national level. Pretty much all of his family died from TB so he could have been talking about TB and, like his family everyone dies. Maybe Po could have been warning us that a disease like the red death would happen. Po was crazy according to other people so maybe he could see into the future.

The theme of death being inevitable is first developed through the seven colored chambers by using symbolism. Poe describes the process of the disease, emphasizing the redness and blackness throughout the story. After setting the tone, Poe shows the desperation of the people attempting to escape death by hiding in Prospero’s enclosed fortress. The seven chambers that Prince Prospero presents in his isolated fortress move “from east to west—from blue to black—the seven stages of man” (Poe 374). The usage of the colors that is illustrated within each of the chambers creates a mysterious mood of transformation that is developed in the connection of life. Poe hints that death will come through these progressions of the rooms. Each room corresponds to the different stages of a human’s life. The blue colored room symbolizes the rising sun from the east as well as the beginning of a person’s life. The purple room suggests the beginnings of growth. The green colored room suggests the youth of

We can be promised one thing in life and that is death. Its inevitable and something we all cant avoid no matter how hard we try to cower and hide in our houses.Edgar Allen Poe Wrote a story in 1842 called " The Masque of the red death" and even though it was over a 120 years later his story was contrived into a episode for a popular show and the episode was called "Nothing in the dark" . " The Masque Of The Red Death" and the twilight zone episode "Nothing in the dark" may look completely different at first glance, but if you pay attention they almost resemble one another.

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.

Edgar Allen Poe wrote a lot of ghost stories during the nineteenth century. Some stories he wrote were “The Black Cat,” “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” and “The Masque of the Red Death.” In almost all of his ghost stories he has a first person narrator telling a story, but in the “The Masque of the Red Death” it seems like the story is told in third person omniscient. The story is about Prince Prospero has a party with guests and thinking he will escape, the Red Death but at the end Red Death comes and kills him and all the guests. When the reader looks at the use of quotation marks, first-person point of view and Prince Prospero’s death at the end of “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe, he sees the narrator is the Red Death, which is important because the idea that Death tells the story of our lives increases our fear.

In the story “The Masquerade Of The Red Death”, Edgar Allen Poe describes how gruesome the red death is. For example, "There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the sympathy of his fellow men." (145). Poe describes how disgusting the disease is, and establishes the mood and setting throughout the story. This points to why the guests react to the blood stained intruder. Color is also used as symbolism in the story, representing the seven stages of life. The story progresses

It is fourteenth century Europe and the Red Death, a plague, is spreading. Prince Prospero decides to isolate a thousand individuals from the upper crust of society in an abbey to protect them from the contagion. After spending months contained in the abbey, the courtiers attend a masked ball. One of the attendees wears a costume that simulates the effects of the Red Death. Prospero is angered by the mysterious guest’s disguise and demands that he be punished. Prospero pursues the individual and discovers that he is a literal personification of the Red Death who has now infected the nobles in the abbey. It is also believed that the seven rooms of seven colors may represent the seven deadly sins, which are: sloth (laziness), lust, gluttony (eating