Symbolism Of The Red Death By Edgar Allan Poe

On planet Earth there are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute; all which revolves around time. Time is infinite, but unfortunately for human beings, they face times rath. Eventually, every living being or organism faces death, you can't escape it or run away from it, death is always around the corner. In “The Masque of the Red Death” Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates this when the noble class and Prince Prospero tried to run away from the gruesome and infectious disease. Symbolism in the story is significant because it gives the reader more insight on how the author feels towards something and gives meaning to ordinary objects. For example, Poe was upset with the noble class because they neglected their problems and

Everyone fears their own death, thus why some people will do anything to escape it. In Edgar Allan Poe's short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, this fear is experienced by all. In the story, a prince named Prospero and his people try to elude the Red Death through seclusion and isolation in the prince's abbey. However, no walls can stop death since it is unavoidable and inescapable. Throughout the story, Poe uses symbols such as the rooms, the masked figure, and the clock to convey the theme that no one can escape death.

Edgar Allen Poe's, "Masque of the Red Death" also has many gothic themes. A bloody disease called the Red Death has ravaged a country. Prince Prospero thinks he can hide from this plague and throws a ball to celebrate his victory over it. First, Poe uses several words in this play conveying horror such as fatal, bleeding, blood, redness, and chambers, which are all clue to 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.

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”

Prince Prospero in Masque of the Red Death written by Edgar Allan Poe is a Prince of his kingdom who escapes and eludes the Red Death sweeping throughout his kingdom killing all it comes into contact with. Prospero 's fight or flight reaction, a built in mechanism inside all humans and his reaction to fear of his own death ultimately lead to his downfall and instead of keeping him alive prove unable to beat the elutable and all mighty red death. Picture a scenario where you are put to the test to see your own flight or fight reaction, you and a few friends are on the train chatting about everyone’s most embarrassing moments. All of a sudden, someone comes from the other train car and yells, “Someone has a gun on the train!” This scenario

In the short story “Masque of the Red Death” By: Edgar Allen Poe he delivers the theme of age old inevitability of death and futility of trying to escape death, the setting of his story is based during a time when the bubonic “black” plague took over Europe. The black plague was a bacterium that survived in rats and rodents, human beings became infected when they got bitten by the fleas that lived on these rodents and rats; you knew you had gotten infected by several symptoms such as bleeding in the lungs, high fever and delirium but the most outstanding symptom was bubos. Now Bubos are painful lymph nodes that appear usually in the armpits, legs, neck or groin areas, if the infected

The allegory of life and death gives a clear image about the story; “The Red death” represents Death while life is represented by the people partying at the ball. In Poe’s story, the Prince Prospero's attempt to save his guests, as well as himself, from a fatal disease called the Red Death plague. In an ironic tone, Poe describes how Prospero built a castle far away to keep everyone he loved healthy by locking the gate of the castle to keep the disease and unhealthy people away. As said in the story “the external world could take care of itself,” the author here shows us the arrogance of the prince because although he has the wealth to assist those in need, he turns his wealth into a mode of self-defense and decadent self-indulgence.

When the term “isolation” is used, most people think of it as an action performed in solitude. It brings to mind an empty space in which one person resides, far from all others. However, isolation does not always occur in a singular sense. In “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, isolation is used by a large population as a means of safety. In “The Thing Around Your Neck” by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie, isolation occurs among crowds of people and even in the company of someone close to one’s heart. In both aspects, isolation serves to exemplify the broken portions of life. Isolation is a destructive force and as a theme, isolation serves to exemplify a particular viewpoint and worldview while serving as both a cause and effect.

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer who believed every single word contained meaning and in his own words expressed this idea in brevity only he is capable, "…there should be no word written, of which tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design." (Poe 244). To this effect, Poe drenches his works in symbolism and allegory. Especially in shorter works, Poe assigns meaning to the smallest object, explicitly deriving exurbanite significance within concise descriptions. "The Masque of the Red Death" tells the story of a Prince Prospero who along with his one thousand friends sought a haven from the plague that was ravishing their country. They lived together in the prince's luxurious abbey with all the amenities and

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

The beginning of the short story Edgar Allan Poe uses a metaphor catalog of macabre details usually Gothic fiction (Osipova 25). Edgar Allan Poe comes out with very strong details to how the red death kills the people from the start he has a gruesome tone to the story. This is shown at the beginning to help the tone progress as the story goes on. All the macabre detailing throughout the story helped convey how unpleasant and terrifying the red death is and why Prospero desire to conceal from it. When he decides to take people with him to the palace he thinks that he will be safe however since the red death is all the peoples guilt and fears it goes after them because Prospero fears it the most. “Poe’s use of ambiguity here is masterful; the physical reactions he describes could very well be consistent with terror, distaste, and rage, but they could just as likely be symptomatic of the disease”.(Bennett 46). Poe select to make The Mask Of The Red Death a very terrorizing story conveying that you can't hide from fear because sooner or later it will get you. The way the people feel whenever they get the disease is very crucial to the story because they are being taken over by their guilt. All of the terror that people feel could just be some sign of the disease which is the red death. The narrator plays an important role in The Mask of The Red Death because it is 3rd person which whose everyone's feelings. In the end scene where the Red Death is actually shown as the Grim Reaper is three things omniscient narrator, supernatural being, and the dreaded plague itself (Guercio 76). Edgar Allan Poe changes the point of view throughout the story to give it a different effect and angle to how the tone is set. At the part when the red death uses third person omniscient it shows the people reading the book how important it is. He uses that type of view to show that he is over everyone else. The narrator is the only one that uses third person and the fact that the red death uses it tells everyone that is has a higher value that how they have portrayed him the entire story. It shows its real self in other words takes off his mask to reveal his true power over people.

Throughout the history of literature we see an obvious string of religion connecting most works to the core of their beginnings. From creation stories of tribes, to colonial poems, to the twisted mind of Edgar Allan Poe, there is a connection. Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” may not seem to portray the ideas of religion but through close examination, the association will become less cloudy. Poe’s use of symbolism, narrator, word choice, helps readers unmask the idea of religion.

The red death is about a rich prince that thought he could outsmart death with money and ended up dying anyways. The red death is also based on the effects of the black death which killed millions of people in europe during the middle centuries. The red death is a very strange story written by edgar allen poe which describes the red death as being so deadly it kills within an half an hour. The story is very strange often including easy to miss symbolism.

As a gothic writer, Edgar Allan Poe created horror using gloom as his weapon. Hidden within the suspenseful story of “The Masque of Red Death” is an allegorical tale of how individuals deal with the fear of death as time passes. Frantic activities and pleasures (as represented by Prince Prospero and his guests) seek to wall out the threat of death. However, the story reminds the reader that death comes “like a thief in the night”(Poe 3), and even those who seek peace and safety shall not escape. Poe uses symbolism to illustrate that man cannot hide from his own mortality.