Analytical Essay On The Masque Of The Red Death

In Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” and short story “The Masque of The Red Death” Poe illustrates a fear of death. Death has taken away the people he cares about most in his life. As an author of fear and death, Poe's own life was the inspiration for his spine tingling poems and stories. In his poem “The Raven” Virginia was the influence for Lenore, whose death the speaker is grieving. In Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death,” the red death is a representation of tuberculosis which his wife as well as his mother, foster mother, and brother all obtained and die from.

In the short story, “Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allen Poe uses characterization to illustrate the psychological destruction of the Prince. Throughout the story, Prince Prospero struggles with

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

The narrator of “The Masque of The Red Death” is a divine being due to Poe’s liberal use of allusions to the Bible. An example of one of the may aforementioned allusions being, “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all”. Through Poe’s use of the phrase “dominion over all,” he reverses Paul’s statement in Romans 6:9, in which “death hath no more dominion”(Cheney). This section of the Bible, in particular, refers to the resurrection of Christ and how “He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him”(New International Version Romans 6.9). Because of this one can interpret Poe’s allusion to the Red Death as a divine apparition of death. Along with his allusion to Romans 6:9, “Poe inverts the Pauline conception of baptism by presenting his characters being ‘bedewed’ in the unholy baptismal ‘blood’ of the Red Death”(Cheney). Baptism in the New Testament is unquestionable to allow for the sinner’s sins to be removed

As the human race is always persistent in coming up with new innovations, they have yet to solve one problem: death. The following tale about to unfold before you is an emblem that death is inevitable. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” may seem like a grotesque story, but in reality it shows the symbolism that no one can escape their fate. This story shows that the amount of wealth you have is no match for your ultimate demise.

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.

Liz Brent states, ‘Edgar Allan Poe’s short story ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ may be interpreted variously as a parable for man’s fear of death.’ This specific quote gives great description on the feelings of the main character in this story. The conflicts overall play a major part in the story. As Kenneth Graham says, “If time is the destroyer of all things material, so, too, is the pendulum the destroyer in the pit, and the ebony lock in.” The critic is explaining the overall conflict of this story, and displays how the ebony clock is the symbol for death. In all, conflict is important to the story, as it ties back to the themes and describes the problems occurred.

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.

Death is a terrifying prospect for most people , imagine being face to face with it. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death”, the revelers were in this very situation. Prince Pospero’s country was devastated by the Red Death. A plaque that resulted in a painful, gruesome, death. Prince Pospero being the selfish uncaring man he is, locked himself and a thousand of his lighthearted friends in his abbey to hide from the Red Death. After 6 months of seclusion Prince Pospero throws a masquerade to celebrate that they were still free of the Red Death. It was at this masquerade a gruesome mummer appeared shortly before Prince Pospero and all the revelers to died of the Read Death. In this story Poe personifies death through the mummer who

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.

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.

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

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.

There is a terrible sickness spreading throughout their town. “No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous.” (Poe 78 ) In the story “The Masque of the Red Death” fear is the main theme. Prince Prospero invites a thousand of his friends to his castle. There are seven different colored rooms in the castle. The guests fill all the different