The Masque Of The Red Death- Companion Piece “There were much of the beautiful, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited the disgust”- The Masque Of The Red Death. Introduction All throughout history, Edgar Allan Poe has been considered one of the greatest writers of all time. Maybe it was the way he captured words in a perfect way and turned them into a story. Perhaps it was the way he engaged his readers by writing stories that reflected upon his own life in a way that they could relate to. Whatever the reason, Poe is well known for his eerie and creative pieces, including The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, and a piece called “The Masque Of The Red Death”. Not only does this story …show more content…
One quote that really stood out at the beginning of the story was “no pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal --the redness and the horror of blood. 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 aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.” Basically, this line was describing the terror, fear, and pain that was often associated with the Red Death. Another quote was “The Prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine.” This quote shows how happy the Prince Prospero wanted the masqueraders to feel, even when they were locked inside his castle and nearing their …show more content…
After going back and analyzing what Poe had written, they might realize the true meaning of the story. They might believe that the story is really about a young Prince Prospero, who wants to save himself and his kingdom before they are all killed by a disease known as the Red Death, by locking them inside a secluded abbey where nothing is supposed to be able to get in. However, at the end of the story, the Red Death manages to prove the Prince wrong, and he shows up at the masquerade ball at midnight and murders the Prince. Poe also did something unique when he gave the Red Death human characteristics. Poe made the disease sound like an actual person who was trying to kill everybody in the kingdom, instead of just a disease. Also, the symbolism Poe used throughout the story, such as the ebony clock and the seven multi-colored rooms, might interest readers because they want to create an answer for what those objects stand for that they believe. Maybe, readers will comprehend the story more, if they go back and re-read, and become diligent about searching for words that they don’t know, and trying to piece together parts of the story that they don’t