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Essay On Symbolism In The Red Death

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Poe relies upon symbolism in order to portray the ebony clock as a symbol of death and mortality. The clock represents the ticking away from life, from the moment we are brought into this world. The clock makes a peculiar chime and immediately everyone stops everything they are doing and the orchestra stops playing and Poe states that, “... it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their bows.” (Poe 5). The chiming of the clock expresses fear, which reminds the congregation that they are an hour closer to ultimate expiry. Poe uses the clock as an instrument of time and the partygoers gather in the mansion to escape from reality and the terrifying times that they are living in. To deny morality “Prospero and his guests immure themselves safely within a world of art…” (Dudley). Prospero and his revelers try to not think about the negative by surroundings themselves around more …show more content…

Prospero thinks he can conquer the “Red Death” but the outcome is a failure. When Prospero “gets killed” everyone “... summons the wild courage of despair… seizing the mummer.” (Poe 10). Everyone strikes at the masked figure due to the killing of the prince only for the result to lead in death from everyone in the mansion. The plague is symbolic of all death and morality of all humans even “Prospero” whose name is ironic and also a contradiction. “Prince Prospero and a thousand knights and dames to seek to secure themselves against the Red Death by relocating themselves in a “new” place…” (Roth). Prince Prospero and his knights attempts to escape the Red Death only to come to the realization that you can’t refrain from death or reality. The Red Death doesn’t only symbolize death but also Tuberculosis. This disease affected 3 women Poe's’ life whom he loved dearly. It is referred to as the Red Death because people with this disease coughed up tons of

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To begin, the seven rooms at the gathering were all a significant part of the story, but more so the blue and black room. Based on the text it states, “…in blue-and vividly blue were in its window” (Poe, 421). The text also states, “The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all

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The Masque of the Red Death has a lot of symbolism that has to do with the circle of life- such as the different colors of the seven rooms each meaning one stage of life. The stages of life obviously have relations to death, possibly even being centered around it. The thought is just so artistically

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In the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe, the author uses the rhetorical device of symbolism. In this allegorical piece Edgar uses symbolism to explore his central idea more thoroughly. The central idea is that no matter what the characters did or where they went, they couldn't escape death as death is inevitable. Throughout the story the masqueraders were living life to the fullest, but then they were quickly reminded that morality cannot be avoided. Poe uses symbolism with the seventh chamber, the ebony clock, and the masked figure to expand on the theme of death.

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The meaning of these symbols are not always crystal clear but there are general meanings that most readers can agree on. For example, the quote from the last paragraph ”It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony . . . while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale.” (Poe), the ticking clock is a constant reminder of the inevitability of death and the constant approach towards it.

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On the other hand, even though Prince Prospero tried his best to escape the horrible reality of the plague, in the end he died because of it. He failed to realize that the Read Death had entered his castle in the form of the masked figure. The masked figure clearly represented Death. The figure was “tall and gaunt,” wore “habiliments of the grave,” and had the “countenance of a stiffened corpse.” The “black velvet room” also hinted the presence of a mystery figure that would bring nothing but misfortune.

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An example of this imagery the Poe uses is the ebony clock chiming and making the people in the entertainment room go silent in fear. “…. while the chimes of the clock yet rung, it observed that the giddiest grew pale, and more aged and sedate passed their hands

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No one can defeat Death There once was a young woman, who strived to be immortal, this caused her to bind herself away from the world for years. She decided one day that she had conquered death by changing her fate and goes to venture the town where she met a strange man, who insults her, filled with anger she decides to go after him where she faces death. A very similar situation is portrayed in “The Masque of the Red Death” with the character Prince Prospero, who believes that he has changed his fate by locking himself in his palace for years but this doesn’t end well for him as he faces death in his own home. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, written by Edgar Allen Poe, irony and symbolism to is used prove that death is inevitable.

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The main character in the story Prince Prospero seems to be unaffected by the disease. As he notices the number of deaths increasing he decides to take all the nobles in the land and decides to bunker down in his castle which he designed himself. He decides to spend the whole time partying and ignore the disease that is going on outside. The way that Poe would describe this party is “a gay and magnificent revel” in which “the prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. ” The Prince did not want to think about the situation going on outside and decided to enjoy all the wealth he had with his men, creating an illusion of a fun, enjoyable

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In both stories, the shadow self of the characters are demonstrated as the human desire to conquer death. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, the rejection and denial of demise was a part of Prospero’s shadow self due to which his will to live rejected the consequences of death. Prospero says, “Who dares? He demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him- “ who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him- that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, from the battlements!”

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The timepiece chimes as a prompting of doom, that time will continue passing with the inability to slow an occurrence. As the festivities continue there is the consistent acknowledgment of “a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused reverie or meditation”(Poe 84-85). The chiming of the clock enacts a pause of the courtiers activity because of the prompting concern about the time they have left. This is significant of the inescapable symptoms of tuberculosis and its effect during the Black Plague. These symptoms would present the unnerving feelings of death creeping slowly as the disease itself would slowly kill you, similarly to the slow chimes of the hours passing emerging from the clock.

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Death can never be escaped no matter what. In “The Masque of the Red Death” Edgar Allan Poe shows the theme of death, a suspenseful mood, and an ominous tone. Through Poe’s use of literary devices, the reader can discover tone, theme, and mood. Throughout Poe’s life he experienced death with two of his mother’s and his young wife. Death is shown how inevitable it is with Poe’s writing and experiences combined together.

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In this dingy room stood a huge clock of ebony. The sound of the clock was extremely loud when it would ring every hour. It would distract everyone at the gathering and would silence all the guests. This clock symbolizes a reminder of death, which proves Prospero, who believes death is escapable, wrong. Nobody could stop the clock from making this loud noise, and they were horrified when it would pass an hour.

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The overall allegory of these rooms symbolizes the individual stages of life a person goes through. The rooms were “so irregularly disposed that the vision embraced but little more than one at a time” (Poe 83). People live life not knowing what is behind the next door, leaving the inside unknown until one reaches that particular stage in their life. When “death” arrives at the prince's party, “he makes his way uninterruptedly, but with the same solemn and measured step which had distinguished him from the first,” (Poe 87) through every chamber. The details in life are unpredictable, but for the most part, everyone goes through the same general stages.

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Demi Pyle February 20, 2018 English 1302 Looking Closer at “The Masque of The Red Death” In the grim short story written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1842, “The Masque of the Red Death” tells the tale of a kingdom ravaged with disease and a prince’s journey to escape death. Poe hides underlying messages throughout the story, leaving the reader to interpret the true meaning of prosperity and death. Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism and imagery in the form of an allegory to reveal to the reader that death is inescapable, no matter how wealthy you are.

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The clock is very loud, it was black it was also in the rooms on the end of the house. The clock can symbolize time going by that’s true and each day you’re getting close to death. As you can see no one is everything to live forever.

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