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How Does Death Symbolize In The Masque Of The Red Death

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In the story “The masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allen Poe uses symbols to contribute important information about the characters and theme of the work. In the story a plague enters the land of care-free members. The main character, Prince Prospero, is hiding from the deadly disease in the abbey along with his many guests. Unfortunately, the plague sweeps the prince and his guests and everyone secumbs. Poe uses the color scheme of the rooms to represent Prince Prospero’s demeanor to reveal the idea that death cannot be bypassed. Initially, in “The Masque of the Red Death,” Poe correlates the significance of the chambers to Prospero’s attitude towards death. In the middle of the story as the plague enters into the eastern blue chamber Poe writes, “They rang throughout the seven rooms loudly and clearly- for the prince was a bold and robust man, and the music had become hushed at the waving of his hand” (451). Prince Prospero immediately hushed the noise in the room as he saw the unusual figure enter the ballroom doors. The pague is so scarce that the second the figure is identified the prince is quick to act against it. Poe writes the previous piece of …show more content…

Amongst all of the chaos Poe writes, “There was a sharp cry- and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterward, fell prostrate in death the prince Prospero” (9). This piece of the story is written to show the heavily impact that the deadly plague had on the guests as well as the prince. Even though the prince planned his escape, there was absolutely no way of getting away from the disease. As Prince Prospero enters the black room, which symbolizes death, he is instantly inundated by the plague. Poe continuously uses the color scheme to imply that no matter where you go there is no way around death, even if you have a high status as the prince

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683 Words | 3 Pages

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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57 Words | 1 Pages

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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(Caldwell), although it may not be evident at first, the decorated rooms represent much more than just a show of wealth and luxury. Another example of subtle symbolism is ”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), in this quote it is clear from the reactions of the prince’s guests that the clock represents much more than just a timepiece. Although it may not be evident at first, “The Masque of the Red Death” is riddled with symbols that come in many different

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706 Words | 3 Pages

This story of death works out, because Edgar Allen Poe gives good use to author’s craft. Edgar Allen Poe uses imagery, symbolism, and setting to create an effective story. In the “Masque of the Red Death” Poe uses description to give imagery.

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1290 Words | 6 Pages

In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Poe describes the nasty symptoms of Ebola. Poe says, “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.” The description of the pain and fatality of this disease makes the reader wince by just imagining the agony of the afflicted. Moreover, Poe pens the violent acts people inflict on each other.

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399 Words | 2 Pages

Beginning with diction: To put it plainly, diction is the overall word choice the author chooses to use within their story to provide a variety of meanings, set particular tones, etc. Edgar Allen Poe’s complex diction further heightens the eerie atmosphere and foreboding suspense that frequently lingers within his iconic Gothic short stories, and are all the more present within Masque of the Red Death. It’s evident that Poe pays attention to connotation and meticulously chooses words that best convey the unsettling imagery that he’s going for, as shown when the narrator was describing the 7th room, “But in the western or black chamber the effect of the firelight that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in

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735 Words | 3 Pages

Poe sets a dark tone in the beginning of “The Man of the Crowd” when he talks about people and their secrets. “There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told. Men die nightly in their beds, wringing the hands of ghostly confessors and looking the piteously in the eyes—die with despair of heart and convulsion of the throat, on account of the hideousness of mysteries which will not suffer themselves to be revealed.” This is similar to the uneasy, dark mood in “The Masque of the Red Death.” Poe describes a normal night in Prince Prospero’s castle, he shows this dark feeling though the way the guests act.

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695 Words | 3 Pages

Poe wrote in the “Masque of the Red Death,” “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,” (Poe 1). It goes to show to what length people will go to survive. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor's cellar represented the embodiment of death

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In “The Masque of Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism and powerful symbolism to describe the figure that enters Prince Prospero’s safehaven. A clear example of this is when Poe describes the figure as “tall and gaunt” (Poe 124). When taken literally, Poe perfectly describes the physical form of the figure. Readers are able to visualize how intimidating the mere outline of the figure is to those in his presence.

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To explain, Zapf writes, “In a parodistic reversal of the Biblical Act of Creation, the seven differently colored rooms, which are arranged from East to West, and in which the masque takes place, are composed in the form of a symbolic teleology of human life which leads from the color blue to the color black, from light to darkness, from creation to destruction.” Zapf realizes that the order and rooms represent human life itself. From rooms blue to black, light to dark, creation to death; this is the course of human life and the outcome of the people at the party. From carefree partiers to dead in the night, the perpetual tick of the clock to the stroke of the hour, rooms light to dark, blue to black, creation to death— each of these things are different yet one in the same. Poe puts the clock and the seven chambers in the story to disseminate piece by piece the overall purpose and theme.

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The authors’ use of strong imagery invokes strong emotions that give the audience a personal connection to the characters and events. In the “The Masque of the Red Death”, the theme is mortality. Poe shows how people are vulnerable to death, even after taking every possible precaution. Poe writes, “The mask ... was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse ... gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood - and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror” (6).

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698 Words | 3 Pages

In “The Masque of Red Death”, the author includes 7 rooms, one being black, which is where the Prince locks himself in: “There were seven-an imperial suite… The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls…” (pg. 58). The seventh rooms shows how death is always there and always will be. The Prince fears that he’s going to be contaminated, so he does everything in his power to avoid death. The Prince creates an obsession over escaping death, what he doesn’t know is that death has always been there and always

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1644 Words | 7 Pages

In “The Masque of the Red Death” Poe creates strong images of various decorative rooms which have been designed to go from east to west. This is no coincidence, as the rooms seem to imitate the course of the sun from daytime to nighttime, or even the course of human life- birth to death. The first room, coated in the colour blue, represents the freedom and tranquility felt by the guests in the castle. In contrast, the final room, coated in the colour black symbolises the fear and despair felt by the guests in relation to death and its inevitability.

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855 Words | 4 Pages

Though Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories like, The Cask of Amontillado, to his poems like, The Raven, Poe’s shows his writing style to use physical imagery and connotative syntax to show ,imagery in his writing. Throughout his life, Poe had always lived through the most chaotic and evil of time. His parents died while he was 3 years old. After his parents died, he lived with another family member who never accepted him as their own son. Later on in life, Poe had served in the military and at that point he started writing poems.

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918 Words | 4 Pages

As Prince Prospero and the masked guest go from room to room, they are symbolizing the progression of life from birth to death. This is an important symbol in the story because it emphasizes the theme of inescapable death. The next example is the Black Clock in the black room. This symbolizes the span of life. In the story, the clock struck midnight and the Prince’s time was up, symbolizing his life being over.

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