Masque Of The Red Death Symbolism Analysis

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"The True Tarot is Symbolism. It Speaks no other language and offers no other signs." Arthur Waite. Symbolism is an object, action or event that represents something or that creates a range of association beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can represent an idea, clarify a meaning or enlarge a literal meaning. In "Masque of the Red Death", Poe uses symbolism to convey the idea that shutting ourselves in doesn't guarantee protection from the afflictions of the outside world. In "Masque of the Red Death", Poe uses the castle-like abbey to convey multiple ideas. The castle represents refinement, grandeur, wealth, and eloquence. "This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince's own eccentric, …show more content…

It is used to reveal one of the themes, and the primary characters' traits. The castle reveals the prince's ingenuity. "The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, improvisatori, ballet dancers..., there was wine." (Poe,3) This quote illustrates the prince's clever way of disguising the castle's purpose of isolating the residents from the pestilence, as a private getaway. It also reveals the shadowy figure of a narrator as an actual person. The type of language used in the quote " The appliances of pleasure," shows the narrator's exquisite taste in entertainment. The castle reveals that seclusion doesn't guarantee protection from the horrors of the world. "And thus too, it happened, perhaps , that before the last echoes of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence,… to become aware of the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention of no single individual before. "( Poe,7) In another literary analysis, the author best explains this phenomenon as "it disturbs the context and creates a counter movement, a loophole in the text." This further proves that confinement isn't foolproof because the red death still manages to enter this" impregnable