Research Paper On The Masque Of The Red Death

Frankie Huether Ms. Crain English 9 7 March 2024 Hiding From Death Death is one thing no one can avoid. In the short story “The Masque of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe, this idea is written into a story based on the Plague. The wealthy friends of Prince Prospero throw a party in his heavily protected castle to escape the Red Death and mock it while the poor are stuck with it. The party is held in a hall filled with seven rooms, each decorated in a color. However, the Red Death comes to the party and kills everyone there, starting with the prince. To strengthen the allegory of the divide in social classes, Poe expresses even the rich can not escape death through his portrayal of the masquerade, room 7, and the castle. The first symbol used

They are dressed in the form of hideous things like death to show that even if they wear things that resemble death, death will not touch them because of their wealth. Poe describes the costumes as, “...delirious fancies such as the madman fashions. There was much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust” (Poe 3). The use of the words “fancies”, “fashions”, and “beautiful” help show that all of the people invited to the party were wealthy enough to afford nice costumes. These wealthy people wore “terrible” and “disgust”(ing) things to mock the Red Death that is killing so many people. It brings them a false sense of security that they can escape the illness because of their wealth. It shows that even in a tragic time, the rich still show off their wealth with frivolous costumes and parties while the poor must live near the Red Death, but even through this they do not escape. This is why the masquerade helps support the allegory of the divide in social

What he means is the wealthy party people were too scared to be in a room that resembled death. They were not “bold enough to set foot” inside, meaning they were too scared to go near it. This shows that wealthy people are just as scared of death and they think that if they stay away from the things that die or things that resemble it, they will be safe. Despite this, they still all end up dying because even the rich cannot escape death. It can also be shown as a symbol to show that the wealthy people have it easier and they can easily avoid things better than those in lower social classes who have to be around things like the Red Death. So, the symbol of Room 7 helps show the division in social classes. The last symbol used to show the allegory of the division in social classes is the castle. The castle is meant to represent all of the things wealthy people have access to that the lower classes do not. The Prince has access to a place where he can seclude his friends and himself from the Red Death. Poe describes this in his writing, “With these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys” (Poe