Even the most privileged and wealthy can not escape from tragic reality. This is exactly what Edgar Allan Poe shows in his short story “Masque of the Red Death”. The story takes place during a massive plague that the Prince Prospero and his Courtiers are deeply afraid of. In response to their fear they decide that the best way to get rid of the plague is to ignore it and pretend it is not there. It does not work out. Poe conveys the theme no one, no matter their resources can escape reality, especially when just shrouding themselves in luxury with the use of an ebony clock, a masquerade, and a stranger. Along with the theme he also teaches a lesson on social classes and the faults within them as well.
Throughout the story “The Masque of the Red Death” Poe uses an ebony clock to symbolize with a ringing of impending doom to symbolize how the Courtiers knowingly left the world for its death
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At the end of the story, after the chiming of the midnight bells, everything comes into focus and the Courtiers are put back into life. Poe describes “The whole company indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor properly existed” (Poe 86). The party finally became aware that the Red Death was looming upon them and that things will never just go away. Poe also describes that “the figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave” (Poe 87). The masked figure symbolism Red Death itself and misfortune in general. The juxtaposition of the grave masked figure being put into the luxurious masquerade contrasts and shows the ridiculous and great measures that the wealthy will take to prevent misfortune before it happens. In the allegory the masked figure represents how the wealthy try to avoid these problems while the less fortunate have nothing but to deal with