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Symbolism In The Red Death

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Symbolism In Red Death

Symbolism has taken form as an object, person, or situation that can represent a different meaning other than its literal meaning. It can be personal, emotional, physical, mental, memorable, or something with significant importance described to the reader. In many works done by Edgar Allen Poe, he expresses symbolism in his writing to let readers think about the things he included in his stories and what they mean. In the following story “Masque of The Red Death,” Poe uses symbolism with the colors of the rooms, the masquerade, the clock, and the red death to express how life leads to death.

In the beginning of the story, Poe writes detailed descriptions about each room where the blue room is farthest to the east, …show more content…

Poe describes: “The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. (…) But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. His gesture was dabbled in blood – his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror.” (433) Therefore, the guest Poe has described represented the Red Death itself. Since at the beginning, Poe has also stated that: “Blood was its avatar and its seal – the redness and the horror of blood. (…) 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 Red Death takes the form of a victim who could have already come into the castle along with the disease and colored signature mark to signify the resemblance of death and disease itself.

So far Poe has used symbolism in "Masque of The Red Death" and showing readers how death comes at the end of every life cycle. Symbolism takes place in many forms like how the red death is the disease in the story, along with the bizarre masquerade, the clock of time, and the color of life. Not only does he describe these things in his story, but also foretells how even the wealthiest richest man such as Prince Prospero, cannot escape or outwit

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Edger Allen Poe is an incredible author of horror. His story, The Masque of the Red Death, was an amazing chiller about a party that was ended by a disease. Throughout the kingdom a disease is spreading from citizen to citizen, killing each one who possesses it so the king invites those closes to him to a party where no one can leave and will be safe from the disease but yet in hindsight they were locking themselves in with the disease. Throughout the course of this hair-raising story, several symbols are represented to array Poe’s theme of death. Symbols such as the seven colored rooms, the clock, and lastly the Red Death are all symbols that are displayed to help get Poe’s notion across.

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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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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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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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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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He continues to describe the “Red Death,” stating that there were “Sharp pains and dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores,” (Poe 3). By describing the disease so vividly, Poe is giving the reader a visual image to magnify the dreaminess of the story. He does this again when describing the attendees of the Masquerade. He describes them, saying, “There were arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments. There were delirious fancies such as the madman fashions.

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