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Symbols In The Masque Of Red Death

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While reading the short story “Masque of Red Death,” many themes can be found. However the predominant theme is that you cannot escape from death. Other themes such as insanity, fear, and mortality all connect back to that one theme. It is a true universal theme, that can not only be found in most of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, but also in other forms of creativity such as poetry or music. The theme of the inevitability of death can be supported with several symbols scattered in “The Masque of Red Death.” The story as a whole is an allegory, having double meanings in the plot --- in the literal and symbolic elements. The rooms in Prince Prospero’s house were seen as unique and peculiar by his guests, with odd turns and interesting designs.”Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence” (Poe …show more content…

This was due to “the duke’s love of the bizarre. The apartments were so irregularly disposed that the vision embraced but little more than one at a time” *(Poe 4). Everyone steadily avoids the last room in fear of the ‘vibe’ in the black room. Eventually the prince chases the cloaked ‘man’ into the alleyway and dies immediately. The guests follow him and meet the same fate. “And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall” (Poe 10). This immediate death inside of the black room shows the inevitability of death, no matter how they tried to ignore the plague. The huge black clock in the room that marks each and every passing hour so loudly that all of the guests at the party take note of it, it seems fairly obvious that the clock is a symbolism of the fleetingness of life and the inevitability of death. You

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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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Poe builds suspense in "The Masque of the Red Death" by using foreshadowing to hint at the tragic end that awaits the characters. For example, the description of the Red Death as a "pestilence" that is "fatal" and "hideous" foreshadows the eventual death of the guests. In addition, the description of the last room is completely covered in black decorations with red-colored windows foreshadowing the tragic end that awaits the guests. The use of the color red and the imagery of blood thoughts the story also serves as foreshadowing for the tragic end. The ending of the story, in which the figure disguised as the Red Death causes the death of the guests, including the prince, is both shocking and inevitable.

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The meaning of these symbols are not always crystal clear but there are general meanings that most readers can agree on. For example, the quote from the last paragraph ”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), the ticking clock is a constant reminder of the inevitability of death and the constant approach towards it.

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In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Masque of the Red Death,” the author strategically incorporates an ebony clock as a symbol to prove a strong idea. In this short story, there is a terrible plague going around that is taking an abundant amount of lives. Prince Prospero and his guests seclude themselves inside his castle and throw a party; However, an uninvited guest will soon show up and crash their masquerade. Poe uses the ebony clock to illustrate that death cannot be eluded. Initially, Poe introduces the ebony clock as very dark and mysterious, much like himself.

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