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The Masque Of The Red Death Language Analysis

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Edgar Allan Poe uses figurative language to develop the theme of “The Masque of the Red Death.” He uses figurative language in this short story to give the reader a sense of gloomy feeling. By using personification, simile, metaphors, symbolism, imagery, and many other examples the theme of the short story is revealed to be greatly impacted and developed well. Imagery is a great example of how figurative language develops the theme. Poe uses personification to give a very somber or gloomy tone and make the reader feel very uneasy and scared. An example of imagery would be “The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its avatar and its seal-the redness and the horror of blood.” In this quote Poe is giving the reader an idea of the “Red Death”. The reader can really get a sense of fear or horror from this imagery. This imagery also give the reader a beginning …show more content…

The greatest example of this would be the ebony clock in the final room. “And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay.” The ebony clock in the final room symbolizes the passage of time, which perfectly develops the theme of “The Masque of the Red Death.” Not only is death inevitable but so is the passage of time, death and time go hand and hand. This is also very noticeable due to the fact the clock is put in the last room, which is meant to represent the final stage in a human's life cycle otherwise known as death. In conclusion Edgar Allan Poe used figurative language in this story very well. He managed to use it not only to give the story a gloomy or scary feeling to it but to develop a very meaningful theme. A theme in which is very powerful and impactful, death is inevitable. No matter how much the prince tried to run and lock himself away from the red death he simply could not escape

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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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713 Words | 3 Pages

All writings, whether fictional or nonfictional, have a purpose. Whether it’s an argument or a theme, the author is trying to convey something. The use of rhetorical devices can help express the author’s point. Then “The Masque of the Red Death,” a gothic short story by Edgar Allan Poe, symbolism and allusion are used to express the theme that death is inevitable. Unlike most, “The Masque of the Red Death” is jampacked with symbolism, the two most prominent being that of the seven rooms and the large ebony clock.

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706 Words | 3 Pages

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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819 Words | 4 Pages

Poe is often known for his dark, sometimes twisted short stories and poems. “The Masque of the Red Death” is no exception. In this short story, Poe creates and eerie and ominous mood by using a wide variety of literary techniques including imagery, diction, and syntax. Poe’s use of imagery contributes to the dark and mysterious mood of the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death.” In the first paragraph, a sense of darkness is conveyed in the sentence, “There was no light of any kind emanating from lamp or candle within the suite of chambers.”

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695 Words | 3 Pages

Poe wrote in the “Masque of the Red Death,” “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,” (Poe 1). It goes to show to what length people will go to survive. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor's cellar represented the embodiment of death

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1036 Words | 5 Pages

Poe’s use of foreshadowing, characterization, and symbolism develops the theme of inevitability of death to illustrate that regardless of

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374 Words | 2 Pages

In Beowulf, there is a couple of good examples of imagery. Whether it is in the battles that Beowulf goes through, in just the description of scenes, or in his farewell. When he said farewell to his followers in beowulf's last battle before he goes to fight against the dragon in the cave where the dragon was awaken when protecting the treasures. An example of imagery is Beowulf is “I swam/ in the blackness of night, hunting monsters/ out of the ocean, and killing them one/ By one.” In this part of beowulf i imagine the heroic beowulf swimming in darkness fighting with monsters that he hunted out of the ocean killing them each one by one.

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541 Words | 3 Pages

A great example of this would be, when “And then, for a moment, all is still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock,” (392). With each clock ring it symbolized that time is ending and death may be near. The silence is all around due to the guests scared and wondering if they are about to face death as the sound of the clock roars thorough the hallway. Furthermore, the apartments played a great part as well, “These panes here were scarlet – deep blood color” (391). The deep blood color showing the color related to death.

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1394 Words | 6 Pages

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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698 Words | 3 Pages

In Poe’s stories, the main characters experience fear, but they all handle it distinctively. Poe uses irony, symbolism, and imagery to show how fear affects the narrator’s mindset, along with their future.     In “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Masque of Red Death”, the main characters try to isolate themselves from evil, but Poe uses irony to show that death is inevitable.

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1720 Words | 7 Pages

But one of Poe’s stories, The Masque of the Red Death (1842), relies heavily on themes of death, pestilence, human nature, and religion. Through these themes and symbolism, Poe explores the darker side of humanity and the meaning behind life. “The Masque of the Red Death” is a story about Prince Prospero and his kingdom that

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1337 Words | 6 Pages

Imagery allows a reader to imagine the events of a story within their mind through mental images. Imagery can describe how something looks, a sound, a feeling, a taste, or a smell. Imagery is especially important when the author is describing a character or a setting. The short story The Man In The Black Suit by Stephen King has several excellent examples of imagery.

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Death can never be escaped no matter what. In “The Masque of the Red Death” Edgar Allan Poe shows the theme of death, a suspenseful mood, and an ominous tone. Through Poe’s use of literary devices, the reader can discover tone, theme, and mood. Throughout Poe’s life he experienced death with two of his mother’s and his young wife. Death is shown how inevitable it is with Poe’s writing and experiences combined together.

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810 Words | 4 Pages

Despite the belief that one can live forever, death is certain. Edgar Allen Poe wrote his short story, “The Masque of the Red Death” with a greater meaning than simply the Red Death, or plague. He wrote this story, symbolizing the stages of life. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe uses the symbols of the hallway, the rooms, and the braziers, to enhance the allegory, and to show how death is inevitable and one can not spend their life worrying about it.

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918 Words | 4 Pages

The entire short story can be envisioned as a scary dream. Poe sets the tone of the story in the very beginning, stating, “The ‘Red Death’ had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal- the redness and the horror of blood,” (Poe 3). This sets an emphatically dark and horrific tone for the reader, which carries into the plot of the story.

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