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The Masque Of The Red Death Summary

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After reading the article, “Ebola-Poe: A Modern-Day Parallel of the Red Death?" by Setu K.Vora and Sundaram V. Ramanan, I believe that the deadly disease described in "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe, also known as the "Red Death", resembles the symptoms of Tuberculosis more closely than the symptoms of hemorrhagic fevers. Poe describes the symptoms of the "Red Death" by stating that "Blood was its avatar and seal-the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution." According to the article, by Poe stating that "The 'Red Death' had long devastated the country," it is implied that this disease is one that is "epidemic, ongoing or reemerging." …show more content…

The article then goes on to give a list of other diseases that may truly be the "Red Death". One disease listed is known as yellow fever. The disease killed somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 people in the United States from 1693 and 1905 according to the article. The areas that Poe resided in were affected by this disease until 1822. However, Poe wrote "The Masque of the Red Death" in 1841 and Poe said the disease was one that highly affected the population. By the time Poe wrote the work, the disease was no longer relevant. In addition, the article goes on to state that "Poe's red death, however, has a much higher death rate and communicability" meaning that Yellow Fever cannot be the disease that the "Red Death" represents. Another statement made by the passage is that "Poe's description of the red death is in line with the clinical features of filovirus hemorrhagic fevers, which include Ebola and Marburg." However, the authors then go on to state that "However, writing in 1840, Poe could not have known about Ebola or

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There actually was a yellow fever outbreak that hit Philadelphia in 1793. It was one of the worst epidemics in US history. In almost three months it killed nearly 10% of the city’s population, which is around 5,000 people. Many had fled the city even Congressman as mentioned in the book, along with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Since medicine wasn’t very developed at the time many doctors did drain blood from patients, trying to get rid of the “pestilence”.

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The American-French Doctors in Philadelphia, 1793, tried to treat yellow fever. Foreign ships brought the deadly infected mosquitoes to America. People got this disease by blood to blood contact, which is when an infected mosquito bites someone, and then bites another. Now, because of this blood to blood contact, over 4000 people died. So now, let 's get to the facts.

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In 1793 a fever infected Philadelphia that killed 10% of its population. The book Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson is a historical fiction from a young girl named Matilda’s perspective. The book is about her experience dealing with the Yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. She learned many lessons and one of them was that fear can control you. Some of the reasons fear can control you is how it can make you leave what you know, it can make you turn on people, and it can make you vulnerable.

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In the story, it states: “The sun wasn’t made of fire, it was a monstrous snowball. My teeth clattered together,. What was wrong with me?” and, “My sheets and shift were soaked through with sweat, blood, and the foul-smelling black substance that marked a victim of yellow fever.” (p94, 98) Of course, the various situations Mattie gets in to advance the plot are caused by yellow fever, whether that be her and her family getting sick or her grandfather dying.

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Over 5,000 people died of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. In the book Fever 1973 by Laurie Halse Anderson, Mattie’s family suffered from the Yellow Fever Epidemic. Many people died because of it but unfortunately some still didn’t believe that it was the Fever. Some even had the symptoms but blew it off saying they were just tired. Some blamed it on the heat, others on the Domingan Refugees.

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I know this because an article says,”The disease gets its name from the jaundiced eyes and skin of the victims. Other symptoms include fever, headache, and "black vomit" caused by bleeding into the stomach.” (History Resources). This impacts Philadelphia because of how many deaths, pain and also the sickness being sort of unknown which made the illness very confusing, and very dangerous to everyone because at first they had no cure. Dr. Currie, a pretty well known doctor that was in Philadelphia in 1793, had thought that the cause of the disease was a foul smell that was coming from the docs, and thought that the disease was not Yellow Fever.

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‘Fever 1793’ Yellow Fever, one of the most deadliest diseases in the world. It’s already enough for them to go through; but can you imagine suffering from it? Their emotional state of mind is the least of our worries, but then again; should we worry? The author uses this deadly disease to develop the character traits of the citizens that live in this horrified town. They had many reasons for acting the way they did.

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One being the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, was the deadliest disease in 1346-1353. However, there were a few outbreaks since then. This disease had spread across Europe. The symptoms of the bubonic plague were quite severe. People suffering from this disease, “died quickly-sometimes overnight-and in great agony, coughing up blood and oozing pus and blood from ugly black sores the size of eggs” (Tignor 407).

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Same Technique, Different Purpose Descriptive scenery or imagery is used throughout literature for a variety of purposes. It can be used to paint a mental picture of the setting, to portray symbols, or even to relay themes. The authors Ambrose Bierce and Edgar Allan Poe exemplify the use of the same technique, descriptive scenery, to deliver different purposes. In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce and The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe both use imagery in order to characterize characters and foreshadow events.

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Whitney Lovel Mr. Higgerson World History April 23, 2024 The Black Death “[The Black Death] wrought such havoc among the populations that it earned...notoriety as the greatest-ever demographic disaster. Because it was far more mortal and terrible than anything people had heard or read about...” (Part 1, Chapter 1, Page 3). The Black Death was a very destructive pandemic that was worldwide.

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The American Plague, otherwise known as Yellow Fever, struck Memphis hard in 1878. Rich or poor, mothers or children, Yellow Fever showed no discrimination. It struck like a ghost in the night, unseen and unnoticed till the symptoms arrived. The virus in Contagion was similar to Yellow Fever; it caused mass destruction and panic. Neither disease showed mercy.

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The Black Plague struck Europe in the 14th century and spread rapidly, destroying families and towns (“Black Death”). To become infected, it only took some contaminated bodily fluid and the infected would die within a few short days. In today’s world, the Plague is easily treatable with common antibiotics. However, that was not the case back then and this changed people’s lives and outlooks on society. Different groups of people within a culture responded to death in different ways, that culture’s writing reflects this.

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This novel “Fever 1794” gave me the knowledge of the different perspectives of Philadelphia during the yellow fever outbreak. “Fever 1793” is a novel about a girl named Matilda and how she had to go through the deadly, depressing and horrible yellow fever outbreak, which affected her life in many different areas. Yellow fever was a disease that spread across Philadelphia in the late 1790s it was a deadly disease at that time because people didn't know the exact cause and the exact way to cure people who were diagnosed with it. For instance, Dr.Benjamin Rush who was a famous doctor at the time thought bleeding people by cutting a part on their arm so the bad infected blood would come out, many people thought that getting bled would cure them,

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I agree that both “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe can be described as short stories that value symbol over plot. Poe uses various symbols to disclose information or details to the reader, while also leaving components of the story open to interpretation. This symbolism tells its own story within the overall plot, rather than it being explained clearly by the author, cleverly adding to the interest of the read. This effective allegory allows the reader to question their literal understanding of the story, once faced with the deeper philosophical ideas. This means that in the case of these two short stories, symbols are valued over plot.

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The simile Poe uses is by comparing the red death to a thief. The figurative language of personification and simile of the red death contribute to the tone of the story. The red death is described as, “ He had come like a thief in the night” (Poe 3). This contributes to the tone because Poe gives the story a more ominous sense by giving the red death human characteristics of a thief as well as comparing the red death to a thief that steals.

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