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What Is The Allegory In The Masque Of The Red Death

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Running and hiding will only get you so far, the inevitable finds everyone eventually. The short story called “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe is a short story in which there was a Price and in order to try and escape a going around plaque, known as the red death, he takes a group of people to a “safe” place where the sickness cannot find them. After a while, without the plaque finding or entering Prince Proserpros’ abbey they decide to throw a party, which would later be a huge mistake. For decoration, the Prince decides that each room will be a different color with different furniture. Throughout the night someone shows up at the party dressed as a red death victim, and when Prince Prospero goes to confront this strange person, …show more content…

Insanity can be seen through many different lenses. Furthermore, this lens shows the fear of escaping death’s arms. Prince Prospero would constantly be worrying and running from his destiny. Poe writes, “...that Prince Prospero, maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice…”(Poe 87). To help bring to light what Prince Prospero truly represents, Poe writes in a distinguished way disguising him as a person who is hiding from the Red Death when in reality he is insanity trying to run away from death itself. The Prince had very interesting taste in decorations. While designing the different rooms he used many colors and had barbaric furniture for his designs. This further shows that he was very mentally unstable and thus not connecting with his …show more content…

The Masquerade party was showing people how easy it is to hide one’s identity. Poe Communicates the importance of the Masquerade party by “... Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence”(Poe 82). Because no one was wearing a mask there was a feeling of fear and timidness among the people at the party for no one knew who anyone was. Not knowing the identities of the guests, they would describe their emotions or opinions with the color of their masks. Also, with masks on they could tell who might have been sick or who was fully healthy. Overall the Masquerade party was to give the people a chance to also try and escape

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His scaredness for his own life, “ But the mummer had 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.” (Poe 5) The mask behind the Red Death had been shown reality through the blood and the features of the face that had been shown. He had been shown the horror that had been abrupt.

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But the prince prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious”. By not caring about the people of his country, the prince proves that he is a self-serving leader. It

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