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Why Does Edgar Allan Poe Use The Spelling Of The Word 'Masque'

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1. Why does Poe use the spelling of the word “masque” and not “mask” in the title? Poe uses “masque” to let the audience and the guests--who are invited--know that it’s a masquerade party. 2. In the first paragraph, what is an “avatar” and how can blood be an “avatar and seal?” Explain. An avatar is a figure that represents something and seal is a piece of wax. Blood can be an “avatar and seal”, meaning symbolizing people’s destiny. 3. In the 2nd paragraph it says, “Prince Prospero was “dauntless and sagacious.” How is this a contradiction in his character by the end of the story? Well, “dauntless and sagacious” meant he was “fearless and wise”. It’s a contradiction by the end of the story when Prospero came to a realization that he was going to die. …show more content…

Interpret the following line from the setting of the story: “All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death.” What does “without” mean? Explain. The word “without” in this story meant “out of”. The following line meant that the people in the palace are “safe” from the outside world, which was known as dangerous because of the plague that was spreading throughout the land. 7. Discuss the symbolism regarding the number of rooms, the colors of the rooms, and the direction in which the rooms are built. What is the significance in the color of the last room and how does all of this effect Prince Prospero’s perspective about death? In this fictional story, there were 7 rooms and all in different colors; blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. This particular black room, however, scared the guests. Well, everything was black in the room, It had red-colored panes which symbolizes death (red and

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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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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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In life, we often fail to realize that simple objects can symbolize something that is deep, dark and evil. This story uses these simple objects like the black box, the slips of paper, the stones to symbolize brutality and narrow-mindedness. The most

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600 Words | 3 Pages

This message is shown when the phantom kills the prince in the red room. Throughout the story Poe shows examples of how he reveals his hidden message. Edgar Allan Poe gives symbols and hints revealing a clue about what the message could be. The evidence given was the castle and clock that were used as symbols as well as interesting objects that appear before the “Red Death” came to play.

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284 Words | 2 Pages

People can't escape death, or the scary thought of it. In the story, “Red Death”, a symbol to go along with the theme would be the black chamber. First of all, everyone at the masquerade goes in every other room except for the black room. They stay away because of the dark appearance, and the reminder that death is always right around the corner. Another reason is inside the chamber the glass windows are stained red, instead of black to go with the overall theme of the seven rooms.

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495 Words | 2 Pages

In Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe, many symbols are used to justify the overall purpose and meaning of the story. These symbols include the ebony clock, the seven chambers, the scarlet and black room, and the Red Death itself. Each of these symbols help characterize the Prince and his guests, along with foreshadowing the overall outcome of the story. First of all, the seventh chamber and ebony clock not only provide a sense of eeriness, but reveal the underlying personalities and outcomes of the characters. For example, Zapf writes, “In the process of the story, of course, the seventh chamber more and more becomes the center of attention, and with it the clock of ebony which symbolizes the structure of temporality underlying and terminating all human

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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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572 Words | 3 Pages

The wooden planks creaked with each stride. Every door slammed shut as in accordance to the beat of its conductor. Draped curtains flailed uncontrollably atop the windows throughout the house which seemed to shake with every gasp of air. Never before was there any intimation to a presence, a ghostly figure. However, today, it now became clear, that this was not a home for the living, but a resting mansion for the already deceased.

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698 Words | 3 Pages

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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1720 Words | 7 Pages

“As none of the guests, also described as “a multitude of dreams,” are given any specific character traits, they could be interpreted as mere “fantasms” of the Prince's imagination, or imaginary projections of the Prince's psyche”(Milne). Poe’s illustration of the guests projects the false image of humanity and society. Society is another world created by self deception and hypocrisy. The humans that create this community are false beings that try to belong into this world by conforming to society’s standards. Prospero’s society is a representation of his own character: full of ignorance, arrogance,

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776 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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208 Words | 1 Pages

Black is a traditional symbol of death. If you think of each room as representing a different stage of life, then the black clock in the last room has to symbolize death or time left until death. Another symbol was the black chamber. The black chamber has come to represent death. The fact that it is the one room that many of the guests at the ball are reluctant to enter adds some merit to this notion.

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547 Words | 3 Pages

Whereas blue represents birth, purple representing youth, green representing adolescence, orange representing adulthood, white representing old age, violet representing imminent death, and black representing death itself. The chambers are additionally arranged from East to West. East starting with blue and West ending in black. Likewise, the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, it goes from the beginning to end of your life similar to how the sun rises and brings light, then sets and everything becomes dark. Although Prospero can’t escape death,

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1520 Words | 7 Pages

These rooms each represent the many stages of life. they begin with birth and end with death, which as a fitting color of black and red. The deep red color on the windows symbolizes the blood lost when people pass away. The creepy figure represented, in a literal sense, the Red Death that could not be

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918 Words | 4 Pages

The first example of symbolism is the rooms in the abbey. Each room was a different color and line up from east to west. This is a symbol for the progression of life and death. The first room was blue, representing birth, then purple representing youth, green representing adolescence, orange representing adulthood, white symbolizing old age, violet symbolizing imminent death, and black and scarlet symbolizing death itself. This is also a metaphor as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west; it can also be seen as symbolism for the progression of a day.

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