A portion of the best movies ever in a wide assortment of literary genres have been adapted from short tales. In particular, when we look to the classical horror movies adapted from books; it seems that there is a remarkable number of fictitious films that were based on short stories. In order to get a successful adaptation, the filmmaker has to add some cinematic techniques while maintaining the basic theme of the original story. This chapter is a study of one of the classical short story written by Edgar Allan Poe “The Masque of the Red Death” and its adaptation that is directed by the American producer Roger Corman. The chapter started by an overview of the short story and the film adaptation that I deal with, concerning the main theme,
This novel and film commentary analysis or interpretation will be first summarised and then critiqued. The summary will be divided into twenty- four episodes. While summarising it is well to remember that the film was made out of the book.
Edgar Allan Poe was famous for his poems, short stories, motifs, themes, etc. After reading three of his most famous works: “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Raven,” and “The Masque of the Red Death,” I found that the “Masque of the Red Death” was my personal favorite. In this story, Edgar Allan Poe enthralled the reader with his entire concept, symbols, and the way he infused history into the interesting and haunting story.
Authors use various styles to tell their stories in order to appeal to the masses exceptionally well and pass the message across. These messages can be communicated through short stories, novels, poems, songs and other forms of literature. Through The Masque of the Red Death and The Raven, it is incredibly easy to get an understanding of Edgar Allen Poe as an author. Both works describe events that are melodramatic, evil and strange. It is also pertinent to appreciate the fact that strange plots and eerie atmospheres are considerably evident in the author’s writings. This paper compares and contrasts The Masque of the Red Death and The Raven and proves that the fear of uncertainty and death informs Edgar Allen Poe’s writings in the two works
The author, Edgar Allan Poe, using illusion or misdirection keeps the reader is suspense throughout this story called "The Masque of the Red Death". Symbolism such as the colored rooms, the impressive clock, the feeling of celebration being at a party all makes this story feel like a fairytale. Poe used this fairytale style and converts it into a nightmare in disguise.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Masque of the Red Death” Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing. ED. Edgar V Roberts and Robert Zweig. Boston, Longman: 2012. 516-519.
In the short story “ The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allen Poe uses symbolism to express ideas to develop his theme and characters. “ The Masque of the Red Death” tells a story of prince Prospero who locks his friends and himself in a castle to escape the Red Death, a deadly disease. Much to Prospero’s dismay, in the end, the deadly disease causes them to perish. Poe uses the dark room to reveal Prospero’s unusual character and reveal that death is always there and cannot be avoided.
Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, "The Telltale Heart" and "The Masque of the Red Death" are two very different stories. One is about a simple man, perhaps a servant, who narrates the tale of how he kills his wealthy benefactor, and the other is about a prince who turns his back on his country while a plague known as The Red Death ravages his lands. Yet, there are some similarities in both. Time, for instance, and the stroke of midnight, seem to always herald the approach of impending death. Both are killers, one by his own hand, the other by neglecting his country. One seeks peace, the other seeks pleasure, but both are motivated by the selfish need to rid themselves of that which haunts them, even at the expense of another's life. However, the point of this critique will show that their meticulous plans to beat that which torments them are undone by a single flaw in their character - overconfidence.
In the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, by Edgar Allan Poe, Poe always has some sort of symbolism for each main element. He is never straight to the point and typically extends one short sentence into a whole paragraph. Almost everything in this story has a significant meaning such as the title itself, Prince Prospero,the rooms, and the mysterious figure. Not only does this story include all these elements, but it also has a lesson at the end of this which is that it does not matter what type of person one is; one can never escape death.
The complexity of the plot starts when the reader is introduced to a man lost in a cave and his source of light goes out and continues when the man realizes that “starving would prove [his] ultimate fate” (1). Readers get a sense of hopelessness the man is feeling, and this is where the tensions begins to build. Alt...
I see very unique content throughout different parts of the story. The setting of the Masque of The Red Death, involves a wealthy prince I his extremely ostentatious palace, along in his palace are very wealthy nobles and merchants in his ballroom during a dance and cocktail event. There are some of the finest instrument musicians at the dance and cocktail event and a clock that sounds a dreadful sound almost like something you would hear before the apocalypse comes down and a meteorite hits. But that’s beside the point, when the clock rings its dreadful sound at midnight; all dancing stops and the room becomes extremely quiet. All sound stops and there is almost no noise; this is when the Red Death comes out to pounce on his unknowing victims. The tone of the story is very quiet and calm at first then becomes more uneasy when the clock first rings its dreadful sound. But all the uneasiness just gets worse to the maximum as the final ring happens at midnight, when everything and all sound drops and again the Red Death comes out to pounce. The style is almost as if it is a tragedy, which when you think about it is really a tragedy as all people die in the end like a slasher or gore type horror movie minus all the gore in this story Masque of The Red Death. The plot is well written with the story getting more and more unnerving, uneasy and downright scary for
The first technique Poe uses in both stories is symbolism, which aids the reader in understanding the theme. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism to aid the reader in teaching the theme that death is inevitable. While explaining the setting, Poe describes a black room with red windows and then begins
In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allan Poe uses imagery, sensory detail and symbolism not only to build suspense, but also to convey the idea that an individual can not hide or run away from death which becomes closer as time passes on. Throughout the story Poe uses imagery details to create suspense in the story. For example when the author is describing the disease that has taken many lives he describes the unfortunate event as, “ Blood was its Avator and its seal- the redness and the horror of blood. One can understand that in the story the tragic death of someone might occur as tragically as the disease is described. Accordingly, as the story progresses the deep shade of the color red is evident in many areas to represent symbolism.
The Tales of Terror inspired many books and movies based on its combination of genres. The Tales of Terror is a series of movies filmed in 1962 by Roger Corman. The series is most known for the combination of Horror and Comedy used in it, and the use of the work from Edgar Allen Poe. Also, Why did the writers of the movie decide to add comedy to a horror movie? Finally, Many movies and films were inspired by the movie series and the books by Edgar Allen Poe.
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Masque of the Red Death." Selected Tales, New York: Vintage Books,
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Masque of the Red Death.” The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. Hervey Allen. New York: Parkway Printing Company, 1938. 269-73.