Examples Of Suspense In The Masque Of The Red Death

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Suspense is a key factor to the story, “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe. According to the Oxford Dictionary, suspense is the state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen. Poe uses the senses to bring the reader aware of the building suspense. He does this by telling the reader about the ominous setting of all the chambers, especially the seventh chamber. The sound of the grandfather clock, sending sinister shivers throughout the party goers each hour, keeps them on their toes. Finally, the fast-paced chase of the intruder and the Prince build to the suspense at the final moments of the story. The setting gives the reader a sense that terror awaits. This story shows this by talking about the lighting …show more content…

It is funny to the guests seeing their beloved Prince chase around an intruder. The fact that he could not capture him at first made the Prince, “madden with rage and cowardly shame” (452). Adding on to that, the Prince made it more suspenseful because he, “rushed hurriedly through the chambers” (452). At this point, the Prince just wants to catch the guy and make his party, peaceful again. However, “none followed on the account of deadly terror which seized them all” (452). It seems that at some point the guests feel the terror of the intruder more than just a fun game to watch. With this line of information one would be able to make a guess that something bad was coming up. Finally, Prince Prospero caught up to the intruder and he, “bore a drawn dagger and had approached in rapid impetuosity to within three to four feet of the figure” (452). The Prince is angry because he is ruining his party so he decides to attack this intruder once and for all. However when he strikes, the intruder strikes the Prince dead. The guests all finally saw the true terror of the uninvited guest and everyone felt that, “he had come like a thief in the night and one by one dropped the revellers in death” (452). These point to the fact that the game of cat and mouse played by the Prince and the intruder build to the quickening

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