Hiding from Problems in Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death

914 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Poe's masque of the red death essay

Hiding from Problems
Many people try and hide from their problems because they are scared about what would happen if they confront it. That is probably how Prince Prospero felt, scared and confused, which is why he held the masquerade. People try to do certain things to take their mind off the event they want to forget. They do something that they are good at or something that they like to do. The Prince is probably good at spending money because he would have to had to spend a lot of it considering all the things he put up. He tried to put up protections, so he could try to lock out the problem. He also tried to add a lot of decorations and colors to try to forget his problem. He probably created the black/red room because his sub-conscience knew his problem was going to come back. In the “Masque of the Red Death,” the Red Death entering the castle symbolizes that the Prince cannot hide from his problems.

The Prince tries to put up a wall and adds extra precautions to the palace to forget about the Red Death. He doesn’t realize that the Red Death can get in no matter how much protection he puts up. One of the things that the Prince does is he puts up a giant wall to try and keep the Red Death. Poe describes the wall to be, “A lofty strong wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron… [Courtiers] welded the bolts” (Poe 261). He acts like the sickness is a person and he can keep it out with regular protection, when it is not. A sickness, especially as bad as this one, can get into a building through other entry ways, like through the air or through water. If the sickness were to get in through the air entry ways, then it would spread quite fast throughout the building and to the people. Since the sickness spreads so fas...

... middle of paper ...

...rget about the death. He acts like everyone else in today’s world, when people are faced with a problem that they do not want to face, like problems with their family or problems with their mean people. They would do something that they are good at to get rid of it or ignore it. This would only keep the problem escalating and it would stay there because no one did anything about it. This story is a good example of when people ignore and hide from their problems, they will come back to haunt them and end up being worse.

Works Cited
Poe, Edgar A. “The Masque of the Red Death.” The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. Benjamin F. Fisher. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2004. 4 -4 . Print
Zimmerman, Brett A. "The Puzzle of the Color Symbolism in "The Masque of the Red Death":
Solved at Last?" The Edgar Allan Poe Review 10.3 (2009): 60-73. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Edgar Allan Poe's Use of Suspense and Symbolism in The Masque of the Red Death

    622 Words  | 2 Pages

    Suspense is the feeling of uncertainty or excitement, in waiting for an outcome or decision. Edgar Allan Poe uses suspense in his story “Masque of the Red Death” by using objects and great descriptive detail. Poe’s story is about a prince that tries to escape from the inevitable. He tries to lock himself away from the ‘red death’ and has a masquerade ball that doesn’t end happily. Prince and all of his guests die inside or around the seventh apartment room. The seventh room is preceded by six colored rooms which are meant to symbolize either the stages of life, or the seven sins. Inside the last room there are black velvet tapestries that hang all over the ceiling and down the walls. The window panes are a deep blood red color which gives the room an unwelcoming atmosphere. On the western wall, there is a gigantic clock of a deep black wood. Inside it has a pendulum that swings back and forth with a dull monotonous clang. When the minute hand marks a new hour, there is a clear, loud, deep sound, which can be heard from far away. Although it can give off an eerie feeling, the great eb...

    Read More

  • Juxtaposing the Most Similar Contradiction in Edgar Allan Poe's Work

    2073 Words  | 5 Pages

    Sova, Dawn B. "Masque of the Red Death." Critical Companion to Edgar Allan Poe: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File, 2007. 109-13. Print.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Masque Of The Red Death And The Raven

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Masque (Mask) of the Red D, William Wilson, Tale of the Ragged Mountains, and House of Ush

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Masque of the Red Death." The American Tradition in Literature. Ed. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. 9th ed. vol. 1. New York: McGraw, 1998.

    Read More

  • The Masque of the Red Death: Symbolism

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    The characters in “The Mask of the Red Death” include Prince Prospero (who is the only person that speaks in the story), a multitude (a thousand) of the Prince’s wealthy friends, and the masked figure, which doesn’t appear until the end of the story. Prince Prospero’s name signifies happiness and good-fortune. Ironically, this is not the tone of the story. The prince is an unusual man with strange tastes. “His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric luster". After half of his dominions were killed by the disease is...

    Read More

  • Symbolism in The Masque of the Red Death

    1690 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...Plessis, Eric H. du. “Deliberate Chaos: Poe’s Use of Colors in ‘The Masque of the Red Death’.” Poe Studies/Dark Romanticism 34.1-2 (June-December 2001): p40-42. Literature Resource Center. Web. 8 April 2012.

    Read More

  • What Does The Dark Room Symbolize In The Masque Of The Red Death

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • What Does The Castle Symbolize In The Masque Of The Red Death

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    The castle is a safe hold from the world that high up people go to for protection. When the Red Death kills half of Prince Prospero's dominions, he takes his rich friends, and seals themselves away from the world in his castle. Poe writes, “When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light hearted from among the knights, and dames of his court, and with these retired the the deep seclusions of one of his castellated alleys”(Poe 82) The castle

    Read More

  • Setting and Organization in Poe's The Masque (Mask) of the Red Death

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...agraph, the author mentions that the disease had come "like a thief in the night," but this statement is entirely untrue. Poe wrote a cohesive story which acknowledges the fear of trapping oneself in a doomed situation. Ironically, the very place the Prospero built to keep himself safe led to his hideous destruction. However, the audience was never permitted to believe that the prince would escape death, because even Poe's choice of environments reflect the triumph of the plague; the isolation and quarantine of the abbey, the fever and delirium of the masquerade, and finally the progression of time and eventual death. The clock strikes midnight, and with its shadowy expiration, "the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all," (213).

    Read More

  • The Masque Of The Red Death Figurative Language

    496 Words  | 1 Pages

    The level that the conflict is on plays a big role, bringing together two characters emotions to. Inner and outer conflicts within the Prince, and the Red Death assist in analyzing the theme of death and madness. Prince Prospero’s main conflict is with death itself. The madness of never knowing when death will come for him. The point of view in the story helps the reader to know what a specific character is thinking. Gale states, “Poe carefully chooses his words to paint a picture of unrelieved fear, suspense, and dread.” Poe’s as a special way of writing and using techniques correctly is why this story a is the reason why thousands of people still read it

    Read More

  • Masque Of The Red Death Essay

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story, “Masque of the Red Death” it covers six months during the Red Death.It takes place in a castle which has seven different colored rooms.In the beginning of the story it describes the main character prince Prospero as happy,fearless and wise. Towards the end of the story a new guest appears to the party and everyone is scared and Prospero goes from being happy to mad and in the end the new guest kills Prospero and everyone dies because he was the Red Death. The message in this analogy ,”The Masque of the Red Death “ by Poe is life passes by so quick that you don't realize what's going on until it's your time to die.

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of American Individualism: What Is the Ideal American Citizen?

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Masque of the Red Death." The Language of Literature. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2006. 455-61. Print.

    Read More

  • The Masque Of The Red Death Analysis

    1932 Words  | 4 Pages

    Each line, every detail seems to tie into a deeper meaning that carries the reader throughout the story alongside the narrator and partygoers, all the while laden with hints and deeper meanings that progress rapidly toward the awaiting “horror” of death. With the introduction of the story alone, Poe has already set the stage with the background on the horrifying “pestilence” and its effects on the human body. By aptly naming it the “Red Death,” Poe is already conjuring images of the gruesome, painful deaths of history’s great plagues, particularly the black death which nearly shares its name, as well “the redness and the horror of blood” (Poe 438). It is here that the story takes a turn with the introduction of Prince Prospero himself, momentarily placing thoughts of the Red Death on the

    Read More

  • Setting in The Masque of the Red Death

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Masque of the Red Death.” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Ira Milne. Vol. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2000. 232-260. Short Stories for Students. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.

    Read More

  • Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death and "The Telltale Heart"

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Hiding from Problems in Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death

Open Document