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Essay on the masque of the red death by poe
Literary devices in masque of the red death
Literary analysis of the masque of red death
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The Masque of the Red Death Prince Prospero was foolish to think he could escape the threat of the masque of the “Red Death.” When Prospero sees that his “dominios were half depopulated,” he assembles over 1000 knights, dames, courtiers, and entertainers within a “castellaed abbey” complete with a thick walls and gates of iron. Poe states , “all these and security within. Without was the ‘Red Death.’” Prospero surrounds himself with 1000 people inside the walls of this fortress. Within such a great number, he cannot honestly believe that the “Red Death” is not hidden within them. He is also foolish to believe that thick walls and iron gates could hold the disease was spread. The narrator describes how extravagantly detailed each of the seven
He shows off his prosperity while ignoring the sick people of his land. Poe unmasked, “There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the "Red Death."”(Poe 1). Prince Prospero shuns the Red Death without worries; he mistakenly believes his wealth will protect him from death itself. Unlike the Prince, Goodman Brown falsely assumes that his faith will protect him. The two characters rival in thought and inevitably both pay the price for
All people wish to avoid suffering, and those with wealth usually take too long to realize that they cannot avert it. In the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe tells the readers of death, and how the upper class deals with it. In this story, Prince Prospero and his wealthy friends hide away in a castle to evade death. This obviously does not work, as death is inevitable, but of course, they attempt to save themselves anyways. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe uses the courtiers, Prince Prospero, and the stranger to symbolize the members of the influential upper class and their habit of using their power to postpone their own impending doom.
The deathly ringing of the clock resonated throughout the chambers and faded away like they always had. But this time, the festivities did not flare back to life, for the new figure had control over the attention of everyone. This unique figure was shrouded in a robe as black as a void that covered all of his body except for his face, which was concealed by a peculiar mask. Contrary to the darkness of the robes, the lean mask was a pure, ghostly white with two blood red, curved lines, thicker at the top of the mask and thinner towards the bottom, through the eyes which were void holes. The air around him was cold and stale, like death lingered around him, waiting for its next victim. From the outskirts of the crowd, he moved in closer to the revelers, with each step echoing unnaturally loud. People shuffled away from him, afraid some terrible fate may befall them if they get close in proximity to him, as he strolled toward some unknown destination.
In the "Masque of the Red Death," the first sentence, "The Red Death had long devastated the country," sets the tone for the whole story. Poe describes the horrors of the disease, stressing the redness of the blood and the scarlet stains. The disease kills so quickly that one can die within thirty minutes of being infected with the disease. To create a frightening effect of the revulsion of this disease, Poe uses words such as "devastated," "fatal," "horror of blood," and "sharp pains and profuse bleeding." In summary, the story relates the prince, trying to be safe and away from the horrible death, invites a thousand friends to be in seclusion in his abbey away from the disease. During a celebration , a masked ball at the abbey - with incredible described rooms and moods - a surprise masked intruder causes death to all.
Edgar Allen Poe, in the short story “The Masque of the Red Death”, shows how people may try to outsmart death and surpass it, but in the end they will die since death is inevitable. He reveals this in the book by showing all the people closed up in the abbey that belongs to Prince Prospero. They are trying to escape the “Red Death” and think that they can escape the death by hiding away in the abbey. They manage to stay safe for six months but in the end they all die after the stroke of midnight during the masquerade ball Prince Prospero puts on from the Red Death itself which appears after midnight and leaves no survivors in the end. Poe develops the theme of how no one can escape death through the use of the point of view, the setting, and symbolism.
Poe in “ The Masque of Red Death”, describes the scene of the highly protected castle and the masquerade that results in Prince’s over confidence and hence his death. The author declares, “A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts” (Poe 300). In “ The Cask of Amontillado”, Poe creates a dark and a dull setting which symbolically meant the rising of Fortunato’s death. Montresor warns Fortunato, “It is not engagement, but the severe cold which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre” (Poe305).The atmosphere of each story changes as it progresses which is clear since the both stories begin with a very peaceful and joyful feel but conclude with a very depressing and gloomy one. In “The Masque of Red Death” the courtiers had welded the doors and the castle was protected with iron gates which made the Prince overconfident to think that death will not be able to enter his castle. The joyful atmosphere also made him not to worry about the red death while others were terrified and his belief of escaping death by locking him self ultimately lead to his death lead. Moreover in "The Cask Of Amontillado", the harsh conditions in the Catacombs does not make Fortunato
The plague is known as the Red Death and it causes a very bloody and almost instantaneous death. The ruler of the country, Prince Prospero, decides to shirk his responsibilities as the leader and isolate himself and his friends. “When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and lighthearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys.” (Poe 447-448). To keep everyone distracted from the grim reality that lied outside the abbey walls, Prince Prospero organized several forms of entertainment. “The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was beauty, and there was wine.” (Poe 448). His citizens were dying horrible deaths, yet he and his friends’ gluttony caused them to get drunk. A few months later, a masquerade ball is held all the while the Red Death is rampaging through the country. “…and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence.” (Poe 448). Prince Prospero’s first concern was to confine himself and his friends, forgetting his obligations as a leader; alternatively choosing to
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
...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).
The rooms in “The Masque of the Red Death” are symbolic and correlates to the progression of the story. The seven rooms in Prince Prospero’s castle symbolizes “The Seven Ages of Man” which is a poem written by William Shakespeare. This poem is about “one man in his time plays many parts. His acts being seven ages.”(Shakespeare, 3-4) Each of these stages are symbolized by the rooms. Each of the rooms has its individual color to correspond with the ages. The rooms that goes from east to west is blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and lastly scarlet. In the same order, these colors represents infantry, childhood, lover, soldier, justice, Pantalone, and old age. An illustration of these ages is when Prince Prospero was chasing after
The Red Death described in the story is a fatal pestilence which causes “sharp pains, sudden dizziness and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution”. (page 386) Once the pestilence hits, the person dies within ½ an hour. Prince Prospero’s motivation is to survive the plague and he believes this can be done by taking his wealth and inviting one thousand of his upper class friends to stay in his palace. In Prospero’s mind the “external world could take care of itself” while he and his friends lived lavishly. (page 386)
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.
One of the many ways we respond to fear is by fighting. We as humans can respond to fear by staying put and fighting out what we fear. The characters in the short story The Masque of the Red Death, show this response to fear, for instance how prince Prospero responds when the Red Death enters the room. Prince Prospero, when he sees the masked figure enter the room, responds to him and charges the masked figure because it scared him so he charges him and attempts to fight and kill the figure. This is supported by the following text, “It was then, however, that the prince Prospero, maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, rushed hurriedly through the six chambers... He bore aloft a drawn dagger, and had approached, in
Locking himself, and other nobles away from the disease until it’s gone. After several months he hosts a ball with all the other nobles. At midnight an unknown guest appears and when Prospero confronts the guest he dies. All the other ball members try to attack the man, but there is nobody to attack. The story ends with everybody dying as the Red Death has infiltrated the castle.
The crucifixion of Christ is treated differently within the bodies of Old English and Middle English literature. The values of each era's society are superimposed on the descriptions of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Christ is depicted either as the model of the hero, prevalent in Old English literature, or as the embodiment of love and passion, as found in Showings by Julian of Norwich.