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An essay about the theme of the masque of the red death
An essay about the theme of the masque of the red death
Essays on the masque of the red death
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Setting can be looked upon as simply the place and time of where a story takes place, though not knowing that it can be more then just simply information. In this story, “The Masque of the Red Death,” this proves how important setting can really be and how it ties into the actual themes of the story, and the overall setting itself.
“The Masque of the Red Death,” takes place somewhere in Europe in the seven chambers of Prince Prospero’s palace. Poe says “A thousand light hearted friends from among the knights and the dames of his court…” This quote shows in fact that the story does take place somewhere in Europe, because the words knights and dames of his court, were words that were commonly used among the European people in the old times. At this point of the story, Poe is explaining where the feast is being held at. Poe states, “But first let me tell of the rooms in which it was held. These were seven-imperial suite.” This ties back into where “The Masque of the Red Death” takes place, more specifically in this case, in Prince Prospero’s seven chamber palace. The quote itself tells that the party the prince is hosting is in his seven chamber palace. Overall, every theme in every chamber of the palace somehow shows and portrays the setting and as well as, death itself, which in the end ties back to the themes of the story.
Medieval is the time in which during the story takes place. This is proven when the author states, “A strong and lofty wall girded in it. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and hammers and welded bolts,” (Poe). This quote explains the structure of the entrance gate and what it looks like when entering Prince Prospero’s palac...
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...oal of tying themselves back to the themes by explaining the expressions on the guests face. Setting is a crucial part of this story and all in all helps to explains the themes and how they all relate!
Work Cited
Graham, Kenneth. “Criticism by Kenneth Graham.” Discovering Authors. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center- Gold. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.
“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.
Miline, Ira Mark. Short Stories for Student. Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Short Stories Volume 8Virtual Reference Library. Detroit, Mich: Gale. Web. 13 Jan. 2010.
Thompson Gale, 2000. 232-260. Short Stories for Students. Web. 12 Jan. 2010. Poe
Edgar Allan Poe. “The Masque of the Red Death.”
Wilson, Kathleen, ed. Short Stories for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context and Criticism on Commonly Studied Short Stories. Vol 2. Michigan: Gale Research, 1997.
In “The Masque of the Red Death,” the location of the rooms represents the cycle of life and death, with the bright blue room all the way to the east, where the sun rises and the day begins, and the black, morbid room all the way to the west, where the sun sets and the day ends. The reader comes to understand that the most eastern room represents the beginning of life, while the most western room
Firstly, The Masque of the Red Death is a short story that dwells on a wide variety of societal issues. On the other hand, The Raven adopts the form of a poem, which is especially notable for its dramatic and melodic properties. The poet uses the refrain of “Lenore” and “nevermore” in order to emphasize the narrators’ troubled interaction with death (Poe, The Works of Edgar Allen Poe). Furthermore, The Raven employs allusion in its attempt to explain the mysteries surrounding death. The poet seeks to know whether there is “balm in Gilead” in reference to the hope of life after death demonstrated in various religious faiths such as Christianity. In The Masque of the Red Death the author addresses death’s inevitability and its wider implication on the society (Poe). The short story addresses the ability of epidemics to wreck havoc on populations. Furthermore, the short story addresses the authority’s selfishness and incompetence when it comes to addressing pivotal issues affecting people. Instead of finding ways of protecting people from further infections, the prince selfishly runs away from the rest of the population. Whereas death finally catches up with everybody regardless of one’s social status, the short story plays a pivotal role in highlighting leadership discrepancies that plague many civilized
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 story has different elements that make it a story, that make it whole. Setting is one of those elements. The book defines setting as “the context in which the action of the story occurs” (131). After reading “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemmingway, setting played a very important part to this story. A different setting could possibly change the outcome or the mood of the story and here are some reasons why.
...of the people (even though the quote is cased in the present and looking back). The Red Death was instrumental in European History, and Poe did a wonderful and interesting job of exposing this history. The fact that really attracted me to this story was that I knew a lot about the plague, and I was able to make a lot of connections between the “The Masque of The Red Death” and history. This story shows how sneaky and powerful the plague was filters the history into the elaborate story very nicely.
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.
But first let me tell of the rooms in which it was held. These were seven—an imperial suite. In many palaces, however, such suites form a long and straight vista, while the folding doors slide back nearly to the walls on either hand, so that the view of the whole extent is scarcely impeded. Here the case was very different, as might have been expected from the duke’s love of the bizarre. The apartments were so irregularly disposed that the vision embraced but little more than one at a time. There was a sharp turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel effect. To the right and left, in the middle of each wall, a tall and narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which pursued the windings of the suite. These windows were of stained glass whose colour varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of the decorations of the chamber into which it opened. That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example in blue—and vividly blue were its windows. The second chamber was purple in its ornaments and tapestries, and here the panes were purple. The third was green throughout, and so were the casements. The fourth was furnished and lighted with orange—the fifth with white—the sixth with violet. The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue. But in this chamber only, the
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.
Century Interpretations of Poe’s Tales. Ed. William L. Howarth. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1971.
"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, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the 'Red Death,'" (209). As Edgar Allen Poe set the scene for his story, he also created an ominous mood and a sense of suspense supported by the setting. He details the fun and amusement inside the prince's abbey, in contrast to the horror and doom outside, and the reader's curiosity is piqued, because such bliss cannot be maintained for long. Throughout the story Poe explicates and changes elaborate environments to build the suspenseful energy and create a strong structure. In "The Masque of the Red Death," setting is employed to organize motives and action, and to focus the reader on the climax. Poe targets the culminating point of his story using rich descriptions of the abbey, the masquerade, and the clock.
A short story entitled “The Masque of the Red Death” is a wonderfully written story of many types of language. The author Edgar Allan Poe narrated this story from the perspective of himself. One reason the story was written by focusing on feelings was to get the reader to maybe relate to the characters even if only slightly.
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.
Edgar Allan Poe is known for his masterful writing on all aspects of mortality, but his famous short story “The Masque of the Red Death” proves to be more than a simple story about death. While it is about death, Poe’s short story can be read and applied as a cautionary tale whose purpose is to illustrate a worthy way to live and die by portraying the opposite of both. This interpretation comes about when the story is viewed through the lens of New Criticism. This viewpoint shows how the story uses its formal elements converge to create one complex theme. Poe’s short story develops its theme through the use of paradox, tension, irony and ambiguity, all of which come together to identify