Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death

Edgar Allan Poe portrays symbolism in the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”,

by relating to the grandfather clock, the seven suites, and the unfamiliar corpse guest. Published

in 1842, “The Masque of the Red Death” presents Prince Prospero’s efforts to avoid a dangerous

plague by hiding in his castle with many of his good knights and ladies. While the guests have

one never-ending party in Prospero’s fabulous castle, he decides to throw a masquerade ball. As

planned, this party will occur in seven suites consisted of one blue, purple, green, orange, white,

violent, and black. The ball is off to a hit when all of a sudden an unusual guest arrives dressed

as a corpse. Prince Prospero is disgusted and threatened by this figure;

therefore, he orders him

to be seized and unmasked. But, not one guest has the nerve to do this, including the Prince

himself. Edgar Allan Poe uses the symbols of the grandfather clock, the seven suites, and the

unfamiliar corpse guest to help portray his message.

One symbol Edgar Allan Poe portrays in his writing, in order to convey his message to

the audience, is the grandfather clock. Throughout the short story, the grandfather clock

symbolizes death. To be more precise, it symbolizes as stated, “the Time that flies” (Poe 2) and

the inevitability of death. Every hour, the grandfather clock chimes to recap the fact that their

lives will be taken in time and that death is forthcoming. As Poe writes, he designates the clock

cannot be avoided by the reaction the guests at the masquerade ball. “But when the echoes had

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fully ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the assembly; the musicians looked at each other

and smiled as if at their own nervousness and folly, and made whispering vows, each to the

other, that the next chiming of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion” (2). The

masquerade guests have this uneasy feeling when the clock chimes and makes the whole party

uncomfortable. Edgar Allan Poe wants you to recognize the fact that the grandfather clock has a

sense of control and power. He attempts to inform the reader that this clock has human-like

characteristics by using personification. He states, “there came from the brazen lungs of the

clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical” (2). Eventually, their

uneasy feelings turn into a tragedy in which Poe’s message to the reader is that no one can

escape death.

While the clock symbolizes time and death, the seven suites at the masquerade ball

serves as a symbol of the journey of life. Poe writes the story consisted of seven different color

suites, a blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. Specifically, the black room looks

like death and is awfully creepy. No one has the guts to go into the black room; therefore, the

ball takes place in six beautiful suites. Poe describes the black room as, “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

color of the windows failed to correspond with the decorations” (1). Poe describes the room with

a great use of diction and imagery. Towards the end of the short story, Prince Prospero is

outraged when an unfamiliar guest dresses as a corpse. He immediately addresses to seize the

figure, but no one has the courage to do so. With this, Prince Prospero attempts to approach the

corpse body himself. Poe writes, “he made his way uninterruptedly, but with the same solemn

and measured step which had distinguished him from the first, through the blue chamber to the

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purple --through the purple to the green --through the green to the orange --through this again to

the white --and even thence to the violet, ere a decided movement had been made to arrest him”

(4).

In this quote, Poe describes the journey Prince Prospero takes through all the six chambers.

But, he halts at the black room when the masked figure approaches him with dagger. In the end,

Prince Prospero dies as well as all the masquerade guests.

As a final point, Edgar Allan Poe signifies one last symbol, the corpse body, to conclude

“The Masque of the Red Death.” The author uses imagery in order for the audience to visualize

what this masked figure looked like. He writes, “The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded

from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was

made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must

have had difficulty in detecting the cheat” (3). The figure, as Poe described, was dressed as a

corpse body. But not any corpse body, it was a corpse body that had died from the black plague

or “the red death.” As stated previously, many were too cowardly to approach this

astonishing

figure, when the Prince ordered to do so. Prospero is furious and is offended by this guest;

therefore, he approaches the figure himself.

As he travels through the six suites, where the

masquerade ball takes place, he stops specifically at the black suite. Here, the unknown guest

addresses Prince Prospero with his dagger. Poe describes the scene as, “within three or four feet

of the retreating figure, when the latter, having attained the extremity of the velvet apartment,

turned suddenly and confronted his pursuer. There was a sharp cry --and the dagger dropped

gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the

Prince Prospero” (4). As this point of the story, Prince Prospero dies and all the rest continuously

die in that black apartment. The unmasked figure portrays death in this short story due to the fact

that when he interrupts Prince Prospero’s ball everyone takes their last breath.

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In conclusion, Edgar Allan Poe uses three forms of symbolism to help convey his

message in the story, “The Masque of the Red Death.” These three forms include the grandfather

clock, the seven suites, and the unknown masked figure. Poe’s message to his readers is that no

one can avoid death in any circumstances. To summarize these symbolic points, the

grandfather

clock was written as if it had control over the guests at the ball. The author uses personification

to describe the clock as if it has “brazen lungs.” In addition, the seven suites represent the

journey of life the guests at the ball take. The last, black, suite helps convey Poe’s message

because it represents death. When the masked figure approaches Prince Prospero, he dies as well

as the other knights and ladies. Everyone dies in the abbey because the masked figure embodies

the red death, or the black plague. Overall, using symbolism is important because it helps

embody the message of not just Poe’s writing, but any additional short stories as well.