The Masque Of The Red Death Literary Analysis

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Recommended: Influence of gothic on edgar allan poe

In the gothic short story “The Masque of the Red Death," Poe displays medieval elements through nature, emotion, and supernatural that promotes male characters throughout his works have subconscious behaviors during the Romantic Period in literature. At the onset, Prince Prospero congregates a thousand royal subjects to one of the abbeys. Since he locked the gates to the palace, everyone “resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within” (Poe 430). Prince Prospero sealed himself and his guests at the abbey because the “Red Death” caused his sovereignty to reduce half of the population pervading the land. If the Red Death continues to kill an enormous population living within

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  • The Courtier In The Masque Of The Red Death

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    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.

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

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    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

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  • The Masque of the Red Death: Symbolism

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    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.

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  • Symbolism in The Masque of the Red Death

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    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.

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

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    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.

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

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    "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.

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  • Dichotomy of Colors in Poe's The Masque (Mask) of the Red Death

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    In contrast to the morbid images associated with red death, Poe describes a group of happy masqueraders. The central figure among the joyous people is Prince Prospero who, as suggested by his name, is prosperous and has tons of entertainment. He is not worried because his wh...

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  • Language and Symbolism in The Masque of the Red Death

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    Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death is an elaborate allegory that combines

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  • How Does The Point Of View In The Masque Of The Red Death

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    As in many of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, the point of view and narration cause the reader turmoil and a sense of being perturbed. The point of view and narration go hand in hand in many of Poe’s stories. Several of Poe’s tales, including “The Masque of the Red Death,” cause turmoil for many readers who attempt to situate the narration and point of view within the story. This in turn causes a sense of disorientation for the reader. In general, Poe’s narration and point of view are one in the same; for the most part they are of an omniscient presence or unreliable character. Yet, in “The Masque of the Red Death” point of view and narration are both. Through the tale, the point of view is of a presence that knows and sees everything; while the

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  • Pride In The Masque Of The Red Death

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    In “The Masque Of The Red Death” the princes pride and arrogance is shown in his actions when, the prince and his guest head into the heavily fortified abbey. The Prince thinks the abbey is the safest because,” 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 3) By doing this Prospero thinks he has been able to stop the plague from spreading to him and his guest, and by extension his death. What the Prince does to his hideout shows how irrational people are thinking when pride gets to them such as going as far as to barricade themselves and anybody with him/her to isolation from society. During hiding the Prince entertains himself, “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.”(4) While his subjects are being killed by the plague he is hiding from death. But, in spite of these things, it was a gay and magnificent revel. The tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye for colors and effects. He disregarded the decora of mere fashion. His plans were bold

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    As soon as we are born our timer starts and one day it will stop and we will no longer be a part of this earth. Everybody enters this world the same way, but we all have our own different ways in departing. Nobody wants to think about dying or seeing a love one leave, but unfortunately that is how life works. Are you scared to die? Can you handle seeing a love leave your side due to death? Just like the majority of the people, we have two different people with the same mentality who fear death and will do anything in their power to try and escape from it.

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  • Irony In Masque Of The Red Death

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    Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “Masque of the Red Death,” is a rather macabre story about a prince, his kingdom, and a particularly gruesome plague called the Red Death. This story very well written; Poe makes great use of the many literary elements seen in it. Among other literary elements, Poe uses irony, the setting of the story, and allegories to bring “Masque of the Red Death” to life.

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  • Death And Death In The Masque Of The Red Death

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    Death is a natural thing. It is not uncommon for people to go to extreme measures to avoid death. In recent years, there have even been famous people that have hired teams of doctors to try to insure that they won’t die. Often, the extreme measures that people take to avoid it eventually turn into their downfall, and death always prevails. The Masque of the Red Death is a short story written by the early American novelist, Edgar Allan Poe. He presents a tale about a man named Prince Prospero during the time when a horrible plague has contaminated his country. There are three main themes throughout the story. His foolishness during a time of despair causes his downfall, time continues to pass even with death, and death is inevitable no matter how rich and powerful you may be are the themes presented in the story which leads to the loss of his life and of the lives of his guests.

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  • Examples Of Allegory In The Masque Of The Red Death

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    In the short story, The Masque of the Red Death, Edgar Allen Poe tells a dark tale of a prince and his masquerade of death. In the story the prince, Prince Prospero, holds a luxurious ball at his enclosed castle ending in the demise of him and the attendees. Though the prince is a powerful and wealthy noble that seems to be fortified from any danger, he cannot escape the inevitability of his death. Throughout The Masque of the Red Death, Edgar Allan Poe uses literary techniques such as symbolism, allegory, and alliteration to develop a theme of power, that death is more powerful than any human can be.

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  • Setting in 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.

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