The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis

1069 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Themes in Edgar Allan Poe's work

The Masque of the Red Death is an allegorical story written by Edgar Allan Poe. This story is about Prince Prospero who tried to save himself of a dangerous disease (known as the Red Death) but he end up dying in his castle along with his friends. This allegorical story is divided in meaningful points which are represented in relevant symbols such as the clock, which represents time; the seven chambers, which stand for seven life stages of humans; the characters, which correspond to different reactions of people facing difficulties; and the Prospero’s dance of life, which means a religion concept related with the holy trinity.
In Professor Brett Zimmerman’s analysis, I agree in his way of interpreting the theme of Poe’s story. He started by describing an interpretation of another reader (Jean-Paul Weber) about the time theory, “I would like to build on and extend some of Weber’s insights and this strengthen his interpretation about the time and clock imagery and the allegorical nature of that late” (Zimmerman 1). Time is represented by a big clock which rang every hour making everybody stop what they were doing and after it ended, they came back to their activities “while the chime of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale… but when the echoes had fully ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the assembly” (Poe 209). I believe the clock is a metaphor to the time that is slowly approaching Prince Prospero to die.
In addition, Professor Zimmerman supports his idea by exposing the meaning of the seven rooms in the castle which is related to time “The seven rooms taken together form a half circle, one half of a clock’s face, with each representing one of the seven hours between six o’clock p.m. and twelve in...

... middle of paper ...

... Prospero cannot control and deep inside knew that his death was getting close. The seven rooms represent the life stages of human experience since they grow, and each phase helps the person to get wisdom and knowledge to use it in good or bad way. The Prospero’s dance of life represents a religion meaning comparing to the holy trinity. Darkness, Decay, and the Red Death are sings of the end of the world that can happen in the future. The Masque of the Red Death has an allegorical meaning of how a powerful person cannot escape from death and display different people’s reaction of facing hard situations.
Works Cited
-Brett Zimmerman, “Allegoria and Clock Architecture in Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death” The Edgar Allan Poe Review 10.3 (Winter 2009): 60-73.
-Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque of the Red Death: Literature for Composition. Massachusetts: Boston, 2011. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Allegory in Masque (Mask) of the Red Death and Dr Heidegger's Experiment

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe's writing style is based on the supernatural and the unknown. In The Masque of the Red Death, Prince Prospero invites the revelers to come to the castle to party until the danger of pestilence is gone. The party was interrupted by an intruder who was dressed in all black (like the Grim Reaper) and was associated with the plague of the "red death." The reaper killed everyone one by one in the end. The Masque of the Red Death is an allegory. An allegory is symbols that are presented in the story that have two levels of meaning. An example can be the clock in the story. The clock told time and represented the time they had left before they died. There were seven chambers that were different colors, and the last chamber was black, which was the last chamber that represented death. I think the seven rooms symbolized the days until you die and the clock symbolized the time until you died.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Hop Frog And The Cask Of Amontillado

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    By providing symbolism, the setting of each story coerces the reader to think and reflect on the story, its impact, and its deeper meanings. For example the setting of “Hop Frog” provides deeper insights on Hop Frog’s perspective. “In less than half a minute the whole eight orang-outangs were blazing fiercely, amid the shrieks of the multitude who gazed at them from below . . . without the power to render them the slightest assistance” (Poe). Though describing the conflagration of the king and his ministers, this setting can also easily describe the hardships faced by Hop Frog every day while in captivity. Unable to escape the fiery wrath of the king, Hop Frog is forced to suffer while Tripetta is rendered powerless, unable to do anything to assist her friend. While the setting in “Hop Frog” can be used to symbolize the pain and suffering Hop Frog is forced to endure, symbolism can also be seen in the setting of “The Masque of the Red Death”. Focused on the idea that no man can escape death, Poe uses symbolism to entice the reader to subconsciously make connections to discover this idea for his or herself. Many symbols are used throughout “The Masque of the Red Death”, one of them being “a gigantic clock of ebony . . . while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale” (Poe). Though it is never specifically indicated that there is more significance to the clock than illustrated in the given information, one could extrapolate that the clock is a representation of time itself. Time is more or less ignored; however, as time goes on and the end draws near, people pay more attention to it, and are terrified by the reminder that they will all perish in the end. This example is one of many of the symbols used in “The Masque of the Red Death”; like in that of “Hop Frog”, the setting of “The Masque of the Red Death” leaves clues for the reader, encouraging him

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

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

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Imagery In The Masque Of The Red Death

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Masque of the Red Death: Symbolism

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author, Edgar Allan Poe, using illusion or misdirection keeps the reader is suspense throughout this story called "The Masque of the Red Death". Symbolism such as the colored rooms, the impressive clock, the feeling of celebration being at a party all makes this story feel like a fairytale. Poe used this fairytale style and converts it into a nightmare in disguise.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in The Masque of the Red Death

    1690 Words  | 4 Pages

    Zimmerman, Brett. “Allegoria and Clock Architecture in Poe’s ‘The Masque of the Red Death’.” Essaysin Arts and Sciences 29 (Oct. 2000): P 1-16. 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

  • Figurative Language In Poe's The Masque Of Red Death

    407 Words  | 1 Pages

    First, he used simili, ’’The Red Death come like a thief in the night’’ (Poe 43). He humanizes the Red Death like a thief, the thief of life.It is fast and furious, we can not escape. Then he used ’’the brazen lung of the clock’’ . Poe describes the clock as having “lungs,” like a human being, creates that this clock -- time -- is a living, breathing thing we cannot escape. He takes the clock ,a non-living furniture, and he humanizes it, like he humanizes the Red Death, which also cannot be escaped. He also used a lots of allusion in this story( Tempest of Shakespeare, or ’’The Death come like a thief in the night’’ in Bible’’ in order to make his theme more strong with his

    Read More

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

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning, the general situation is explained and the broad location of the story is established. While a dreadful disease ravages the countryside, Prince Prospero and his friends lock themselves up to escape and forget the fate of their neighbors. Their plan is easily identifiable, and the audience can certainly relate to their wish to leave the world behind them and exist in a processed utopia. The description of an isolated and hidden abbey reflects the prince's wish for concealment and his indifference to his responsibilities to the commoners. Poe stresses the magnificent height of the fortress walls and the welded iron gates to enforce an image of strength and protection. He also includes the entrapmen...

    Read More

  • Masque Of The Red Death Essay

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the whole story this clock goes off every hour and everybody gets scared and it is in this seventh room.For example it says “at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily , in their performance , to hearken to the sound. “ This clock fears everybody and towards the end of the story Prospero dies and everyone else dies unexpectedly and the clock stops this symbolizes that time is precious and the fact that life passes by so quick that you don't realize what's going on until it's your time to die.No one in the party didnt know what was going to happen in the

    Read More

  • Language and Symbolism in The Masque of the Red Death

    417 Words  | 1 Pages

    "The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the

    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

  • Literary Analysis Of The Red D

    588 Words  | 2 Pages

    The setting of The Masque, which Poe effectively and thoroughly illustrates, helps to create a desired atmosphere by developing the mood of the story. Poe describes the masque as “a gay and magnificent revel” in which “the prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure.” This creates a joyous and blissful mood, and shows that the masque, for the most part, was a rather jubilant occasion. However, Poe also illustrates how a gigantic ebony clock, located in the westernmost apartment of the abbey, causes “the giddiest to grow pale” with the sound of a loud, deep, and rather peculiar note when the clock strikes each hour. The “uneasy cessation of all things” resulting from the sound of the clock creates an unpleasant and apprehensive mood, directly opposite from the joyful mood described earlier. These descriptive settings of the clock and the rest of the masque are what assists in creating a desired atmosphere throughout the story.

    Read More

  • Criticism In The Masque Of The Red Death

    1859 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

More about The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis

Open Document