The Mask of the Red Death
"The Masque of the Red Death", written by Edgar Allan Poe, is about a masquerade party, hosted by a man named Prince Prospero. During the course of a plague, Prince Prospero invites together his friends to come to his castle for fun. In the middle of the party, the gathering is interrupted by a guest dressed in garments associated with the plague of the "Red Death". Without explanation, all the guests begin to die as they acknowledge the "Red Death". The theme of the story is "No one can escape death, or predict it." This is evident in Edgar Allan Poe's use of symbolism used throughout the story to signify death. He used Prince Prospero, the seven rooms, the clock, and the title to show this theme. The character Prince Prospero is a good example of how no one can escape death. He's rich, successful and an upper class person. His name Prospero suggests happiness and of good fortune, characteristics which he possesses. Ironically, he's faced with a plague that he desperately attempts to avoid. He stays inside partying to give himself a sense of happiness and secludes himself to hide from the disease. He uses happiness to rule out the threat of death just like all other human beings. His eventual death shows that no one can esca
Death is superior to all powers and can overcome anything, as it overcame Prospero's "impenetrable" wall. The title also symbolizes how death cannot be predicted because a "masque" is undetectable. " The constant reference of black and blood color in this room once again show the reference of death and the end of time in this room. The seventh room which is black symbolizes death and represents the end of time. Instead they're a "scarlet-a deep blood color. This again displays how death cannot be escaped. A mask symbolizes something that cannot be seen underneath and in this case it is the "Red Death". First of all, the clock is located in the seventh room, once again representing death. Further evidence of the seven room's symbolism is that Prince Prospero died in that last room when encountering the "Red Death". The use of the color red also implies that it is not a death of the ordinary. The foreshadowing of the black clock and the seven rooms reveal the outcome of Prince Prospero and his guests, as they display the theme of how death will eventually reach you. Every time the clock struck the hour, the musicians quit playing and all the guests momentarily stopped the celebrating. In all, the title symbolized an unpredictable death as it is disguised in a "masque". It is the only room where windows do not correspond with the color of the room. When the masked "Red Death" made his appearance, he moved from the Eastern room, symbolic of the beginning of life, to the Western room, symbolic of the end of life.
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