Symbolism in Poe's Works: Death is Just the Beginning
             In course of Edgar Allan Poe's early life he found himself in some serious heartbreaks. The death of his biological parents and serious disappointments would later set the mood of his works to come. Many that read his stories and poems catch the "true" themes of his work, besides all the twisted, evil, dark, gloomy, and even demonic details that help conceal the "true" themes. Poe uses symbolism to bring out imagery of death and despair in most of his works, and although gruesome at times, he uses it masterfully to bring his stories alive.
             "The Masque of the Red Death" is an elaborate allegory that combines objects in the story with visual descriptions to give focus to the reader's imagination. Poe's story takes place in seven connected but carefully separated rooms. This reminds the reader of the past significance of the number seven. (The history of the world was thought to consist of seven ages, just as an individual's life had seven stages.) Therefore, a reading of this story suggests that the seven rooms represent the seven stages of one's life, from birth to death, through which the prince pursues a figure masked as a victim of the Red Death, only to die himself in the final chamber of eternal night. The prince's name suggests happiness and good fortune, and the prince, just like all beings uses happiness to wall out the threat of death. Prince Prospero's masked ball or dance reminds me of the "dance of death" portrayed in old paintings as a skeleton leading a throng of people to the grave, just as the prince leads his guests to the Red Death. He hides behind impenetrable walls of his castellated abbey and lets the world take care of its own. Visual descriptions in the story are used to symbolize death. Poe's use of language and symbolism is shown in his description of the seventh room in the suite, and the ebony clock.
             The significance of the sevent...