Masque Of The Red Death By Edgar Allen Poe
The short story “Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe explores the two themes of the inevitability of death and the fear of time. The author develops these themes by using symbolism, plot, and allusions in order to convey these themes. One of the main themes is that death is inevitable. The setting of the story is revolved around Prince Prospero's fortified mansion trying to escape the Red Death. During the story, Prince Prospero’s throws a party for him and his wealthy friends trying to wait out the Red Death. The party occurs in seven different coloured rooms. The seven rooms in Prospero’s house are symbolic to seven stages of life. The first room being blue which is symbolizes birth such as the stage of a child and youth and the
last room down the hall with the ebony clock is coloured black which symbolizes death for being the darkest room since. No one dares to go towards the black room in order to avoid their inevitable fate. This is backed up by the plot where Prince Prospero is chased down through the seven rooms or “stages of life” and ended up dying in the final room which ended up being the black room. Lastly, Poe alludes to the biblical verse Thessalonians 5:2, “He had come like a thief in the night.” He alludes the Red Death to basically an anti-Christ figure of power to come for Prince Prospero for trying to avoid death. He then dies and “darkness and decay ...held illimitable dominion over all.” This relates to no man can forever hide or outrun death for it will inevitably lead to pitiful darkness and the decay of the remains of your body. Another main theme is the fear of time. Time is the most precious thing in the human world for we are given a limited amount in an unknown duration just like the guests in the story. The guests’ “time” is symbolized by the giant ebony clock in the last room. When it struck on the hour, “all who were present froze, and all activities ceased...but when the echoes had fully ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the assembly....". The guest never knew when their time would be up so they were frightened every time it struck for they thought it was their last hour. Then when it stopped they proceeded on with the party for they knew they still had more time. They feared the clock for it was “ticking” their time away and since life is unexpected, they never knew when their time will end and therefore fear the clock. Another example is the symbolism of the rooms for the “stages of life” since no one wanted to accept their life is over and still try to hold on to the years they have left. Everyone partied in the first 6 rooms since they were full of colour and most avoided the last room for its eerie sense. This can relate to society were older people try to act young or be “trendy” with today’s society to grasp on to the time they have and not wanting to grow old or lose their time to be alive. Edgar Allen Poe uses symbolism, plot and allusions to exemplify the themes of the inevitability of death and fear of time in the short story “The Masque of the Red Death.” This can translate to societal issues of people trying anything to stay alive and the fear of not having enough time in this world which can lead to the assumption of making every life opportunity count.
last room down the hall with the ebony clock is coloured black which symbolizes death for being the darkest room since. No one dares to go towards the black room in order to avoid their inevitable fate. This is backed up by the plot where Prince Prospero is chased down through the seven rooms or “stages of life” and ended up dying in the final room which ended up being the black room. Lastly, Poe alludes to the biblical verse Thessalonians 5:2, “He had come like a thief in the night.” He alludes the Red Death to basically an anti-Christ figure of power to come for Prince Prospero for trying to avoid death. He then dies and “darkness and decay ...held illimitable dominion over all.” This relates to no man can forever hide or outrun death for it will inevitably lead to pitiful darkness and the decay of the remains of your body. Another main theme is the fear of time. Time is the most precious thing in the human world for we are given a limited amount in an unknown duration just like the guests in the story. The guests’ “time” is symbolized by the giant ebony clock in the last room. When it struck on the hour, “all who were present froze, and all activities ceased...but when the echoes had fully ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the assembly....". The guest never knew when their time would be up so they were frightened every time it struck for they thought it was their last hour. Then when it stopped they proceeded on with the party for they knew they still had more time. They feared the clock for it was “ticking” their time away and since life is unexpected, they never knew when their time will end and therefore fear the clock. Another example is the symbolism of the rooms for the “stages of life” since no one wanted to accept their life is over and still try to hold on to the years they have left. Everyone partied in the first 6 rooms since they were full of colour and most avoided the last room for its eerie sense. This can relate to society were older people try to act young or be “trendy” with today’s society to grasp on to the time they have and not wanting to grow old or lose their time to be alive. Edgar Allen Poe uses symbolism, plot and allusions to exemplify the themes of the inevitability of death and fear of time in the short story “The Masque of the Red Death.” This can translate to societal issues of people trying anything to stay alive and the fear of not having enough time in this world which can lead to the assumption of making every life opportunity count.