Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death

You have to know that even though you are wealthy it does not mean you can escape death. In the short story "The Masque of the Red Death", written by Edgar Allan Poe, is about a masquerade party that is hosted by a man named Prince Prospero. During the plague, Prince Prospero invites his light-hearted friends to come to his castle and have fun while people are dying outside. In the middle of the party, it was interrupted by a guest dressed in garments related with the plague of the "Red Death". All of the guests began to die as they touch or recognized the Red Death. The allegory is sending a message of how "Death is inevitable and you can't escape it even if you are wealthy.” In Edgar Allan Poe's story, he uses symbolism throughout the story. He used Prince Prospero, the seven rooms, and the clock.
First, the character Prince Prospero is an example of how no one can escape death even though you are wealthy. He is wealthy, rich and an upper-class person. “Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated…”(373). He was so happy of how the Red Death had killed half the population which makes him dauntless and wicked. His name Prospero conveys happiness. He
has faced a plague that he attempts to avoid when locking himself up with his friends in a castle. He stays there partying while people outside the castle are dying from the Red Death. His death shows that no one can escape death under any circumstances. This use of symbolism is showing how Prince Prospero is selfish and could build up suspense, keeping the audience interested on what will happen.
Second, the seven rooms also symbolize how death cannot be escaped. The seven rooms represent the seven stages of life, from birth to death. Also, they represent 7 sins which are blue-lust, purple-gluttony, green-greed, orange-sloth, white-wrath, violet-envy, and black-vanity. “The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over…. falling in heavy folds upon carpet… But… the color of the windows failed to… The panes here were scarlet… a deep blood color” (374).The seventh room which is black symbolizes death and represents it as the end of your life. It is the only room where the windows do not match with the color of the room. Prince Prospero died in that last room when stumbling upon the Red Death. When the Red Death made his appearance, he moved from the Eastern room, symbolic of the beginning of life, then to the Western room, symbolic of the end of life. When Prince Prosper had entered the seventh room, it was the last stage for him which is the end of life. Which later on he had fell upon to the ground and had been killed by the Red Death. The 7 rooms symbolize different things like blue is for birth and black is for death. Lastly, the gigantic clock of ebony in the seventh room also symbolizes death and how time is running out for them.
“Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull...when the minute-hand made the circuit of the face...the hour was to be stricken...the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause”(374). The clock is in the seventh room, once again representing death. Every time the clock strikes an hour, the musicians stop playing and all the guests stop celebrating as well. Each hour is to be struck upon as their nearness of death. As the clock struck midnight it represented the end of the day meaning the end of life. This corresponds to the theme of how death is inevitable. Edgar Allan Poe symbolizes or represents the passing of life which can represent
death. All in all, the use of symbolism throughout the story is to create tone, suspense and imagery to make the story alive. He uses several objects such as the gigantic clock of ebony, Prince Prospero, and the seven rooms. Anyone can be affected by death and no one can escape it nor find a way to. Also, it foreshadowed about the gigantic clock of ebony and the seven rooms, refers to Prince Prospero and his guests meaning that death is coming and they could not escape it. A good writer like Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism and allegory in his story to capture the audience.