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Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death By Edgar Allan Poe

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Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death By Edgar Allan Poe
Symbolism is the use of signs or situations to signify or represent an idea. (“Symbolism”) In order to successfully incorporate this literary technique in “The Masque of the Red Death” the author, Edgar Allan Poe, not only uses the significant meanings of color but various other objects and characters as well. According to Michael Cummings, author of The Masque of the Red Death: A Study Guide, “The Masque of the Red Death” was published in May of 1842 and its genre can be identified as horror and gothic fiction due to the constant references to illness, bloodshed, and death. It is one of the many pieces where Edgar Allan Poe imposes fright among the reader. Poe has a tendency to write in such a nature due to his past. With a theme that death …show more content…
He accomplishes this in “The Masque of the Red Death” by giving ordinary things a deeper meaning. Examples of this include, the seven apartments within the castle that have distinct colors, the prince, and the ebony clock. Poe uses these simple things to represent an idea that is typically dark or related to his infamous theme of death. Prince Prospero represents willful ignorance, selfishness, and failed leadership. His actions throughout the short story prove this, as he is described, “the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious” (Menendez 3). It symbolizes the manner in which the government handled the real life epidemic that Poe refers to in his short story. Those infected with the plague are left for dead and in the meantime, others ignore it. This situation allows the audience to truly self-reflect on their moral values. As for the ebony clock, it is used as a way to convey the theme and remind the reader that death is unavoidable. The masqueraders have no control of stopping time and are described to be frozen in terror as the clock strikes, “At each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily, in their performance, to hearken to the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company” (Menendez 5). This shows their awareness of death, although they are trying to ignore it. Poe skillfully infused this message with the clock as the symbol. The most significant example of this technique in the short story is the seven apartments which can be interpreted to symbolize the seven stages of life according to Trent Lorcher, author of Bright Hub article, Symbolism in the Masque of the Red Death. The meaning of the rooms and their colors each represent something different. The first room which is blue represents birth, youth is symbolized with
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