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The Seven Stages of Life The Masque of the Red Death Edgar Allan Poe

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The Seven Stages of Life The Masque of the Red Death Edgar Allan Poe
Charity Chukwu

Mrs. Edmondson

English III

November 13, 2008

The Seven Stages of life

Fate is inevitable and there is no escaping it. "The Masque of the Red Death" is a short story by Edgar Allen Poe explaining how Prince Prospero stays in a state of denial unwilling to accept death until it is too late. The seven rooms in which Prospero presides in represent the seven rooms in which Prospero presides in represent the seven stages of life with their colors and features. As he rushes through each room Prospero realizes the consequences of going through life too fast.

A dark and haunting death cast over Prince Prospero's city. To escape from it he invites his royal healthy friends to a party in his abbey safely secure from any danger outside the walls of the castle. Time flies as they carelessly have fun in the seven colorful rooms in which the party is held. When an unwanted stranger comes into the rooms the guest face an unexpected death. Prince Prospero rages through the seven rooms only to meet the same fate.

The main allegory in the story is the representation of the seven rooms in the abbey. With their various colors the rooms tell of the human life cycle. Starting with birth, the windows of the blue room are vividly blue. Upon coming into the world there is a bright innocence that is shown in the souls of people. Purple is the color of the next chamber representing the toddler years. The purple ornaments and tapestries the room gives a playful vibe giving the child in everyone something to have fun with. The third room is green and so are its casements. Green shows the teenage adolescence of life moving away from play things and into education. Thus the green room ends the final stages of the infancy years.

Entering adulthood the orange room appears. Orange is young and bursting with energy. The room shows how vibrant and exiting growing up can be. This is the age people are wild and reckless without a care in the world. Moving on to the white room more

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