Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death” is considered to be an allegory about life and the inevitability of death. While it may appear to be a story about a plague and a prince’s response to it, it in fact holds a much deeper meaning and lesson. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Prince Prospero locks himself into his abbey with 1,000 other people to escape the plague that is ravishing the world outside. However, when Prince Prospero holds a party in his abbey, a masked stranger sneaks in, killing all of the people inside. One allegorical feature in this short story is the colored rooms in the abbey, which symbolize the path of life. In addition, the character Prince Prospero symbolizes a wealthy, upper class citizen. Finally,
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The second room, the purple room, symbolizes success, while the third room, the green room, symbolizes growing. The fourth room, the orange room, symbolizes autumn and maturing. The next room, the white room, symbolizes knowledge, while the sixth room symbolizes near the end. The final room, the black velvet and red hued room, symbolizes death and blood. As stated by Milne in his analysis of “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The effect of the red light is ‘ghastly in the extreme,” and the seventh room is avoided by most of the guests” (233-234). During the party at the abbey, the guests stay in the first six rooms, where they party and enjoy life (Bell 254). Most of the guests avoid the last room, the eerie black and red room, as much as they possible can. This avoidance is not unlike how people enjoy their early years of life and try to avoid the uncertainty and eeriness death. However, no matter how hard they try to avoid it, death still finds them (Milne 234). By the end of the story, all of the partygoers are dead. While the colors of the rooms are a major symbol, the way in which they are oriented in the abbey is symbolic in itself. …show more content…
The colored rooms, symbolic of the path of life, show that death is inevitable because they pull every person on a path towards the end and towards death. Prince Prospero, symbolic of a rich person, shows that death is inevitable because even when he tries to hide away from the pestilence, he still ends up dying. The clock, symbolic of periods of life passing, shows that death is inevitable because all of the people die at midnight, even though they were enjoying life right up until the end. Poe’s short story, which at face value may seem to just be a tale about a plague, when read deeper, teaches readers an incredibly valuable lesson about life and
The second room, the purple room, symbolizes success, while the third room, the green room, symbolizes growing. The fourth room, the orange room, symbolizes autumn and maturing. The next room, the white room, symbolizes knowledge, while the sixth room symbolizes near the end. The final room, the black velvet and red hued room, symbolizes death and blood. As stated by Milne in his analysis of “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The effect of the red light is ‘ghastly in the extreme,” and the seventh room is avoided by most of the guests” (233-234). During the party at the abbey, the guests stay in the first six rooms, where they party and enjoy life (Bell 254). Most of the guests avoid the last room, the eerie black and red room, as much as they possible can. This avoidance is not unlike how people enjoy their early years of life and try to avoid the uncertainty and eeriness death. However, no matter how hard they try to avoid it, death still finds them (Milne 234). By the end of the story, all of the partygoers are dead. While the colors of the rooms are a major symbol, the way in which they are oriented in the abbey is symbolic in itself. …show more content…
The colored rooms, symbolic of the path of life, show that death is inevitable because they pull every person on a path towards the end and towards death. Prince Prospero, symbolic of a rich person, shows that death is inevitable because even when he tries to hide away from the pestilence, he still ends up dying. The clock, symbolic of periods of life passing, shows that death is inevitable because all of the people die at midnight, even though they were enjoying life right up until the end. Poe’s short story, which at face value may seem to just be a tale about a plague, when read deeper, teaches readers an incredibly valuable lesson about life and