“The Masque of Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe is a deliciously creepy short story. The “Red Death” is showing Edgar Allen Poe’s view on the Black Plague. This plague took over the fantasy country. It's incredibly fatal, horribly gruesome, and it's already killed off half the kingdom, one might say “Blood was its Avatar.” “Meanwhile, in a panic, healthy people did all they could to avoid the sick.” The story goes into detail how people would do whatever it may take to stay healthy, this quote is from a history article stating how people would act back when the plague began. Throughout the story Poe creates symbols. For example, the ebony clock in the black room, the colors of the seven rooms in the abbey and, Prince Prospero running after death
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In The Masque of Red Death, Prince Prospero tried to escape from the “Red Death” by creating a castle all to himself and “he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court” to live in this castle while having a never ending party. Prince Prospero had wine, women, music, dancing, and fools, everything a man would need to live out the rest of his life happy. Five to six months into his solitude, Prospero thought of an idea to have a masked ball “of the most unusual magnificence.” Throughout this ball there are seven outrageous suites, each one dressed up in a different color: blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. The creepiest room of them all, the black room. The black room, which happens to look like death, the windows are blood red, dark black walls, and a big black clock of ebony which chimes so loud that everything becomes silent “there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused revery or meditation.” Most guest laugh nervously and carry on with their party. Despite the strange suites, guests take into count how the ball itself is decorated, questioning how sane Prospero really is. As the …show more content…
You never quite escape the sense of a threat. Another theme Poe brings forward is that people cannot go through life believing they can beat death and that it will never catch up to them. Referring back to the symbols in the story, the ebony clock in the black room would chime every hour, the party guests would ignore their folly, but more so nerves and continued to enjoy the masquerade party. Soon after the clock chimed the last hour of the night, every guest in the castle died. The big ebony clocked ended up symbolizing the time that goes by leading up a person’s death. The story makes the point that even if you are prosperous you still cannot cheat death. Especially after death finds its way into the completely private and safe
In The Masque of Red Death, Prince Prospero tried to escape from the “Red Death” by creating a castle all to himself and “he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court” to live in this castle while having a never ending party. Prince Prospero had wine, women, music, dancing, and fools, everything a man would need to live out the rest of his life happy. Five to six months into his solitude, Prospero thought of an idea to have a masked ball “of the most unusual magnificence.” Throughout this ball there are seven outrageous suites, each one dressed up in a different color: blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. The creepiest room of them all, the black room. The black room, which happens to look like death, the windows are blood red, dark black walls, and a big black clock of ebony which chimes so loud that everything becomes silent “there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused revery or meditation.” Most guest laugh nervously and carry on with their party. Despite the strange suites, guests take into count how the ball itself is decorated, questioning how sane Prospero really is. As the …show more content…
You never quite escape the sense of a threat. Another theme Poe brings forward is that people cannot go through life believing they can beat death and that it will never catch up to them. Referring back to the symbols in the story, the ebony clock in the black room would chime every hour, the party guests would ignore their folly, but more so nerves and continued to enjoy the masquerade party. Soon after the clock chimed the last hour of the night, every guest in the castle died. The big ebony clocked ended up symbolizing the time that goes by leading up a person’s death. The story makes the point that even if you are prosperous you still cannot cheat death. Especially after death finds its way into the completely private and safe