Symbols of Edgar
Edgar Allan Poe was a masterful fiction writer whose works still chill readers to the bone. For instance Masque of the Red Death, an allegory that includes many symbols representing events in his miserable life. Poe battled poverty, lost many loved ones to tuberculosis, and suffered from alcoholism at the end of his life. This tells the story of his outlines a rich, arrogant Prince Prospero, who thinks he can win the battle against death by locking himself away in his castle. When the prince holds a magnificent masquerade for his wealthy friends inside his castle, an uninvited visitor appears dressed as the Red Death. This visitor represents death, and tuberculosis in Poe’s life. The masked visitor ultimately kills the prince and all of his …show more content…
When this ghostly horror arrives to the party, dressed in the costume of the Red Death, the guests are immediately frightened and appalled, expressing "disapprobation and surprise- then, finally, of terror, of horror, of disgust." (Poe 377). The guests do not feel as secure and invincible as before. They sense that death is upon them. Poe uses this to show the role of tuberculosis in his life. He tried repeatedly to find a new love, a new distraction, after his wife, Virginia died of tuberculosis, but it turns into defeat once the disease gets to the person he loves. Death can never be avoided by anyone, no matter how much wealth or power, Poe teaches. Poe was poor, and lacked the ability to keep his loved ones alive.Her death, after deaths of his mother and stepmother, caused Poe to go into a depression, turning to alcohol to distract him. Depression was like a ghost following tormenting and controlling Poe that stalked him, the same way the masked visitor stalks at the party. Just this one character in this story created all sorts of symbols for Edgar to
Edgar Allan Poe was a masterful fiction writer whose works still chill readers to the bone. For instance Masque of the Red Death, an allegory that includes many symbols representing events in his miserable life. Poe battled poverty, lost many loved ones to tuberculosis, and suffered from alcoholism at the end of his life. This tells the story of his outlines a rich, arrogant Prince Prospero, who thinks he can win the battle against death by locking himself away in his castle. When the prince holds a magnificent masquerade for his wealthy friends inside his castle, an uninvited visitor appears dressed as the Red Death. This visitor represents death, and tuberculosis in Poe’s life. The masked visitor ultimately kills the prince and all of his …show more content…
When this ghostly horror arrives to the party, dressed in the costume of the Red Death, the guests are immediately frightened and appalled, expressing "disapprobation and surprise- then, finally, of terror, of horror, of disgust." (Poe 377). The guests do not feel as secure and invincible as before. They sense that death is upon them. Poe uses this to show the role of tuberculosis in his life. He tried repeatedly to find a new love, a new distraction, after his wife, Virginia died of tuberculosis, but it turns into defeat once the disease gets to the person he loves. Death can never be avoided by anyone, no matter how much wealth or power, Poe teaches. Poe was poor, and lacked the ability to keep his loved ones alive.Her death, after deaths of his mother and stepmother, caused Poe to go into a depression, turning to alcohol to distract him. Depression was like a ghost following tormenting and controlling Poe that stalked him, the same way the masked visitor stalks at the party. Just this one character in this story created all sorts of symbols for Edgar to