Edgar Allen Poe wrote many tales and poems during his day. The majority of his works are being studied in classes all around the world. Throughout his writings he embeds symbolism in many of his stories, not always as obvious and noticeable as some are. Symbolism is classified as, “the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meaning that are different from their literal sense” (Literary Devices). This paper will go over symbolism that Poe used in his stories: “The Black Cat”, “The Masque of the Red Death”, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and his poem “The Raven”.
The first story will be “The Black Cat”; we will explore what the story is about and then explore the symbolism that is present in this story. “The Black Cat” is …show more content…
In this story there is a plague going around call the Red Death. The Red Death causes “sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution” (pg. 687). Within half an hour of people catching this they die. The is a man named Prince Prospero who decides to become secluded along with thousands of his friends in one of his castles. They go as far as welding themselves in, after six months Prospero throws a masked ball for everyone in the castle. The ball was held in seven rooms, in each room there is a stained glass window. Each window is a different color to match the decor of each room, the colors were; blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet and finally the last room was draped in black velvet but the window was scarlet. The last room scared many people so not many spent their time in there. In the back corner of the black room was a gigantic clock with a pendulum that swung side to side, each hour on the hour it let out a loud ring that would cause everyone to stop what they were doing and think about how another hour had passed. When the sound stopped they continued what they were doing. After the twelfth hour guests noticed a masked figure, quickly everyone at the party had heard about the figure. The figure’s clothes seemed as if they came from a grave and its mask “resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse” (690). When Prospero saw it his first emotion was terror then quickly turned to rage. Prospero went after the figure with a dagger, upon entering the black room the figure turned around and there was a loud cry. Prince Prospero was dead. The guests then attacked and when they entered the room and got to the figure they found cloths that were used to wrap the dead and no face under the mask. Soon each guest died one by one, the story end with the line: “Red Death held illimitable dominion over all”
The first story will be “The Black Cat”; we will explore what the story is about and then explore the symbolism that is present in this story. “The Black Cat” is …show more content…
In this story there is a plague going around call the Red Death. The Red Death causes “sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution” (pg. 687). Within half an hour of people catching this they die. The is a man named Prince Prospero who decides to become secluded along with thousands of his friends in one of his castles. They go as far as welding themselves in, after six months Prospero throws a masked ball for everyone in the castle. The ball was held in seven rooms, in each room there is a stained glass window. Each window is a different color to match the decor of each room, the colors were; blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet and finally the last room was draped in black velvet but the window was scarlet. The last room scared many people so not many spent their time in there. In the back corner of the black room was a gigantic clock with a pendulum that swung side to side, each hour on the hour it let out a loud ring that would cause everyone to stop what they were doing and think about how another hour had passed. When the sound stopped they continued what they were doing. After the twelfth hour guests noticed a masked figure, quickly everyone at the party had heard about the figure. The figure’s clothes seemed as if they came from a grave and its mask “resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse” (690). When Prospero saw it his first emotion was terror then quickly turned to rage. Prospero went after the figure with a dagger, upon entering the black room the figure turned around and there was a loud cry. Prince Prospero was dead. The guests then attacked and when they entered the room and got to the figure they found cloths that were used to wrap the dead and no face under the mask. Soon each guest died one by one, the story end with the line: “Red Death held illimitable dominion over all”