Introduction The Black Plague was the demise of roughly 25 million people in the 14th century. Also known as the Black Death along with the Bubonic Plague, this disease was the basis for the Red Death in Poe’s 1842 short story “ The Masque of the Red Death”. In Poe’s story, a wealthy Prince gathers one thousand knights as well as dames dames at one of his abbeys, so they can “escape” the Red Death ravaging the land outside. The abbey contains an ebony clock that often serves as a reminder to the guests that they cannot escape their own deaths. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe uses the symbolism of the ebony clock to develop an allegory disclosing the idea that no matter how one tries, one cannot escape death’s grasp.
…show more content…
Poe’s use of allegory that center around death can be assumed to be contributed to his loss of both parents before the age of two. In “ The Masque of the Red Death” Prince Prospero spots in addition to chases a mysterious masqueraded guest, who then turns and thenceforth strikes Prospero, the narrator says, “ There was a sharp cry- and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterward, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero" ( Poe 9-10). Edgar Allan Poe depicts scenes of death in most of his short stories along with his poems. His life was filled with the death of loved ones ranging from his mother, Elizabeth Arnold, to his wife, Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe. Poe’s often use of allegory is noted by himself as well as by authors of literary critiques, Brett Zimmerman notes Poe saying, “ … in his review “ Twice Told Tales” Poe says that allegory is acceptable if the literary and the suggested meanings are not connected too clearly…” ( Zimmerman 12). Zimmerman notes that Poe is guided by his own standards of accepted allegorical techniques. Allegory is one symbol acting as another; the symbols often display a moral. Poe creates characters along with symbols that follow the rule set of double meanings. The allegorical techniques shown by Poe create a deeper, more thought- provoking version of “The Masque of the Red
Poe’s use of allegory that center around death can be assumed to be contributed to his loss of both parents before the age of two. In “ The Masque of the Red Death” Prince Prospero spots in addition to chases a mysterious masqueraded guest, who then turns and thenceforth strikes Prospero, the narrator says, “ There was a sharp cry- and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterward, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero" ( Poe 9-10). Edgar Allan Poe depicts scenes of death in most of his short stories along with his poems. His life was filled with the death of loved ones ranging from his mother, Elizabeth Arnold, to his wife, Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe. Poe’s often use of allegory is noted by himself as well as by authors of literary critiques, Brett Zimmerman notes Poe saying, “ … in his review “ Twice Told Tales” Poe says that allegory is acceptable if the literary and the suggested meanings are not connected too clearly…” ( Zimmerman 12). Zimmerman notes that Poe is guided by his own standards of accepted allegorical techniques. Allegory is one symbol acting as another; the symbols often display a moral. Poe creates characters along with symbols that follow the rule set of double meanings. The allegorical techniques shown by Poe create a deeper, more thought- provoking version of “The Masque of the Red