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(Poe) This is important because the black room, being the final room, represented death, and the death that was threatening everyone was the plague known as the "Red Death." This room also had a great ebony colored clock that struck out on the hour in a loud and most annoying manner. The clock is also symbolic of time, and how time is always ticking away on a person's life, moving them closer toward death.
The seven rooms of various colors were seven adjacent rooms, all in a row from East to West; in other words, the easternmost room was the first and the westernmost room was the seventh. The fact that they were arranged from East to West represents the daily cycle, the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, but it is also symbolic of the cycle of life. In other words, as a person travels in a westward direction from the first room to the seventh, they travel symbolically travel from birth to death. The various colors represent different stages in a person's life, with the last room being black with red windows, representing death from the plague. At midnight, when the uninvited guest arrives, the terrified party-goers move out of the...
When Prospero finally recovers his courage and follows the hideously costumed figure, he symbolically travels the path of life from the first room to the last. And as Prospero confronts the masked intruder, he comes face-to-face with that which he had sealed himself away from: the "Red Death" plague.
In the end, Poe's message is that the plague comes for everyone, and no one can hide themselves away from death. But he relays this message through a short story filled with imagery and symbolism. The colors of the rooms represent different life stages, the rooms, aligned east to west represent the stages of life from birth to death, and finally, the seventh room's blackness represent's death while the red colored windows represent the death that is awaiting those at the party. As with most works by Edgar Allan Poe, death is highly represented and plays an important role in the Masque of the Red Death.
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Masque of the Red Death." The Literature Network. Web. 07
June 2012. http://www.online-literature.com/poe/36/
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Masque of the Red Death." The Literature Network. Web. 07
June 2012. http://www.online-literature.com/poe/36/
Prince Prospero in Edger Allen Poe's story " The Masque of the Red Death" is an interesting character that reveals much about Poe's views on nobility and the qualities these elitists exude. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the character Prince Prospero to demonstrate his fearfulness, reluctance and ignorance, three qualities that dominate the story's main character. As Prince Prospero and his band of nobles try to escape the
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