Masque Of The Red Death Symbolism Essay

Words: 546
Pages: 3

Symbols in “The Masque of the Red Death”

“The Masque of the Red Death” is a story about a very selfish prince named Prince Prospero and his wealthy friends, the courtiers. They stay hidden in Prince Prospero’s abbey from the Red Death, a disease that took place in Europe. In “The Masque of the Red Death” Edgar Allan Poe uses many symbols to give the important parts of the story more significance.
One very important symbol mentioned in the story of “The Masque of the Red Death” is the colors of the seven rooms in the castle. Each room has it’s own meaning in the story, the stages of life. For example in the story it mentions, “...in blue - and vividly blue were its windows.”(4) The blue room in the story represents birth therefore everything is so lively. The most important room of all is the last one, the red and black room were a lot of the story takes place. The red and black room is “The seventh apartment was closely
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Red Death is disease that you don’t want to have. The disease has many harmful symptoms including seizing, sharp pains, blood rising from your pores and dizziness. The symbol of Red Death makes a big impact on the prince. Red Death isn't just a disease in the story but a figure that joins the party and ruins all the fun by killing everyone. In the story it says “He had come like a thief in the night. And one bye one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall.” This quote proves that the Red Death is very violent and kills anything in its path. The Red Death is a powerful thing in the story and in real life.
In conclusion, the main symbols in the story of “The Masque of the Red Death” are the colors of each room, the mysterious clock, and the Red Death. These three symbols help make the story more intriguing to the reader from the colors of the rooms and the clock as well as making the story adventurous by the disease, the red