Essay On The Masque Of The Red Death Symbolism

What are we scared of? Most of us would say death because our life is coming to an end and that's not something most people like to think about. In the story that Edger Allen Poe wrote about The Masque of the Red Death, it has symbols that reach deep into the fear that people have of death and how they take their short lives for granted. The Masque of Red Death uses its symbols within the story to tell us about life and death. 

Death is inevitable and no matter how much man tries to prevent it, it will always come. The castle was the way man tried to keep the “plague” away from them. “With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think”(Poe).The prince was the one who tried to keep all the rich,  privileged people together behind the walls of the castle, but as the story goes on you can see how no matter how much money and power you have, death is still coming. During the time that Poe wrote this story there was a lot of divide between the rich and the poor. With Prince Prospero in the story he symbolizes that feudal divide. He had all the rich and privileged murdered into the castle that he thought would keep them safe. The symbol Poe threw in there about nobility tells us about how he felt about it. As far he viewed the rich as stuck up, ignorant, While the rest of the world was outside dying from a plague, the rich were secluded and throwing a party. it's  ironic how even privileged people can experience death. The countdown to death is always a scary thing, but a clock to constantly remind you that time is counting down is even worse. The ebony clock that appeared at the seventh room was that constant reminder of death approaching. At the top of each hour the clock struck hard, so everyone heard it. This was there to remind all the guest of what was to come in the future as time went on. Speaking of the rooms, there were seven of them and each one represented a stage of life. All together these symbols show that even the powerful people experience death, just like everyone else. This story uses symbolism within the story to tell about life and death. 

The colors of each of those rooms shows the deeper meaning of each room and how life is related to each other. In the seventh room you will find the color red on the walls. This room represents death and there were red stained windows in the room too. No light was allowed in the room so it personifies the darkness of death.  The seventh room represents death in a man's life and how it approaches quicker than we think.  As for the other six rooms they are blue, purple, green, orange. white, violet. Those colors go with each stage of life. The blue represents birth, purple represents youth, green represents adolescence, orange represents adulthood, white represents old age, violet represents sudden death, and black and scarlet represents death itself. Each room is put in a specific order so each room gives a glimpse of the other, like a little glimpse into the future. These different stages of life represent man's life progressing from an infant to death. But death is what man fears over all. Man finds this concept of death so scary that it can cause mental health problems and anxiety. That's what Poe portrays in this story as people go through these rooms. They never have a problem, it's just that last room that no one will enter because of fear of death. 

Edgre Allen Poe conveyed this whole story based on symbolism. Each symbol leads back to death and how short life is. No one wants to die, but one day it is coming for everyone. “The story and its portrayal of death, supernatural figures and ghosts, on the other hand, is considered an epitome of symbolism and allegory. The story is often analysed as an allegory of the inevitability of death, man’s fear of sin, madness, death and the end of the world” (Atef Adel Almahameed, Nusaiba Adel Almahameed*, Reem Rabea, Imad-edden Nayif M A'leade Alshamare ). This is represented by the people who are dancing at the masquerade. They dance until the clock strikes and everything goes quiet. Then a masked figure comes out and draws people to the seventh room. Which means those people are led to their death. So even though they try to ignore the fact that death is among them, it still happens. “And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all” (Poe). Everything good comes to an end just like Poe's quote says. Those people like all other men ignore how fast life goes by and many of us take it for granted. “Most critics of "The Masque" interpret it as an allegory and assume that, as such, it must point to a moral truth. But the truth in the story is existential, not moral. Poe as narrator presents characters who arm themselves against death through whatever means possible” (Wheat, P. H.). Everything eventually leads to death and that's what this whole story symbolizes. Poe gives so much detail in the story that it almost feels real. With so much delta and focus on them, Poe then leads to his hidden symbols. Each symbol comes with its own interpretation. 

With life comes death. That's something that the “Red Death” symbolized most. There was never an actual person or thing under the clothing. It was essentially a figure of their imagination. This figure was the face of death and made those who fell ill bleed from their pores on their face. The reason behind the “Red Death” was that during the time Poe wrote this story when the black death was happening. Which took so many lives. That's why it seemed as if the royalty was safe. Because people would lock themselves up so they wouldn't be contaminated, even if they didn't get sick they would still die of old age. But no matter how hard you try to, you can't escape death. That was made very clear in Poe's story. 

Works Cited

Almahameed, A. A., Almahameed, N. A., Rabea, R., & Alshamare, I. N. (2018). Death Portrayals in Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Masque of the Red Death’: A Transtextual Study in Relation to the Holy Qur’an and Arabic Literary Heritage. Death Portrayals in Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Masque of the Red Death’: A Transtextual Study in Relation to the Holy Qur’an and Arabic Literary Heritage. doi:https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.davidsonccc.edu/docview/2188085664?pq-origsite=summon

Wheat, P. H. (1982). The Mask of Indifference in 'The Masque of the Red Death.' Retrieved from https://go-gale-com.ezproxy.davidsonccc.edu/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&u=nclive&id=GALE|H1420069362&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon