Edgar Allen Poe, born on January 19, 1809 and past away on October 7, 1849 was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. He is best known for his poetry and short stories. One of the short stories that he has written is “The Masque of the Red Death” in 1842. “The Masque of the Red Death” is about a masquerade ball that is held by Prince Prospero, and the later on in the night, when an individual shows up to the masquerade ball dressed like the Red-Death, it happens to actually be the Red-Death. Initially, Poe has written the story so that the title of the short story was “The Mask of the Red Death.” By doing so, it put an emphasis on the costume the characters were wearing. However, by changing the title around, Poe had made it so that the center of attention is focused on what goes on during the party, and not just the hooded figure. There are multiple aspects of the non-realistic techniques of literature that are included in this short story. Poe uses many different kinds of symbolisms to further enhance his writing. Poe additionally inputs details in the short story that steers the readers think about the reasons on why Poe may have inserted them in particular parts of this short story.
Poe’s short story can be seen as a gothic style of literature. The Gothic Literature, originating in the 18th Century England, was very important and was a very distinctive movement in literary history. There are specific themes and symbols that define the Gothic Style of literature, and they have changed over time. However, there are core aspects of the Gothic Style that remain the same. For example, dungeons, gloomy settings, ghostly and somewhat unreal, and haunting figures. In this particular short story, the Gothic Style of writing can be seen in Prince Prospero’s location of the masquerade ball and the colors of the last chamber of the palace. Poe is known for being the person to bring the Gothic Style of writing over to the Victorian era, which lasted from 1837 to 1901, and for making the supernaturals in the short stories seem more believable to the readers.
The “Red-Death” was a deathly plague that was overpowering the country where this short story is set, and caused the people of the country to die very quick death. Prince Prospero decides to close off the gates to his palace to prevent the plague from entering the palace. After several months, he throws a party, a fancy masquerade ball. For this occasion, he decides to decorate each of the chambers of his palace in its own unique color scheme. The first room is decorated with blue walls and blue tinted windows. The next room with purple and the same stained-glass window pattern. The chambers continue with the color scheme of green, orange, white, and then violet. The last, seventh chamber, is decorated in black with red tinted window panels. In that room all alone, stands an ebony clock. When the clock strikes every hour everyone in the masquerade ball stops talking and the orchestra stops playing. When the clock is not sounding, all of the chambers are filled with sounds of laughter, dreams, and hope. Throughout the whole night, all of the guests avoided the last room with the red tinted window panels. Mostly because of the ebony clock, and because of an ominous ambience.
At midnight, a new guest appears. Dressed in rags and a lot more ghoulishly than his counterparts. His mask looks like a corpse, garments resembling a funeral shroud. The mask was spotted with red spots that resemble blood. This suggested that he was a victim of the plague. Prince Prospero was enraged that someone with so little humor and levity would come and attend his party. All of the other guests simply looked at this figure, scared to prevent him from walking through each of the chambers. Prince Prospero finally caught up with the figure in the last chamber that is tinted with red windows. As soon as Prince Prospero confronts this figure, he dies. The other people in the party entered the chamber to attack the hooded figure, and find nothing beneath the clothing. Everyone then dies, as the Red- Death had penetrated the palace walls. Darkness, decay and the Red-Death have won.
Throughout the whole story, Poe gives the readers only two distinct characters. They are Prince Prospero and the hooded figure. Even with the name, Poe includes another set of allegorical interpretation. Prince Prospero’s name suggest financial ‘prosperity’. Prince Prospero is a very wealthy man. With his wealth, he believes that he can outrun death by closing himself and the others without the plague off in his palace and throwing a masquerade ball. However, towards the end of the night, he learns that his wealth is irrelevant especially when it comes to death. This further shows the fact that no one can cheat death, and shows that this short story is Poe’s analyzation of the natural circle of life and death. The hooded figure, in the end, is revealed to be the Red-Death. He enters the vicinity of the palace with the gruesome makes of the plague as his costume, and has the people in the ball deny their own morality. This hooded figure is the representation of what Prince Prospero was trying to run away from, but evidently failed.
This short story, “The Masque of the Red Death” can be classified as an allegory. This short story touches upon the literal elements of the plot, and the philosophical concepts such as the colors of the rooms, and the extent one will go in order to escape death. “There was no light of any kind emanating from lamp or candle within the suite of the chambers.” For someone who is so scared of death that he had locked himself in his palace, this set up calls for death himself. By locking himself and the others in the palace, Prince Prospero has made no exit plans thinking that he would be safe within the walls of his palace. The ebony clock that chimes at every hour is located in the last chamber decorated with tinted red window panels and black shades, also symbolize one’s near to death. Each ring of the clock tells the people in the palace how much closer they are to their death. Later on when the “Red-Death” appears out of nowhere, Prince Prospero is enraged that this figure has entered his palace dressed the way he is. The hooded figure then leads him to the last chamber where the hooded figure then decides to kill Prince Prospero. When the others followed Prince Prospero into the last chamber to unmask the “Red-Death”, they don’t find anything under the hood. The clothing simply just falls to the ground and then the “Red-Death” ends up killing everyone attending the masquerade ball after initially killing Prince Prospero in the very last chamber. The “Red-Death” is a symbol in the short story to shows that no matter how wealthy one is, no one, not even the wealthy can escape death.
The first thing that was obvious to the readers are that the walls and window panels of the chambers are decorated with a different color as it is stated in the short story. Starting with the color blue which was the very first chamber in the far east corridor, and ending with shades of black with red tinted window panels in the last chamber near the far west corridor. The color scheme of the walls and windows in each of the chambers, also represent the life cycle of a day as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Further showing that Poe carefully included some details to show some aspects of foreshadowing in this short story. The appearance of the hooded figure is also apparent to the readers in where it is a sign that something bad will happen. The clothing that the hooded figure wears symbolizes death and in the end, it is revealed that the hooded figure the “Red-Death” killing everyone in the vicinity of the chambers. This further shows that no matter what one does, death will always find its way into one’s life and will penetrate whatever barrier one has built and put up. Which is why Prince Prospero’s life was destined to come to a halt by the end of the night.
This short story helps people come to realization of reality through many non-realistic aspects. For example, a question that may be asked is “If Prince Prospero locked out everyone before the masquerade party, how did the Red-Death get in? And why show his existence later on in the night instead of killing Prince Prospero instantly?” Initially, when Prince Prospero locked the people and himself in the palace, the “Red-Death” was not within the walls of the palace. No one at the party was infected with the plague, therefore there should have been no reason to why anyone could have been the one to bring the plague into the palace that night. Then at midnight, the “Red-Death” appeared. How did the “Red-Death” enter the vicinity when all the doors and windows were locked? Another question that may be asked is “Why does the ‘Red-Death’ lure Prince Prospero to the last room with the red tinted window panes to attack Prince Prospero and kill him? This clearly shows Poe’s intentions in how he wrote the short story to be portrayed in a certain way. Which is the reason why Poe included all the details including the colors of the walls and window panels, and the ebony clock. Therefore, it is understandable that Poe’s intention was to show that no matter one’s social status or wealth, he/she can not escape death. However, in reality, this would never be the case, therefore further showing that Poe wrote this short story with many unrealistic aspects.
Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red-Death” is a classic. Children all over the country can encounter this short story as early as elementary school. Personally, the first time I had read this short story was in the sixth grade. Then again in the eighth grade. And then again in the tenth grade. As I grew up and read this short story over and over, I was able to notice that the work itself changed. Every single time that I have reread this short story, I was able to catch additional details and the hidden meanings behind everything Poe wrote about. The more I read this short story, I was able to see that his intentions became clearer and clearer. Everytime I reread this short story, it felt like a puzzle, which is why I liked the way Poe wrote this short story. I think that Poe was very creative on how he wrote the short story.