Allusions In The Masque Of The Red Death

The simile Poe uses is by comparing the red death to a thief. The figurative language of personification and simile of the red death contribute to the tone of the story. The red death is described as, “ He had come like a thief in the night” (Poe 3). This contributes to the tone because Poe gives the story a more ominous sense by giving the red death human characteristics of a thief as well as comparing the red death to a thief that steals. What makes the red death like a thief is by how the red death disguises as a gust and goes to the ball and even though the people think he is creepy they still think they are safe.

Cassandra is one of the few characters in the play who can see with clarity. She has been given the gift of telling prophecies, but has also been cursed so that no one believes her. While standing outside the house, Cassandra begins to tell the prophecy of Agamemnon’s death to the chorus of men. These men do not believe her, and just think that she has gone mad. While the chorus of men are unable to believe Cassandra due to the curse, the men are also ‘blind’ and do not suspect Clytaemestra of wanting to kill her husband.

William Shakespeare was a very big fan of using the idea of Fate in his writing, often times personified by an object or being such as stars, or in the case of The Tragedy of Macbeth, the witches. If fate is the reason for everything that happens, then does it control all your actions? Yes, however, once one knows about their fate they will do anything they can to gain the power to turn the illusion into a reality, thus altering their life. Therefore, the weird sisters (or the fates) bear the responsibility for the actions and

Imagery paints a picture of the strange world the characters see. Irony shows that despite how the characters attempt to leave their situation, how insane their actions are, it was all for naught, the conclusion was inevitable. Edgar Allen Poe uses point of view as a stylistic writing technique to convey an effect of insanity. For instance, in Poe’s “The Raven”, the narrator says, “ ‘And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you.’ Here I opened wide the door, Darkness there, and nothing more.” In other words, the

In this part of the story Poe clearly states and expresses his hidden message saying no one can escape from the own destiny. This message is shown when the phantom kills the prince in the red room. Throughout the story Poe shows examples of how he reveals his hidden message. Edgar Allan Poe gives symbols and hints revealing a clue about what the message could be. The evidence given was the castle and clock that were used as symbols as well as interesting objects that appear before the “Red Death” came to play.

However, Poe approaches the reader by representing the actions, words, and other aspects of a character without including their cognition. Throughout the story we catch a glance of how the prince is feeling as he chases the Red Death. “Maddening with rage and shame of his own momentary cowardice”, this is something only an omniscient

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” is but another one of his great works full of terror and mystery. The narrator sets the scenes by detailed descriptions of the characters surroundings bringing the reader into the story. But are they just descriptions or do they hold a deeper meaning? Poe shows how the imagination can bring the mind to look for more, for unanswered questions. I aim to identify what and why Poe chooses the room’s color and their location.

“Unfortunately, some of our greatest tribulations are the result of our own foolishness and weakness and occur because of our own carelessness or transgression,” (The Refiner’s Fire) says James E. Faust, an American religious leader and politician. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe further communicates this message. Montresor wants to obtain revenge on Fortunato, so he lures Fortunato into the catacombs of his palace. Because of his pride and arrogance, Fortunato foolishly follows Montresor into his cellar, falling into Montresor’s scheme to obtain revenge on him. In his short story, Poe relays the theme that when people are foolish and ignorant, it leads to their own downfall.

This shows that despite his attempts to foil deaths plans, Prince Prospero only challenged the Red Death to become more cunning. Since the prince’s plan backfired on him, he and his courtiers died just as the peasants outside the fortified walls of the abbey were. Thus, the irony in “The Masque of the Red Death” draws the reader’s attention to the appearance of the Red Death. It also serves to emphasize the fate of the courtiers, causing the reader to feel the futility in their actions as they attempt to capture the humanoid Red Death. Therefore, “The Masque of the Red Death” utilizes irony to elicit feelings of dread in the reader as he or she imagines the possibilities that could occur with the fortification of Prince Prospero’s

The masked character has a mysterious presence, and makes the prince coward and renders him powerless. When the masked figure chases after Prince Prospero; none of the party members get involved with this chase. Even though they were solely picked by Prince Prospero to stay at the castle; it shows that the prince is alone and nobody cares about him. “The masked stranger, dressed as the Red Death, represents the futility of trying to control the inevitable. The reaction of the guests to the mask of the stranger, which shows telltale spatters of blood from the plague, illustrates the universal fear of death and the unknown” (Gillespie and Naden).