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Foreshadowing In The Masque Of The Red Death

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Endeavour to Escape Death Humans have been fascinated by the human life cycle and how it inevitably ends in death. Fate is inevitable and there is no way to escape it, yet humans go to great lengths to try and avoid it. Fear of death underpins many peoples actions and drives them to do things they would not normally do. Edgar Allen Poe reinforces this idea through his literary work in “The Masque of the Red Death” as his protagonist reflects humanity’s fear of the inevitable. This can be examined through the use of foreshadowing, characterization and symbolism throughout “The Masque of the Red Death”. Poe’s use of foreshadowing, characterization, and symbolism develops the theme of inevitability of death to illustrate that regardless of …show more content…

Prince Prospero holds a masquerade in an abbey with seven rooms in an attempt to escape death. Naturally, his guests are equally afraid of the seventh room as they are of death itself. In an attempt to avoid the impending death that this room symbolises, the guests avoid this room as much as possible. When Prince Prospero and the partygoers enter this room, they die shortly after, as they have travelled through every room in the abbey, representing every stage of life, ultimately leading up to their inevitable fate. No matter how hard the guests try to avoid the seventh room, they eventually enter it, as that is their fate and all life must eventually end. Furthermore, the protagonist's impending doom is foreshadowed through the use of the title, “The Masque of the Red Death''. The title, a play on words, can be interpreted as death’s costume ball, foreshadowing that the Red Death will make an appearance at the masquerade. Phrases used throughout the story such as, “for the night is waning away” (Poe 2) reminds the Prince and the guests that the night is coming to an end, as is their inevitable death. Therefore, by warning the reader of the coming doom of the protagonist, Poe’s use of foreshadowing further’s the theme of the inevitability of death and that all life must eventually

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