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The Masque Of The Red Death Language Analysis

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Edgar Allan Poe uses figurative language to develop the theme of “The Masque of the Red Death.” He uses figurative language in this short story to give the reader a sense of gloomy feeling. By using personification, simile, metaphors, symbolism, imagery, and many other examples the theme of the short story is revealed to be greatly impacted and developed well. Imagery is a great example of how figurative language develops the theme. Poe uses personification to give a very somber or gloomy tone and make the reader feel very uneasy and scared. An example of imagery would be “The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its avatar and its seal-the redness and the horror of blood.” In this quote Poe is giving the reader an idea of the “Red Death”. The reader can really get a sense of fear or horror from this imagery. This imagery also give the reader a beginning …show more content…

The greatest example of this would be the ebony clock in the final room. “And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay.” The ebony clock in the final room symbolizes the passage of time, which perfectly develops the theme of “The Masque of the Red Death.” Not only is death inevitable but so is the passage of time, death and time go hand and hand. This is also very noticeable due to the fact the clock is put in the last room, which is meant to represent the final stage in a human's life cycle otherwise known as death. In conclusion Edgar Allan Poe used figurative language in this story very well. He managed to use it not only to give the story a gloomy or scary feeling to it but to develop a very meaningful theme. A theme in which is very powerful and impactful, death is inevitable. No matter how much the prince tried to run and lock himself away from the red death he simply could not escape

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