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Use Of Diction In Masque Of The Red Death

399 Words2 Pages

Beginning with diction: To put it plainly, diction is the overall word choice the author chooses to use within their story to provide a variety of meanings, set particular tones, etc. Edgar Allen Poe’s complex diction further heightens the eerie atmosphere and foreboding suspense that frequently lingers within his iconic Gothic short stories, and are all the more present within Masque of the Red Death. It’s evident that Poe pays attention to connotation and meticulously chooses words that best convey the unsettling imagery that he’s going for, as shown when the narrator was describing the 7th room, “But in the western or black chamber the effect of the firelight that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in …show more content…

In addition, using the word ‘blood’ ties to the overall theme of the story: death. His storytelling is very visual; the imagery that he provides through diction alone is very detailed and in depth. Poe’s intricate choice of words not only vividly describes the setting, but creates indirect characterization. Poe’s choice of complex words are not often used in everyday language, which fits the context of the story. Right from the beginning, Poe shows the drastic divide in class and the disconnection between Prince Prospero and his people as the narrator states, “When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys” (Poe, 1). The narrative follows a prince, throwing a masquerade in his evidently humongous castle. Poe’s choice of using highly elevated words further establishes that the main characters within this story are of the high class. This description is also an indirect characterization of Prince Prospero, as it goes to show his not-so-subtle

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In the short story, “Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allen Poe manipulates timeless imagery, forcible diction, and archaic allusions to engross the reader in a power-avid war between Prince Prospero’s court and the indigenous presence of death. The court seeks to outsmart death by hiding away, only to find out death draws nearer by every tick of the ebony clock. Poe handles imagery in a manner that illustrates the cowardice towards death in the minds of Prospero’s court, which in turn, causes them to be semi-ignorant to the alfresco of Europe. The story reads, “When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys” (pg.3). This first creates an active image of a dying kingdom, then the image shows a prince turning his back on the helpless citizens of his rule so that he and his most dear nobles may have the chance at eluding death.

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I. Introduction Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most important American writers of the nineteenth century. Much of his work was inspired by the events that happened around him. Poe's works embodied the short stories creative theories and the eternal theme he devoted to his life: the horror after beauty has gone, the horror of death, the horror of gloom and the horror of weird phenomena. Published in 1842, The Masque of the Red Death was the representative of Poe’s aesthetics and writing themes. In this horror story, "Red Death" is rampant outside the walls of the Royal Palace.

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