“The Masque of the Red Death”

By Edgar Allan Poe

TITLE, AUTHOR, GENRE

• “The Masque of the Red Death” !

• Edgar Allan Poe… !

• short story… • gothic horror fiction

BRIEF SUMMARY

• “The Masque of the Red Death” tells of a supernatural visitation of a disease taking on a temporarily physical appearance and walking amongst its victims, eventually taking their lives; hence, the story conveys the message that barricades and superiority cannot prevent the inevitable: death.

HISTORICAL & BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND

• 1842 !

• Poe lost three significant women to tuberculosis: • mother when he was a toddler • foster mother • wife Virginia (his 13-year old cousin, by the way)

!• he was keenly aware of the inevitability of death

• Red Death—profuse bleeding • tuberculosis—coughing up blood

– tuberculosis reached near-epidemic proportions in industrialized areas in 18th/19th centuries

– leading cause of death in Western world

VOICE/NARRATION & POV

• third person • limited or omniscient?

» depends…who is the voice narrating? » see next slide…

NARRATOR—WHO?

• Two interpretations of narrator: !1. Red Death

2.Prince Prospero

NARRATOR

Red Death ▪ all people → dead by end

▪ Red Death → only one left to tell tale

Narrator

Prince Prospero… ▪ delusional vision of a madman

▪ waging an internal battle for his own sanity ▪ story = dream of a madman ▪ characters = figments of his imagination ▪ death is psychological, not literal !

▪ illusive (deceptive; misleading) narrative voice

STYLE

GOTHIC HORROR 1. elements of supernatural 2. gruesome scenes of horror 3. dark settings 4. preoccupation with death & madness

!• melodramatic (exaggerated, overdramatic, sensationalized)

STYLE

• ALLEGORY – narrative…characters, actions, and settings

represent social, religious, or moral ideas !

• PARABLE (subcategory of an allegory) – a short allegorical story designed to illustrate

or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson

Allegory / Parable for: !

• MAN’S FEAR OF DEATH !

• MADNESS !

• END OF THE WORLD / APOCALYPSE

MAN’S FEAR OF DEATH1. Red Death = 2. Prince’s attempt to escape pestilence = 3. Castle/fortress & Masquerade ball = 4. Hours of ball = 5. Seven chambers = 6. Seventh room/black & red = 7. Arrangement of rooms from east to west = 8. Clock = 9. Striking clock = 10. Midnight =

MAN’S FEAR OF DEATH1. Red Death = death in general

2. Prince’s attempt to escape pestilence = human desire to defy death

3. Castle/fortress & Masquerade ball = means of distracting people from thinking about death…

indulgence in earthly pleasures; ball = human life

4. Hours of ball = limited time each person must live

5. Seven chambers = stages of life from birth to death

6. Seventh room/black & red = end of life; death and blood

7. Arrangement of rooms from east to west = birth to death; rising sun in east, setting sun in west—

rising = life; setting = end/death

8. Clock = instrument of death; marks time remaining in lives of guests

9. Striking clock = reminder of passing time bringing people closer to death

10. Midnight = end of life

MADNESS

• delusional vision of madman waging internal battle for sanity – sanity is fighting a fear of death/mortality – castle is illusion – entire story takes place within his mind

MADNESS1. Story =

2. Prospero =

3. Thousand Guests =

4. Chiming clock =

5. Struggle between Prince and Red Death =

6. Red Death has no bodily form =

7. Triumph of masked figure over Prospero =

8. Death of Prospero =

MADNESS1. Story = interior monologue of disturbed mind; delusional nightmare/dream of a

madman

2. Prospero = insane person/narrator describing his own dream

3. Thousand Guests = the “fantasms” of a madman’s dreams; figments of a mad

imagination

4. Chiming clock = sound that intrudes & awakens him from dream state

5. Struggle between Prince and Red Death = internal mental struggle between reality

and delusion

6. Red Death has no bodily form = imaginary “fantasm”

7. Triumph of masked figure over Prospero = triumph of insanity over sanity

8. Death of Prospero = death of self when taken over by insanity

END OF THE WORLD / APOCALYPSE

• devastating pestilence has wiped out all human life – biblical implications:

• plague in Bible is punishment of humans for their sins !

• tale of divine punishment of those oblivious to the suffering of others less fortunate than themselves – Prospero turns blind eye to those suffering from disease

• surrounds himself with friends and extravagant distractions • attempts to shut out the afflicted !

• final line has biblical tone – “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable

dominion over all” – personification elevates these elements to level of parable

SETTING• unspecified location & time period … raging,

deadly “pestilence”… • ambiguity lends fairytale or fable like quality

– death is inevitable !

• castle…locked within and locking the exterior pestilence out… • symbolic/allegorical since death cannot be controlled • wealth/materialism cannot keep death at bay either

CHARACTERSMasked Figure • illusive character

• looks like corpse of a body afflicted by the Red Death (sickness) • no tangible form

– symbolic for nothingness that death represents…lack of life – or, symbolic for insanity taking over Prospero !

• appears at stroke of midnight • symbolic → midnight = end of the day; Red Death = end of life

!• triumphs over life…last line:

• “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all”…

CHARACTERSPrince Prospero • central character !

• selfish – ignores suffering of others – invites friends only into protection of castle !

• extravagant & bizarre taste !

• possibly a madman

CHARACTERS

The Thousand Friends • collective role…no specific traits !

• “fantasms” of Prospero’s imagination !

• cannot escape inevitability of their own deaths

ISSUES/TOPICS & THEMES

!• Man’s fear of death/mortality • Time • Madness • End of the world/Apocalypse

all the same items that are allegorical

ISSUES/TOPICS & THEMESMan’s fear of death/mortality… • last line describes complete victory of Red Death

over life: – “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held

illimitable dominion over all” !

• Prospero’s actions – symbolic

• humans focus on material pleasures – distractions to idea of death

– dies moment he literally faces his own Death • can no longer deny its presence in his castle

ISSUES/TOPICS & THEMESTime • passage of time = approach of death !

• personification of Time makes it have a → broader allegorical significance rather than just literal meaning !

• images of death – “great ebony clock” in seventh room…black room…last room…West !

• chiming of clock – reminder of encroaching death – forces guests to stop & think of their mortality (mortal existence subject to death) !

• midnight – end of day – symbolizes end of life !

• death of guests + breakdown of clock are simultaneous – “the clock went out with the last of the gay”

ISSUES/TOPICS & THEMESMadness • interior monologue of a madman

– characters = figments of his imagination – Red Death = fear of mortality !

• Prospero = narrator – says Prince may be insane:

• “there are some who would have thought him mad…his followers felt that he was not” mad

– guests = characters in his imagination • “a multitude of dreams”; “fantasms” • “masqueraders” = extensions of narrator

– Prince dresses his guests: » “it was his own guiding taste which had given character to the masqueraders” » costumes: “delirious fancies such as a madman fashions” » he designed the costumes in accordance with his own “delirious fancies” /

delusions

ISSUES/TOPICS & THEMES

• End of the world/Apocalypse… – closing sentence evokes apocalyptic images of

complete devastation: • “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held

illimitable dominion over all”… – forces of evil win out over goodness & life

LITERARY TECHNIQUES/DEVICES

MOOD • dark & eerie

– images of blood & death – dark, ghastly rooms – tinted windows & lights

• cast eerie shadows • alter appearance of grotesquely masked guests

– personification of Red Death • element of supernatural

PERSONIFICATION – last line describes complete victory of Red

Death over life: • “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held

illimitable dominion over all”… – myth or fairytale quality – level of parable with personified terms emphasized – terms personified

→ symbolic of broader concepts of human condition in general

IMAGERY – creates mood – creates gothic horror – clock imagery & chamber imagery

• symbolize death

SYMBOLISM – chambers – clock – masked mystery guest – colors of rooms – arrangement of rooms – allegorical interpretations

SEE NOTES FOR • allegory • theme • character

• Chambers… – life stages…

• first stage – first chamber in East (direction from which sun rises) = birth

• seventh stage – last chamber in West (direction from which sun sets) = death – decorated in red & black

» red = blood » black = death/evil !

– masked figure leads Prospero and guests to their death as he moves toward final chamber !

– in the first six rooms “beat feverishly the heart of life”

• Time/Clock… – located in seventh room…symbolizes limited amount of time each

person has to live !

– passage of time = approach of death !

– personification of it (Time) makes it have a broader allegorical significance rather than just a literal meaning !

– connotations of death: “great ebony clock” in seventh room, black clock, black room, last room, room in the West !

– chiming of the clock = reminder of encroaching death/limited time left in their own life; forces guests to stop & think of their mortality (mortal existence subject to death) !

– midnight = end of day/hour of death, symbolizes end of life !

– death of guests + breakdown of clock are simultaneous: “the clock went out with the last of the gay” !

– clock – symbolic representation of human life: “the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last gay”