Masque of the Red Death - Literary Terms

Theme

Death is inescapable; control is an illusion; leaders have a responsibility to protect their subjects.

Mood, Vocabulary, imagery, Sentence Structure & Repetition

Poe establishes an eerie, horrific mood. The vivid descriptions of the Red Death include long sentences with elaborate, difficult vocabulary and synonyms. "BLOOD was it's Avatar and it's seal - the REDNESS and the horror of BLOOD. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse BLEEDING at the pores, with dissolution. The SCARLET stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim..." Senses used are sight and touch.

Allusion

Prince Prospero is an ironic allusion to Shakespeare's The tempest. In this play, Prospero is a magician and hero.

Allegory/ Symbol & Irony

The protagonist's name, Prospero, is hinting to an allegorical meaning of the word prosperous, which means thriving, successful and rich. The Prince's name is symbolic; he is wealthy, he is noble, he is respected, but he still dies.

Irony

The Prince invites his rich, noble friends to his castle to thwart the Red Death. He surrounds the castle with a lofty wall and with gates of iron. The guests "brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded bolts. They resolved to leave no means of egress to the sudden despair or of frenzy within." The fortressed castle fails to keep Death out and ironically keeps the guests imprisoned after the Red Death's arrival.

Allegory/ Symbol & Time Sequencing

Poe's description of the arrangement of the 7 rooms suggests the rooms represent stages of life, because when you are in one stage, you can see only a little of the next stage. This reinforces the fact that life is full of uncertainty and surprise. The rooms move east to west and the east (1st room) symbolizes the sunrise, beginnings and life. The west (last room) symbolizes the sunset, endings and death. 7 stages of life = infant, child, adolescent, young adult, middle-aged adult, elder adult, dead adult

Setting, Mood & Foreshadowing

The black and red colors of the last room affect the emotional atmosphere of the story. The room is dark and ominous. The scarlet windows are a foreboding reminder of the Red Death

Irony

The Prince's purpose is to let his guests forget about death by enjoying the construction of the imperial suite with its sharp turns and novel effects. "The 7th apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the wall... the PANES (pun) here were scarlet - a deep color" - This seems like a strange way to help guests forget about death, but not as strange as the ebony clock that rings ominously each hour.

Onomatopoeia

"It's pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang..."

Allegory/ Symbol & Personification

"... when the minute hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound..." This time-telling device represents the passing of time as it is a reminder that death eventually comes to every life.

Mood

"...There came yet another chiming of the clock, and then were the same disconcert and tremulousness and meditation as before." The chiming of the clock makes the partygoers pause and become confused and anxious.

Characterization (Prince Prospero)

Prince Prospero's obsession with the chambers and masqueraders seems insane. He is eccentric, but not mad; he is aware of he is doing.

Foreshadowing

"And the revel went whirlingly on, until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon the clock." Poe is clearly setting the reader up for something scary or bizarre to happen at the stroke of midnight.

Allegory/ Symbol & Personification

"The figure was tall and giant, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave..." Poe devotes this long paragraph to a description of the stranger. The tall, gaunt figure represents evil, time, the grim Reaper, the Red Death - or death in general

Irony

"Who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him - that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, from the battlements!" At first, Prince Prospero is fearful and repulsed, then he is angry. He has been trying to escape the Red Death, and now his escapist party is invaded by a figure that suggests disease and death.

Climax, Allusion, Mood, Simile & Personification

What is going to happen when the Prince reaches the last room? "...now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come LIKE A THEIF IN THE NIGHT. And one by one dropped the revelers in the blood-bedwed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out.." The simile is an allusion to the BIBLE. The mood is dark and deadly.