The Masque of the Red Death - Review

Well, Edgar Allan Poe.

Too intense of a writer.

I especially loved his poem, "Annabel Lee", because it was beautiful. There were no other words to describe.

Poe really knows how to woo a woman. (Excuse the old terminology, Poe inspired).We all heard these lines in "To All The Boys I've Ever Loved Before - Part 2".

"For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

In her sepulcher there by the sea—

In her tomb by the sounding sea."

Saying that, To All the Boys is for another time. But for now, let's stick to The Masque of the Red Death.

A beautiful story.

SUMMARY

A disease known as the Red Death plagues the country and it causes its victims to die quickly and gruesomely. Even though this disease is spreading rampantly, the prince, Prospero, feels happy and hopeful. He decides to lock the gates of his palace in order to fend off the plague, ignoring the illness ravaging the land. After several months, he throws a fancy masquerade ball.

For this celebration, he decorates the rooms of his house in single colors. The easternmost room is decorated in blue, with blue stained-glass windows. The next room is purple with the same stained-glass window pattern. The rooms continue westward, according to this design, in the following color arrangement: green, orange, white, and violet. The seventh room is black, with red windows.

Also in this room stands an ebony clock. When the clock rings each hour, its sound is so loud and distracting that everyone stops talking and the orchestra stops playing. When the clock is not sounding, though, the rooms are so beautiful and strange that they seem to be filled with dreams, swirling among the revelers. Most guests, however, avoid the final, black-and-red room because it contains both the clock and an ominous ambiance.

At midnight, a new guest appears, dressed more ghoulishly than his counterparts. His mask looks like the face of a corpse, his garments resemble a funeral shroud, and his face reveals spots of blood suggesting that he is a victim of the Red Death. Prospero becomes angry that someone with so little humor and levity would join his party.

The other guests, however, are so afraid of this masked man that they fail to prevent him from walking through each room. Prospero finally catches up to the new guest in the black-and-red room. As soon as he confronts the figure, Prospero dies. When other party-goers enter the room to attack the cloaked man, they find that there is nobody beneath the costume.

Everyone then dies, for the Red Death has infiltrated the castle. “Darkness and Decay and the Red Death” have at last triumphed.

ANALYSIS

The most obvious would probably be "Death is inevitable; you can't escape, no matter how wealthy or powerful you are." Prince Prospero was desperate to attempt to cheat Death, and his willingness to revel in celebration while others are dying ends with his own submission to the Red Death. Thus, he falls victim to the one thing he tried to escape.

Another theme is that everyone is subject to the passing of time. In the story, time is closely linked to death, as each tick of the clock forces the partygoers to consider their own mortality. Indeed, the clock stops striking after the last person has died. Thus time becomes a symbol for unstoppable forces, the ones no one can escape.

Prince Prospero and his friends represent a privileged class of people who attempt to use the money to escape the plague. However, the true nature of the disease is debatable.

Blood is the “Avatar and seal” of the Red Death, occupying a dual meaning where blood can be read either literally or as a reference to the concept of bloodlines. Their apparent abandonment of the common people positions the nobility as immoral.

The ending of the story can be interpreted as a divine judgment of sorts, where the arrogance and immorality of Prospero and his friends to blame for their gruesome demise.

The castle that Prospero and his friends live in is secluded and devoid of reminders of the Red Death. They surround themselves with distractions like wine and parties in order to forget about the plague. This emphasizes that Prospero and his friends believe they have escaped death, allowing them to be less attentive to the passage of time.

However, the fragility of the illusion is demonstrated by the black room and the ebony clock, both of which intrude on the fantasy world that Prospero and his friends have created. The clock serves as a reminder that time is pushing them towards death, and the black room serves as a symbol of death itself.

Their aggressive reaction to the masked figure showcases how far they will go to preserve the illusion.

This story is one of the best stories to read.

But, Edgar Allan Poe is not for everyone. But, if you love the elegant form of writing, then read it and love it.

Thank you for reading.

Sirisha

Over and out.