mask of the red death

“The Masque of the Red Death” Analysis Essay “The Masque of the Red Death” describes the dynamic character attempting to escape his fate with his wealth and surrounding himself with guests. “And now acknowledged the presence of the Red Death” (Poe 394). Death becomes perceived and people begin to welcome him as he inflicts tragedy upon guest after guest. Death can happen at any moment at any time of one’s life. Throughout “The Masque of the Red Death”, this brilliant tale told by Edgar Allen Poe utilizes irony and symbolism to describe how death is unavoidable. Poe effectively uses symbols to thoroughly elaborate his message of the inability to escape fate. For instance, Prince Prospero built rooms that “were so irregularly disposed that the vision embraced but little more then one at a time” (Poe 390). Prospero created the rooms to make sure no one could see what was ahead or behind them. The rooms resemble life and how no one can see past or future, one can only go through a “room” or phase one at a time living in the present. In addition, Prospero also had the rooms painted or decorated so “that at the eastern extremity was hung for example, in blue…purple…green…orange…white…violet” (Poe 390-391). He arranged the rooms to be in certain order based off color and direction of the sun rising and setting. The colors represent the various points in life you encounter and how the life begins in the east with the rising sun and ends with the sun setting in the west with the death of everyone in the palace. In the last room, which was black and red “stood against the western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony” (Poe 391). The clock is a symbol of time; it rings every hour leading to midnight. Also, it portrays how much time is left before death takes every one lives in a matter of minutes. Symbolism is important in illuminating the theme of inevitable death in the story.
Edgar vividly describes the ironic settings and characters in his story with portraying the