The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

Table of Contents

Introduction
Main Body
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

The story Red Death was written by Edgar Allan Poe. The story is about Fight of prince Prospero against red death, the plague which affected the country. The prince and his companions try to escape from the plague hiding. They stay inside the seven differently decorated rooms. A new strange person comes to the abbey and starts to walk through the rooms of the abbey. In the fight against the new guest the prince gets killed first. After that, all his companions get killed by the red death. It is now possible to prevent death

Main Body

The presentation of story is done in way to reflect the space of human being between life and death. Poes description about seven rooms in the story indicates different aspects of human life. For instance, presentation of partiers represents the nature of human beings. By nature, in the celebration of life, people like to forget the fact that death can come any time putting the end of all. Even though death takes it extreme form they get ready for fight instead of being defeated. They try to protect themselves inside the walls. They have seen what happens to those outside the wall but dont want that fate to come to their own life.

The way people think and behavior etc. change according to their age. There seven rooms are also thought to represent the seven ages of man, which Shakespeare outlines for us through Jaques soliloquy in As You Like It, II.vii. The ages are puking infant, whining schoolboy, sighing lover, quarrelsome soldier, the round-bellied justice, the shrunken elder, and finally the second childhood Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything (Howard).

The shift from one room to another is same as our journey of life from one stage to another. The colors of life could be changed and it could become attractive in different stages. But, these are not permanent, because death can come across any time as an uninvited guest.

The death warns humans in different ways before its arrival. The ebony clock is in the last (seventh) room and every one has to travel and experience all the other rooms to reach in the last one. But, its chime can be heard from all other rooms and reminds about the arrival of the end. The ebony clock has a great role in the story. The author presents this clock as a character in his narration about seven rooms. The chimes of the clock become the warning for the human beings about the mortality of their life.

At first, they fail to recognize the new guest who has appeared among them. He had come like a thief in the night (Poe 4). He visits all rooms and as someone who has got all freedom everywhere. Prospero tries to defeat his new guest, but it leads to his death. Finally, others understand that who has come is not the victim of the plague, but the Red death. Finally, everyone else gets killed.

No one would like the presence of death around him. Even though it is closer to us, we would fail to recognize it. People can make some delay. The mysteries related to the guest say about the mysteries of death and the behavior of human being when it is close to him When the mysterious guest uses his costume to portray the fears that the masquerade is designed to counteract, Prospero responds antagonistically (Poes Short Stories: The Masque of the Red Death (1845)).

Conclusion

The prince and his companions make all possible efforts to defeat the red death and finally they fail. The story proves that it is not possible to defeat death.