Symbolism and "The Masque of the Red Death"

Symbolism: "The Masque of the Red Death"

What is symbolism?

Symbolism is the use of symbols to stand in for ideas or concepts. Now, what is a symbol?

Simply put, a symbol is typically going to be a physical, concrete object (something that can generally be seen, heard, smelled, touched, or tasted in real life, unlike the abstract ideas or concepts they typically represent).

How do you spot symbolism?

The easiest thing to do is determine the qualities or attributes of an object in a story and think about with what it might be associated.

Meanings of Colors Cheat Sheet:

• Black = death or grief

• Yellow (bright) = happiness and joy

• White = innocence and purity

• Blue = sadness

• Green = (context varies) greed and jealousy or nature and rebirth

• Red = (context varies) love and passion or anger and war

• Purple = royalty

But all of that's different in our story...

• Blue = birth

• Purple = childhood

• Green = adolescence

• Orange = adulthood/maturity

• White = old age

• Violet = near death

• Black = (is actually NOT different) still death

Why did Poe make everything different for this story?

This story is a pretty good allegory. What is an allegory? This is what we call a work that is, itself--from beginning to end, an extended metaphor or symbol.

So why are the colors related to the stages of life instead of things like general emotions, and how do we know? Well, in an allegory, everything works together, like the pieces of a clock--all of the gears fitting together to give meaning to the story. The rooms are arranged from east to west. What else goes from east to west?

The sun rises...the sun sets...

We often see the cycle of the sun throughout the day representing the life cycle.

The sun rising represents birth, the sun setting represents death, and everything in between is childhood to old age.

Does anything else represent our relationship with death?

Yes. In short, everything in this story relates to death and how we deal with the prospect of death.

Prince Prospero deals with a plague by locking himself in a fortified castle. He and his partygoers are disguised so that death may not recognize them. Prospero is literally attempting to deter and hide from death.

No one at the party is willing to check out the black room, as it creeps them out. However, the clock is always there to bring their attention to the passing of time, chiming every hour to remind them of the end drawing ever nearer.

The Masked Stranger

Despite all of the measures Prospero has taken, the Read Death still comes for everyone at his party. Prospero and everyone hiding behind their fortress walls, attempting to distract and hide themselves from the death outside, eventually die anyway.

What seems to be the central message Poe is trying to convey?