Edgar Allan Poe: The Mask Of The Red Death ⛏

The Mask Of The Red Death is a short story written by Edagar Allan Poe in 1842. It tackles various themes such as: Youth, Fate and Death. The plot is told from a third person point of view, it tells the story of a young rich prince whose kingdom was stricken by a fatal disease, the prince tried to escape it with his friends but neither his fortune nor youth could save him from the inevitability of death. This essay is an attempt to tackle: Death in TMOTRD, Symbolism & Allegory in the plot and Characteristics Of Modernism in the literary work.

A simple contextualization of the short story brings us back to the 19's century where the Black Plague took many souls and spread fear and horror in Europe. Edgar Allan Poe represents this fatal disease in the story as a man in black wearing a red mask and he mercilessly kills people by making them bleed from their mouths. The protagonist is a young, rich and strong prince who thinks he can escape death. He goes with a thousand friends to a far-away town in a castle where they have everything they need for a whole year, after few months of prosperity and joy and as they seem to forget about the Plague, the prince decides to throw a big party but the Mask Of The Red Death appears and ends the prince's life and neither his youth nor fortune could save him, death also harvests the souls of the prince's friends one by one. Poe's work tackles the theme of death in its most desperate form, he represents it as an inevitable disease that chases human beings and nothing can save us from it. He also shows that the most valuable things in life such as: Fortune and youth cannot make a Man immortal, they are only an escape to which Men return in hope to efface the idea of mortality.

Similarily to Edgar's poetry, his short stories are full of symbols through which he tackles various themes and conveys different messages. TMOTRD is rich in symbolism, if we take a deeper look at the names of characters, colors and places. We would discover plenty of hidden meanings: The protagonist's name is "Prospero" which undoubtedly refers to "prosperity". Edgar implies that everything comes to an end in this life even the greatest blessings cannot save a man from his fate. Another symbol is the name of the antagonist "The Mask Of The Red Death" which is also the title of the story, Edgar describes the character as a man wearing black and a red mask which is a description that instantly reminds us of the Black Plague which is a disease that causes the mouth to bleed. By the end of his story, Poe gives a view about the diachotomy of life & death, he allegorically represents the stages of life as "seven different colored rooms of the palace". The chambers are arranged from east to west which is symbolically significant because it represents the life cycle of a day, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Each room has a distinct color and each color represents a stage of life, the first room is purple which is the color of birth and beginnings while the seventh room is black with red windows which represents Plague and Death and it is the room in which the prince was killed by TMOTRD.

Lastly, we can say that Poe's story is pure modernist literary work which can be viewed in the three characteristics of modernism: The intentional break with tradition, Alienation and Despair. It is clear in the plot that tradition has no place in people's lifestyle as people enjoy partying and drinking for entertainment. Another modernist characteristic is Alienation, the prince and his friends isolate themselves away from the rest of the world where they choose safety rather than facing their fears and fates. Finally, Despair is implicitly and explicitly present in the plot, Poe views death as an inevitable fate that chases human beings, as previously mentioned in the essay death is represented as TMOTRD while its opposed character is Prospero. Prospero represents the beautiful and valuable things life: fortune, youth and bravery and throughout the plot these valuable things serve as a good escape to the prince and his friends but they could not save them from death which is a very pessimistic and desperate belief.

"the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."

Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque of the Red Death

As a conclusion, it is likely to remind that The Mask Of The Red Death is one of Poe's most famous short stories that tackles a universal theme such as: Death. It is also a a pure modernist literary work that is rich in symbolism through which Poe conveys his beliefs, opinions and views.