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The Masque of the Red Death By Edgar Allan Poe Kateryna R. Peter G. Alexa M. Kimberly D.

Main Characters Prince Prospero- He is a wealthy, terrible, and foolish ruler. He is selfish when it comes to taking care of his people. During the spread of the “Red Death”, he leaves his people and locks himself with a few of his friends and hosts a ball. He denies and won’t accept his inevitable death. He is all about being in the moment and living it up. He will eventually die when the Red Death comes uninvited and kills him. The Red Death- We can consider the Red Death to be a character because Poe personifies the plague. He causes the deaths of many people including Prospero.

Story Plot & Major Events Climax: -Prospero is killed by the uninvited man. Rising Action: -A man wearing a bloody mask appears at the party. -Prospero is angry at the uninvited man for his inappropriate behavior and appearance and follows him into the black room. Falling Action: -After Prospero’s death the knights approach the mysterious man and are killed along with all the guests. -It is discovered that the uninvited guest is The Red Death himself. Exposition: -There is an outbreak of a plague known as “The Red Death”. -Prospero locks him and his friends in his castle in order to protect them from the plague and throws a masquerade ball. Resolution: The Red Death conquers the town, killing everyone.

Themes & Symbols - The Seven Rooms - The Seven Colors The different rooms represent the stages of life. Poe arranges the rooms from right to left (east to west) which represents the life cycle of the day. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. In this case the day (the east) represents birth and the night (the west) represents death. By making the characters Prospero and the mysterious guest go through each room from right to left, Poe illustrates the human’s journey from birth to death. The colors of the rooms help to further illustrate the stages of life. The first room is blue which represents birth, purple to represent youth, green for adolescence, orange for adulthood, white for old age, violet for impending death, and lastly black for the inevitable death itself.

Themes & Symbols -Ebony Clock -The Red Death The clock also adds on to the theme of life. The clock is located in the black room which represents how time and life is sort of running out and bringing you inevitably closer to your death. The clock is so loud that you can hear it in every room and this symbolizes that no matter how much the people hide from the plague and avoid it, you can’t avoid death because everyone dies eventually. Death is inevitable and everyone will eventually die. No one is immortal and you cannot cheat nor avoid death. Materialism would not protect the people from the plague

Setting & Mood The masquerade ball was held in Prospero’s lavish castle behind welded shut doors and the guest wore costumes and masks that concealed their identities. The party was in an apocalyptic mood as every time the ebony clock chimed the guest would become silent and nervous. They were waiting for something sinister to happen. Also, all the guest avoided the black room as they felt it was mysterious and reminded them of death.

Gothic & Dark Romanticism Elements The main theme of an inevitable death creates a suspenseful and sinister mood. There is always a feeling of an impending doom. Death is the main focus and stays on your mind as you read the story. Poe also gives death humanistic characteristics which is very creepy and uses supernatural elements. The setting is very eerie as it is in a castle surrounded by disease and will eventually become infested as well. Also, Poe describes the story in a very grotesque way and description of the plague creeps out the readers.

THE END