“The Masque of the Red Death” first appeared in May 1842 in Graham’s Magazine. It is generally grouped together with three other of Poe’s stories, namely “King Pest”, which first appeared in the Southern Literary Messenger in September 1835, “The Cask of Amontillado”, published in Godey’s Magazine and Lady’s Book 33 in 1846, and “Hop-Frog”, published in The Flag of Our Union in 1849. Since all these stories take place dur-ing the carnival season, they are called “The Masquerades”.
In her book “The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe. A Psycho-Analytic Interpretation”, Marie Bonaparte takes a Freudian approach to Poe’s stories, Sigmund Freud himself wrote the preface, and claims that all the above tales are connected to Poe’s father com-plex [Bonaparte; 507]. In her interpretation of “The Masque of the Red Death”, the figure of the Red Death is an incorporation of the father who returns to punish the son.
This is just one reading of the story. Much has been published about “The Masque of the Red Death”, one of Poe’s most read tales. Scholars have tried to find its roots, like Burton R. Pollin, who assumes that Poe used his own “Shadow – A Parable” as a source for “The Masque of the Red Death”. Others attempted to compare the story of Prince Prospero and his followers to other great works of art, for example Christopher Brown, who saw parallels between “The Masque of the Red Death” and Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady. A lot of research has also been done on the narrator of the tale – I will only elabo-rate on the most plausible theories on who it is that is telling this tale. Equally important, “The Masque of the Red Death” is said to contain one of the most exact definitions of the grotesque in the literary sense.
Finally, as almost all of Poe’s tales, “The Masque of the Red Death”, too, contains an in-credible amount of symbolism. Everything from the significance of blood over the impor-tance of the number seven in mysticism to the meaning of colors can be traced in this tale, which must also be read as an allegory and a memento mori.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- Physical Features of the Abbey
- Symbolism
- Blood
- Rooms and Colors
- Time
- Death and the Masque
- The Narrator of "The Masque of The Red Death"
- "The Masque of The Red Death" and the Grotesque
- "The Masque of the Red Death" - An Allegory, A Memento Mori
- Allegory
- Memento Mori
- Final Remarks
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This essay aims to explore the symbolism, narrative techniques, and themes present in Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Masque of the Red Death." The analysis will focus on identifying the key elements that contribute to the story's chilling atmosphere and its enduring relevance.
- The role of symbolism in creating a chilling atmosphere
- The nature of the narrator and their perspective on death
- The use of allegory and memento mori to convey a philosophical message
- The connection between death and the grotesque in literature
- The themes of isolation, escapism, and the inevitability of death
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: This chapter provides background information on "The Masque of the Red Death," its publication history, and its connections to other stories in Poe's oeuvre. It also mentions various interpretations of the story, particularly focusing on the Freudian approach and other scholarly analyses.
- Physical Features of the Abbey: This chapter explores the physical setting of the story, detailing the architecture, decoration, and atmosphere of Prince Prospero's abbey. It examines the significance of the seven rooms, the unique lighting, and the overall impression of suffocation created by the environment.
- Symbolism: This chapter focuses on the rich symbolism embedded in Poe's story. It explores the symbolism of blood as a representation of death, the connection between blood and the color red, and other symbolic elements within the text.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The core focus of this work lies on analyzing the symbolism, narrative techniques, and themes of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death." Key concepts explored include symbolism, allegory, memento mori, the grotesque, isolation, escapism, and the inevitability of death. Other important terms include blood, color, time, and the character of Prince Prospero.
- Quote paper
- Kristina Maul (Author), 2002, About Edgar Allan Poe's - "The Masque of Red Death", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/14564
