“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.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Physical Features of the Abbey
3. Symbolism
3.1 Blood
3.2 Rooms and Colors
3.3 Time
3.4 Death and the Masque
4. The Narrator of “The Masque of The Red Death”
4.1 The Narrator is one of the dying revellers
4.2 The Narrator is an ‘impossible narrator’
4.3 The Narrator is Death himself
4.4 Conclusion
5. “The Masque of The Red Death” and the Grotesque
6. “The Masque of the Red Death” – An Allegory, A Memento Mori
6.1 Allegory
6.2 Memento Mori
7. Final Remarks
8. Bibliography
Objectives & Research Topics
This work examines Edgar Allan Poe’s short story "The Masque of the Red Death," focusing on its complex symbolism, the role of the narrator, and its classification within the literary tradition of the grotesque and allegory. The primary research goal is to deconstruct how Poe weaves themes of mortality, human artifice, and the inevitability of death through spatial design, the passage of time, and narrative perspective.
- The symbolic significance of physical structures and color schemes in the abbey.
- The temporal mechanics of the story as a reflection of human mortality.
- An analysis of the narrator's unique, paradoxical position.
- Evaluation of the story as a memento mori and its grotesque elements.
Excerpt from the Book
Physical Features of the Abbey
Poe has always been concerned with the atmosphere that can be created by decorating a room in a certain way. In “Philosophy of Furniture”, first published in Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine in May 1840, he explained some of the principles of interior decoration that he deemed fundamental. Some of these principles already foreshadowed the decoration of the abbey in “The Masque of the Red Death”. He wrote: “The soul of the apartment is the carpet. ... Indeed, whether on carpets, or curtains, or tapestry, or ottoman coverings, all upholstery of this nature should be rigidly Arabesque” [Poe; 463; emphasis added] and arabesque the decoration of Prospero’s vaults is.
The Prince created seven rooms – the significance of the number seven will be discussed in detail later – which were “irregularly disposed that the vision embraced but little more than one room at a time.” [Poe; 269]. They were probably connected by a hallway, which turned after every twenty or thirty yards to reveal a “novel effect” [Poe; 269].
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Provides an overview of the publication history of Poe's tales and introduces key scholarly interpretations of "The Masque of the Red Death."
2. Physical Features of the Abbey: Analyzes how the architectural layout and interior design of Prospero’s abbey function as an artificial, enclosed world designed to ward off death.
3. Symbolism: Investigates the deep-seated symbols within the story, including blood, the seven rooms, the clock, and the personification of death.
4. The Narrator of “The Masque of The Red Death”: Explores the paradoxical nature of the narrator, debating whether they are a dying reveler, an impossible voice, or Death itself.
5. “The Masque of The Red Death” and the Grotesque: Evaluates the story against definitions of the grotesque, noting the tension between horror and humor.
6. “The Masque of the Red Death” – An Allegory, A Memento Mori: Discusses the story as a moral allegory for human mortality and its status as a memento mori.
7. Final Remarks: Offers concluding thoughts on Poe's personal inspiration and the lingering impression of despair present in the work.
8. Bibliography: Lists all academic sources and texts referenced throughout the analysis.
Keywords
Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque of the Red Death, Symbolism, Grotesque, Allegory, Memento Mori, Mortality, Prince Prospero, Narratology, Gothic literature, Time, Seven rooms, Red Death, Literary analysis, Human condition.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this analysis?
The work provides an in-depth literary analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," exploring how thematic elements like symbolism and narrative structure convey the inevitability of death.
What are the primary thematic areas covered?
The core themes include the architectural and color symbolism of the abbey, the role of time, the identity of the narrator, and the story’s classification as an allegory of mortality.
What is the central research question?
The research explores how Poe utilizes specific narrative and aesthetic techniques to illustrate that human attempts to escape mortality are ultimately futile.
Which methodology is applied?
The author employs a qualitative literary analysis, drawing upon existing academic interpretations (Freudian, biographical, and aesthetic) to synthesize a coherent reading of the text.
What does the main body of the work address?
It systematically breaks down the story's setting, the symbolism of the seven rooms, the complex narrative perspective, and the philosophical implications of the story as a "memento mori."
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include Edgar Allan Poe, the grotesque, mortality, narrative paradox, symbolic allegory, and the memento mori tradition.
How does the author interpret the significance of the seven rooms?
The rooms are interpreted as representing the "Seven Ages of Man," a concept linked to Shakespeare's works, illustrating the progression of life toward inevitable death.
Why is the identity of the narrator considered a paradox?
It is paradoxical because the narrator provides intimate details of the ball that someone inside the abbey could not have witnessed without surviving the Red Death, yet all guests are destroyed by the plague.
- 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
