Weber 1

Lauren Weber

Ms. Woelke

Pre AP English 9

7 November 2018

"The Masque of the Red Death" Symbolism

The red death was a frightening epidemic in the 1300’s. Edgar Allan Poe uses the Red

Death to create a fictional, scary story to educate readers on the threat of the plague. He uses

everyday objects to symbolize his allegory. He emphasizes that everybody is similar, and wealth

does not matter. When the disease began to spread, it affected everyone, not just the poor. He

uses clocks, masks, and lights to present his allegory. In the story, “The Masque of the Red

Death”, Edgar Allan Poe illustrates the allegory, death is inevitable with the use of these

symbols.

The clock is the first symbol Poe uses to portray his allegory. The clock symbolizes that

the guests are getting closer to an inevitable death. As the clock chimes, the guests “grew pale”

and they raised “their hands over their brows as if in confused revory”( Poe 3). The guests are

nervous and can sense something is wrong. The clock creates a feeling of terror throughout the

room. The ebony clock counts down until the plague reaches them. Additionally, when the clock

chimes again “all is still and all is silent… stiff-frozen”(Poe 3). An uneasiness settles in the

room, as death draws near. The plague eventually engulfs everyone. The clock infers that the

guests are running out of time as death approaches them.

The masquerade is another symbol the reader encounters. The masquerade symbolizes

that the guests are hiding from the outside world. As the ball begins, “the pestilence raged…
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Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at the masked ball”(Poe 1). This shows that

while many poor people are getting sick and dying, the rich pretend nothing is happening. The

guests believe that the masks can block out the plague. But, the masks cannot protect them, as

“he had come like a thief in the night”; therefore, “he” reached the party “and darkness and

decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all” (Poe 5). No one was exempt from

the plague. Nothing could protect the wealthy guests from the contagious disease, even their

masks.

The final symbol is light. The light (and fire) symbolize life; when the light dies, so do

the people. The castle is very dark; however, there are a few lights “and the flames of the

tripods… illuminated the room”(Poe 2). As the lights are on, the party is alive and thriving. The

guests are preoccupied and forget about the disease lurking outside of the castle. However, the

plague creeps into the castle, and “one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed

hallways… and the flames of the tripods expired”(Poe 5). As soon as everyone is dead, all the

lights in the castle extinguish. The darkness symbolizes death. The lights represents the

partygoers last bit of happiness before the inevitable plague takes their lives.

Edgar Allan Poe clearly emphasizes that no one is exempt from a plagues’ demise. He

uses the clock, the masquerade, and the lights to define his allegory. These symbols were

transparent in his writing of “The Masque of the Red Death”.