Hello everyone,
I have a research paper on "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe. I am researching how Poe develops the theme that no one escapes death through the use of symbolism in the story. I was wondering if everyone could read it and possible edit it and do whatever. You don't have to read the book to be able to help, the way the essay flows is very important I am positive most of you here are better than me at this.
Thank you very much.
I have included the introduction, my first and second paragraph, and the intro. to my 3rd paragraph. I have not yet included the conclusion.
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Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston Massachusetts and is the author of "The Masque of the Red Death" (Edgar Allan Poe Biography). He had an agonizing life while growing up as his mother died due to tuberculosis when he was only two (Edgar Allan Poe Biography). After the death of his mother, Poe's father fled, leaving him as an orphan (Edgar Allan Poe Biography). In 1811, he was adopted by John Allan and Francis Allan and this is how he acquired his middle name (Edgar Allan Poe Biography). While growing up, he spent his life in and out of the army, engaging in an ongoing struggle over money with his foster father, and developing the notorious habits of alcoholism and debt (Edgar Allan Poe Biography). In 1829, his foster mother, Francis Allan, died of tuberculosis (Edgar Allan Poe Biography). He was engulfed with the same misery that he experienced as a young child when his mother died. By the age of twenty-six, he married his thirteen year old cousin, Virginia Clemm (Edgar Allan Poe Biography). Virginia, however, also died of tuberculosis in 1847 (Edgar Allan Poe Biography). This was the "third significant woman in his life to have died of the same disease" (Edgar Allan Poe Biography). All of these depressing events in Poe's life are the reason for his horrific writings, but more importantly are the motives for writing "The Masque of the Red Death". In "The Masque of the Red Death", Poe uses symbolism to develop the theme that no one escapes death.
In the beginning, Poe uses the seven coloured chambers of his fortress as well as Prince Prospero himself to develop the theme of the story. The seven chambers that Prospero creates in his fortress "[progress] from east to west - from blue to black - [symbolizing] the seven stages of man" (Roppolo 137). The specific order of the seven chambers is very interesting because the first blue coloured room begins in the east. The blue coloured chamber symbolizes the rising sun from the east as well as the beginning of a person's life. On the western end of the fortress, however, is a black coloured chamber. The colour black symbolizes death and is usually used in connection with death (Colour Psychology). The sun also sets in the west which symbolizes the end of a person's life. Furthermore, when Prince Prospero "first sees the masked figure in the blue, or most eastern chamber" (Roppolo 141), he charges at the masked figure in an attempt to seize him. However, the fact that Prince Prospero follows the masked figure from the eastern chamber to the western chamber symbolizes Prospero's life passing by and it is not until Prospero reaches the "ominous seventh chamber" (Wheat 52) that "the plague [kills him]" (Magill Book Reviews). This is ironic, though, considering it is Prospero himself who tries to cheat death by inviting all of his friends into his fortress in order to defeat the pestilence in the beginning. This situation clearly signifies that death follows everyone from the second that they are born and that Death is truly inescapable.
In addition to the seven coloured chambers, Poe's uses the ebony grandfather clock to develop the theme. In the seventh room, there is "gigantic clock of ebony" (Poe 4) which essentially connects "life and death together in this story" (Howard, par. 8). Its chimes "strike out the passage of life and can be heard in every other room of the entire fortress or allegorically every other stage of life" (Roppolo 84). As the party guests enjoy their festivities, they are forced to pause every time the clock chimes and are reminded "hour after hour that life, like the course of the 'Red Death' is short" (Roppolo 141). Still, it is only at midnight that "The clock, the most powerful reminder of death in the Prince's world, is at its most powerful moment ... since it has twelve long suggestive strokes to sound" (Wheat 54). In addition, the clock stops ticking once every guest dies. It is as if the clock represents a countdown to death. It is also at midnight that the Red Death enters Prospero's fortress and holds "illimitable dominion over all" (Poe 11). The fact that the Red Death enters only once the clock strikes midnight symbolises the end of life, just like the seven chambers which progressed from the east to the west. All in all, each tick of the clock that passes reminds people that no one can escape death.
Finally, Poe uses both Prospero's abbey and the personification of death as symbols to develop the theme that no one escapes death. Prince Prospero's abbey, which is where the masked ball is held, is represented as a giant barrier which is ultimately used as protection from the Red Death. However, it also represents the social barrier between those who are wealthy and those who are underprivileged. Only those that are "hale and light-hearted" (Poe 1) and are "from among the knights and dames of his court" (Poe 1) are privileged enough to attend enter Prospero's "castellated abbey" (Poe 1). Poe, on the other hand, shows that by the end of the story that no matter how prepared Prince Prospero is, no one, not even those that hold great wealth and power, can escape death.
After careful examination of these sources of evidence, it is clear that Poe's intention is to bring the reader to an understanding of the allegory in "The Masque of the Red Death". Many significant women in Poe's life died to tuberculosis, which can be represented as the 'Red Death". Perhaps Poe is representing himself as Prince Prospero and hiding from the "Red Death" so that he, as well as those who are close to him, do not encounter the same fate as those who have already died. All in all, Poe is showing the reader that no matter what position a person is in life, death is always going to be present and there is absolutely no escape from it.
Your essay is really well-written. You have a clear and well-argued thesis, and the grammar and style are both solid. The only criticism I have for you is that the biographical information in the first paragraph, while interesting, seems out of place, given that your essay isn't on the real-life influences on Poe's work. You are essentially undertaking a formalist reading of the story, and so should craft a more appropriate introduction.
Great choice of topic, btw -- I love "The Masque of the Red Death."
This is high-quality stuff. You write very well, so you can now go up to the next level by refining it even further with little, nit-picking things like this:
The specific order of the seven chambers is very interesting, because the first blue-coloured room begins in the east. The blue-coloured chamber...
Above, I put hyphens in blue-colored, and I separated the two halves of the compound sentence with a comma. To be clear, though, the use of commas involves some rules that involve matters of personal taste...
It would be a shame for such a good writer not to read a tiny book called the Elements of Style, which we mention a lot in this forum.
Please check out the EF Contributor Page (link at the bottom of the screen).
