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The Masque of the Red Death
- 149 statements
- 28 feature instances
- 13 referencing feature instances
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The Masque of the Red Death | comment |
"The Masque of the Red Death" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous short stories, first appearing in Graham's Magazine in May 1842 as "The Mask of the Red Death". Poe rewrote and revised the tale before publication in Broadway Journal in July 1845 with its now-familiar title.Prince Prospero's home country isn't doing too well. A horrible plague called the Red Death is ravaging the countryside. The onset is marked by massive bleeding from the pores, especially the face, and the disease is inevitably (and rapidly) fatal; anyone showing those symptoms will be dead within the hour.Not wanting to be troubled by the sight of dying peasants, Prospero sequesters himself and a thousand of his closest friends inside one of his secluded abbeys. Well stocked and with lots of entertainment, they plan to ride out the plague in style.One night, Prospero decides to hold a masquerade ball in a procession of differently colored rooms. The final room is black, with blood-red windows, and has a large clock in it. Just at midnight, the guests notice a strange figure among them, costumed like a still-bleeding victim of the Red Death. Outraged at this show of poor taste, Prospero chases the figure into the final room — and promptly drops dead. The frightened and angry revelers strip off the figure's costume to find no person in it...only the Red Death, now in their very midst.Then everyone dies. When the last guest has expired, the clock stops, the lights go out, and darkness, decay, and the Red Death hold "illimitable dominion over all".On the surface it appears to be a relatively simple, straightforward story compared to the heavy likes of The Fall of the House of Usher and "The Pit and the Pendulum". However, close reading of the text reveals a story chock-full of symbolism and thoughts on the nature of death and life.Sounds like a regular trip down Poe avenue, no? | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_3e2d68db | type |
Menacing Mask | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_3e2d68db | comment |
Menacing Mask: Nobleman Prospero holds a masquerade ball. At midnight, a mysterious reveller appears, wearing a mask resembling "the countenance of a stiffened corpse". While everyone is disturbed by this, that is nothing compared to their horror when they realize it is the Red Death itself. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_3e2d68db | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_4603ea49 | type |
Mystical Plague | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_4603ea49 | comment |
Mystical Plague: At least suggested, given that the Red Death personally visits Prospero and his friends to dispel their illusion of safety. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_471c46f8 | type |
Allegory | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_471c46f8 | comment |
Allegory: Some scholars read the tale as one of these for the progression of life, with each successive colored room representing another stage (fittingly, Prospero dies in the final chamber, which is draped in black). On the other hand, Poe was noted for his disdain of over-analysis, so others advise just taking it as a straightforward horror story. It's worth noting when Masque was first published in 1842 it carried the subtitle "A Fantasy", which seems to indicate Poe didn't want anyone digging too deep into the meaning. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_471c46f8 | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_4e3d253b | type |
Downer Ending | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_4e3d253b | comment |
Downer Ending: The Red Death successfully infiltrates the abbey and kills everyone. The last lines of the story are particularly chilling: | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_50b05d30 | type |
Disproportionate Retribution | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_50b05d30 | comment |
Disproportionate Retribution: Prospero's first instinct, upon seeing the figure dressed as a victim of the Red Death, is to have them seized and hanged from the battlements for reminding them of the plague going on outside. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_5bc2106 | type |
Your Costume Needs Work | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_5bc2106 | comment |
Your Costume Needs Work: The guests at the ball are all shocked by the tastelessness of someone dressing as a corpse who died of the disease they're all trying to ignore. Then someone rips the mask off and finds there's nothing under it... | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_5e4312b9 | type |
Tick Tock Terror | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_5e4312b9 | comment |
Tick Tock Terror: The seventh room features a looming and ominous black clock whose tone is so peculiar and intimidating that each time it chimes, everyone pauses and feels uncomfortable. When the clock strikes midnight, the Red Death arrives. It even stops ticking when the very last person succumbs to the disease, as if it was inextricably linked to the tragedy. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_61a503a7 | type |
Hell Is That Noise | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_61a503a7 | comment |
Hell Is That Noise: The clock in the black room, to the revelers. When it chimes the hour, the sound is so disconcerting that everyone stops what they're doing to listen. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_61a503a7 | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_6bda9a30 | type |
Meaningful Name | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_6bda9a30 | comment |
Meaningful Name: About the only thing we learn about Prospero is that he has wealth. Unfortunately, it isn't enough to save him. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_7241785e | type |
You Can't Fight Fate | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_7241785e | comment |
You Can't Fight Fate: The Red Death, like Time and Darkness, affects everyone — not even the wealthy Prospero and his guests can keep a (malevolent) force of nature out of their festivities. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_7286e96d | type |
Idiot Ball | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_7286e96d | comment |
Idiot Ball: You'd think Prospero would be more concerned about the strange figure who appeared out of nowhere during the party rather than what he was wearing. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_7ffc688 | type |
No Face Under the Mask | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_7ffc688 | comment |
No Face Under the Mask: When the revelers finally rip off the figure's mask, there's nothing underneath. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_81c23aae | type |
Bloody Horror | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_81c23aae | comment |
Bloody Horror: The calling card of the Red Death. We are reminded of this in one of the story's final lines: | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_81c23aae | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_851dda8f | type |
Humanoid Abomination | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_851dda8f | comment |
Humanoid Abomination: The unknown reveler is revealed to be the Red Death itself, before it disperses and kills everyone present. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_851dda8f | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_88c6e936 | type |
Masquerade Ball | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_88c6e936 | comment |
Masquerade Ball: The events of the story takes place during one of these. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_88c6e936 | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_8ed5c6e4 | type |
Asshole Victim | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_8ed5c6e4 | comment |
Asshole Victim: Prospero and his cronies certainly aren't good people; their response to the overwhelming human suffering caused by the Red Death is to hide themselves away and seal the doors so that the sight of death won't disturb their happiness, leaving everyone outside the abbey to fend for themselves. It's unlikely that any of them will be missed when their final fate befalls them. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_8ed5c6e4 | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_90d44f44 | type |
Karmic Death | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_90d44f44 | comment |
Karmic Death: Prospero and his revelers die of the very same disease that they had sought to escape and had condemned everyone outside to. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_97e48376 | type |
The Elites Jump Ship | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_97e48376 | comment |
The Elites Jump Ship: Prospero and his guests are set to to wait out the plague in style and comfort as the rest of the land dies horribly. Unfortunately for them, the Red Death has other ideas... | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_97e48376 | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_9bee1a7f | type |
Eldritch Location | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_9bee1a7f | comment |
Eldritch Location: Prospero's abbey is played up to be this, what with its maze-like design and the highly stylized rooms complete with gothic windows and overwhelming color palettes. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_9bee1a7f | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_a8f905e3 | type |
While Rome Burns | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_a8f905e3 | comment |
While Rome Burns: Prospero and his buddies try to party and have a good time while the Red Death ravages the rest of the country. The narrative even makes clear that they feel proof against the disease; they just don't want to watch the peasants dying. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_ad1db87c | type |
Oh, Crap! | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_ad1db87c | comment |
Oh, Crap!: The reaction of all the revelers when they learn that the costumed figure has No Face Under the Mask, and that the Red Death is now loose in their midst. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_b52355aa | type |
Dying for Symbolism | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_b52355aa | comment |
Dying for Symbolism: As the story illustrates, no one, no matter how rich and well connected, is proof against death, nor can walls keep out a disease. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_b72b12cf | type |
Blood from Every Orifice | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_b72b12cf | comment |
Blood from Every Orifice: The most notable symptom of the Red Death is profuse bleeding from the pores, especially the face. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_d397657d | type |
Hoist by His Own Petard | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_d397657d | comment |
Hoist by His Own Petard: Once the Red Death is revealed, no one can escape the abbey because they’ve welded the doors shut. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_d52d28b6 | type |
Hypocrite | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_d52d28b6 | comment |
Hypocrite: Prospero, most notably when he sets up the black room to have red windows to troll his guests (the sight of each other's red faces is so unnerving that most guests stay out of there) but is outraged when he sees a guest costumed as a corpse with blood on its face. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_d52d28b6 | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_f1a77879 | type |
Plaguemaster | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_f1a77879 | comment |
Plaguemaster: Played With. The figure in the Red Death costume appears to just be a form the disease took on to spread itself into the abbey; it dissolves once it's done its job. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death / int_f76b8969 | type |
Anthropomorphic Personification | |
The Masque of the Red Death / int_f76b8969 | comment |
Anthropomorphic Personification: The figure in the Red Death costume turns out to be the Red Death itself. | |
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The Masque of the Red Death |
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