Special K

Colorful Death

I've read "The Masque of the Red Death" several times in my years of schooling. It has sort of lost it's thrill for me- sorry.

I guess there are a few main ideas in the story. One- the figure at the end. "The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat." Pretty big symbol for the bubonic plague or "black death" (which ties into the title...nice Poe) that they were trying to escape. The description Poe makes about the visitor is relatively obvious- he basically looks like death.

Another element of the story is the idea that one cannot ever escape death no matter how hard they may try. The prince locks himself and 1000 other up in his castle to escape the plague. Yet all the partying in the world cannot save him and his guests from their fate- to die. It was egotistical of the prince to imagine that he was the one who can escape something such as death which no other person can.

The last item are the rooms representing the Seven Deadly Sins. Ashley commented about the possibility of the rooms being connected to these sins in some form. I think the rooms are in a direct connection to the seven sins. (For those who don't remember, the sins are: Pride, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, Lust, Anger, and Greed). Prince Prospero exhibits all of these sins throughout the story and his behavior is displayed in the rooms. However, I'm not sure how the colors of the rooms corolate to the sins. Green for envy but what else?