Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death

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The Masque of the Red Death: Setting as an Allegory to Inescapable Death

In the short story “The Masque of the Red Death” author Edgar Allen Poe uses the setting as an allegory to convey that death is inescapable. The story tells of Prince Prospero hiding away in his castle and throwing an elaborately lavish party for 1000 of his subjects while the country is perishing rapidly by a plague knows as the Red Death. Poe gives lavish details about a magnificent masquerade ball that mirrors the concept of facing imminent death, no matter one’s station in life. The wealthy friends of the Prince are no more protected from the Red Death than any of the subjects outside of his gates.
The masquerade ball takes place in the locked gates of the Prince’s
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