The survivors, however, managed to stay alive by focusing on personal goals. Even though the era of the Black Plague was controlled by death, the survivors used three different methods to escape the death that surrounded them. One method the people used to escape the plague was to fear death itself. A brutal disease, the Black Plague left its victims decomposing in mere days after contracting the disease. When someone showed signs of the plague, another person would claim he would fetch a doctor.
The plague quickly killed a large portion of the population. In the end, the Red Death kills the prince and his companions from within the abbey.
The message conveyed in the story is that punishment is inevitable to those who allow others to suffer in their place due to the events that took place in the story. Prince Prospero leaves his people behind with only his own interests in mind and when the plague begins to spread quickly, Prospero gathers his friends and moves them to the abbey in order to hide from the deadly illness.
In this way, Prospero shows little care for the well-being of his people, despite being trusted as their leader. He chooses safety for him and his court, hiding himself and them away and leaving his subjects to suffer with no guidance or help.
By hiding away, Prospero leaves others to die in place of him and his friends. They were interrupted by a figure they could not ignore. It is important to remember that Prospero had welded the doors to the abbey shut, so nothing could get inside. Ripped from their state of ignorance, they were forced to face the dim reality. There was entertainment such as musicians and dancers. Nothing but happiness existed there. There was no such thing as negativity. What do the ebony….
Edgar Allen Poe 3. Continue Reading. Read More. Edgar Allen Poe their work more interesting and establish deeper feelings within their audience that normally could not be achieved. Edgar Allen Poe Edgar Allen Poe Edgar Allen Poe was a man that led a depressing life filled with trial and tribulation, which caused him to stumble consistently. Edgar Allen Poe Shallyn Ward Samuell American Literature to 4 December, Instilling Fear in the Hearts of Readers Everywhere Whether it be a story or poem about a tragic love or a murderous housemate or even an old friend, Edgar Allen Poe seems to be able to make anything mysterious and creepy.
By doing this he hoped to prevent the infection from entering his domain. He intended to wait until the spread of the disease had completely subsided, and then return to the outside world. What do the ebony clock and its arresting chimes add to the plot? Can you think of any symbolic value the clock might have? I think that the clock symbolizes the hands of time. The first room, which is blue, represents birth.
The last room, the black room, symbolizes death. The sun rises in the east, providing light, but eventually will set in the west, with its light no longer present. The Tempest , Act 4, Scene 1, Poe's Prince Prospero isn't a sorcerer, but he is a figure whose creative power as an artist borders on magic.
Like Shakespeare's Prospero, he also uses his magic to create a dreamlike and beautiful revel. And like that other Prospero, Prince Prospero's revel is forced to come to an end. But unlike Shakespeare's Prospero, Poe's is not the one who ends it…and he himself doesn't end so happily.
The sorcerer image suggests something else. You might say Prince Prospero's real flaw isn't hedonism or simple foolishness, but hubris excessive pride , and specifically artistic hubris.
Prospero tries to create a perfect artificial world of art born of his own imagination. The seven rooms are that idealized world. They symbolize the whole of human life, re-envisioned by Prospero. And Prospero wants those rooms to contain not only life, but also death — which is why there's a black room.
It's almost like Prospero wants to conquer death with his art. That may be way Prospero is so outraged when the Red Death shows up. It's a kind of death that doesn't fit into his artwork, and that indeed offends his taste. The Red Death's arrival means that Prospero has lost control of the situation: it is real death, not just imagined death. And that death conquers Prospero, in the very spot where he had hoped to conquer it the black room.
Prospero's masquerade disappears shortly afterwards, in "Darkness and Decay. Speaking of twisted artist figures, isn't there an interesting overlap between Prince Prospero and Poe himself? When we read the story, it's Poe's remarkable imagination that strikes us; he's the one who created the world of the masquerade, and painted it in such vivid colors.
It's Poe who came up with all that nifty symbolism of death and life, and all the dramatic imagery. But within the world of the story, it's Prospero who creates the masquerade, and all the things that we admire Poe's story for. Poe's creative imagination and Prospero's, in other words, overlap to a remarkable degree. Poe himself is something of a Prospero figure. Might Poe be trying to tell us something about himself through Prospero too?
There's one respect in which Prospero's imagination and Poe's don't overlap though. Prospero is defeated by the Red Death; it's an external force that destroys Prospero's artwork.
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