|
PLOT
Exposition: Poe uses the beginning of the story to offer important background
information; Prospero's kingdom is under attack from the Red Death, and Prospero locks his friends and himself into his castle
to escape the plague.
Inciting Incident: Prospero's
decision to hold a masquerade ball starts the main conflict between he and the Red Death in motion.
Rising Action: The description of the rooms, the chiming of the clocks,
and details of the party increase the tone of anxiety and fear in the story. The conflict intensifies when the mummer (mummy)
dressed as the Red Death appears and angers Prospero. Prospero's decision to chase him when the other knights in the castle
back away from the unexpected guest in fear leads to the climax.
Climax: Prospero has reached the point of no return when he falls dead while attempting to kill the
mummy.
Falling Action: The knights must react
to Prospero's death in the climax of of the story and they pull the sheet off the mummy only to find nothing there. They all
fall dead.
Resolution: With all
the knights and Prince Prospero dead, the conflict is resolved as the Red Death takes complete control of the kingdom.
SYMBOLS
The ebony clock: The clock symbolizes the
passage of time, the onset of death, and the life of the party goers (revellers). Poe builds the symbol by giving details
on how the party stops and the partiers get nervous every time they hear the clock chime, and he finishes the meaning of the
symbol when he states "And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay." The clock stops when life
stops.
East and West: The movement of east to
west symbolizes the idea of light to death. In real life the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, which could be thought
as the sun being born in the east then dieing in the west. In the story the movement of east to west represents the life of
the people at the party. They start in the east wing of the building and they move to the west wing, but once they get to
the west wing they all are dead. This symbolizes that light and life is in the east and death is in the west.
Prospero: His name has the meaning Prosperous. Prosperous
means wealthy, great fortune, and healthy. Prospero symbolizes to be welthy and have good fortune but it doesn't turn out
that way in the end.
The abbey: In real life,
the abbey is a religious church where people go to praise God. In the story, Prospero is partying and sinning in the abbey.
He locks himself in the abbey to try to lock death out. Prospero thinks he is better than God. The abbey represents his graveyard
because he thinks he can live forever there.
Room
colors: The room colors symbolize a few things. The 7 rooms represent the 7 deadly sins which Prospero commits while at the
party. Also since each room has a different color, each color has an arch type connected to it, for example green represents
growth and life, but can also mean envy.
IRONY
Prospero: Prospero's
name is an obvious allusion to the word Prosperity or Prosperous: the condition of being successful or thriving; especially
: economic well-being. While Prospero is thriving at the beginning of the story, Poe creates irony when the Red Death is able
to sneak into the party and kill the "most prosperous" man in the kingdom. Although Prospero thinks he is wealthy enough to
escape death, he isn't.
Prospero locking himself
in the abbey: The irony of Prospero locking himself in an abbey is a man who has committed the 7 deadly sins, and was leaving
his people for dead, hides in a house of God.
Happy
and dauntless and sagacious: The irony of Prospero being described as this is he is being described as joyful and noble, but
he is locking himself away for the pain outside and being a coward and leaving his people to die. But he still can not run
from death.
Charactorization
Prospero: The charactor
in the story is a mean self centered prince. He locks himself in the abbey in his castle while all of his people are dieing
outside. He thinks he is all powerful and can defeate death, but in the end he can't.
|
