Monday, July 31, 2006
"The Masque of the Red Death" Notes and Homework Questions
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH—NOTES
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
EDGAR ALLAN POE
BORN 1809 IN BOSTON, MASS
HIS FATHER DESERTED THE FAMILY WHEN EDGAR WAS 1 YEAR OLD
HIS MOTHER DIED WHEN HE WAS 2 YEARS OLD
MR. AND MRS. JOHN ALLAN ADOPTED AND RAISED POE
POE DIED IN 1849 IN BALTIMORE…THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS DEATH WERE NEVER CLEAR.
MANY THOUGHT ALCOHOL KILLED HIM.
POE WROTE A NUMBER OF POEMS AND SHORT STORIES AND ONLY 1 NOVEL.
HIS SHORT STORIES USUALLY CREATE A SINGLE, HORRIFYING EFFECT.
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1842.
POE IS CONSIDERED THE CREATOR OF THE SHORT STORY AS WELL AS THE DETECTIVE STORY AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR STORY.
HE USED A TECHNIQUE IN HIS STORIES WHEREBY A STORY COULD BE READ AS BEING EITHER ABOUT THE SUPERNATURAL OR ABOUT THE IMAGININGS OF A MAD MAN.
HIS DEFINITION OF A SHORT STORY IS: A BRIEF FICTIONAL WORK, THE DETAILS OF WHICHARE CAREFULLY CHOSEN TO CREATE IN THE RADER A SINGLE DOMINANT IMPRESSION.
THE ALLEGORICAL NATURE OF THIS STORY IS INDICATED BYTHE FACT THAT ITS ONLY NAMED CHARACTER, PRINCE PROSPERO, AND ITS ONLY REAL CONFLICT IS THE SYMBOLIC ONE BETWEEN PROSPERO AND THE RED DEATH.
THEMES AND MEANINGS
THE THEME CLEARLY FOCUSES ON THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF ESCAPING ONE’S MORTALITY REGARDLESS OF POWER, WEALTH OR INFLUENCE.
THE CHARACTERS SEEM LESS LIKE READ PEOPLE THAN FANTASIES CREATED BY A MADMAN.
IRONY OF THE COLOR RED—RED BLOOD IS THE COLOR OF LIFE BUT POE CALLS IT THE RED DEATH.
POE’S POINT IS THE VERY PRESENCE OF LIFE WILL EVENTUALLY MEAN DEATH.
PROSPERO CREATES A WORLD OF IMAGINAGIVE REALITY WHICH IS NOT SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE EXTERNAL REALITY.
THE SEQUENCE OF ROOMS REPRESENTS THE SEVEN STATES OF MAN.
THE COLOR BLUE SHOWS THE BEGINNING OF LIFE INCLUDING LIGHT IN THE EARTH.
THE ENDING COLOR OF BLACK IS THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT IN THE WEST AND DEATH.
THE IMAGE OF THE CLOCK SUGGESTS THAT LIFE EXISTS WITHIN A TIME FRAME—IT IS TIME THAT MAKES LIFE END INEVITABLY IN DEATH.
STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
THE STYLE FOCUSES ON PICTORIAL RATHER THEN NARRATIVE.
POE ATTEMPTS TO CREATE THE STORY IN A SENSE THAT IT EXISTS WITHIN SPACE AND OUTSIDE TI
PROSPERO, FOLLOWING THE RED DEATH THROUGH THE ROOMS GOES THROUGH A TEMPORAL PROGRESSION FROM BIRTH TO YOUTH TO MATURITY TO OLD AGE AND FINALLY TO DEATH.
LIFE ALWAYS INSISTS UPON DEATH.
THIS STORY IS A MORAL LESSON ABOUT THE HUMAN INABILITY TO ESCAPE DEATH.
¨ Poe may have considered historical examples of the Black Death or bubonic plague as well as the cholera epidemic of 1790 in Philadelphia and Baltimore—but his plague takes on the form of a RED DEATH rather than black—so now blood, the substance of life, now becomes the mark of death.
¨ What is the RED DEATH? Sharp pains, sudden dizziness, profuse bleeding from the pores, scarlet stains upon the body and face and very contagious. This all took place (seizure, progress and termination of life) within ½ hour.
¨ Setting—The story covers six months during the RED DEATH—the action takes place in Prince Prospero’s abbeys. The masquerade takes place in the imperial suite which consisted of seven very distinct rooms.
¨ Character—Only Prince Prospero speaks and his name suggests happiness and good fortune—Within his abbey he has created a world of imagination.
¨ Point of View—an allegory—a prose in which characters, actions and settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities.
¨ Style and Interpretation
The story takes place in seven connected but carefully separated rooms
The significance of the number seven—history of the word had seven stages—an individual’s life had seven stages—there were seven wonders of the world—universities divide learning into seven subjects—there are seven deadly sins—there are seven cardinal virtues—seven is important in mysticism
¨ The seven rooms represent the seven stages of a person’s life from birth to death.
¨ The Prince chases a figure of the RED DEATH through all the chambers only to die himself in the final chamber.
¨ Prince Prospero’s name implies happiness and suggests that all people use happiness to wall out the threat of death.
¨ The masked ball reminds us of the dance of death where a skeleton leads a group of people to the grave. (The Prince leads his people to the RED DEATH.)
¨ The significance of time is found in the clock of ebony in the final room. The clock takes on human aspects.
¨ The relationship of time to the RED DEATH helps us understand the symbolic meaning of the story.
¨ The seven rooms were laid out east to west which was to symbolize the course of the sun which measures earthly time.
¨ The last room is colored Red and Black symbolizing Death and Time.
¨ Blood pours out form every pore indicating that death is not outside of us but is a part of each of us.
¨ Its presence is felt in our imaginations as we become aware of the control death has over us.
¨ Theme—No one escapes death—it comes like a thief in the night.
HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Edgar Allan Poe
A. Write a sentence for each word below. Sentences must reflect the story.
1. masquerade
2. pestilence
3. sagacious
4. voluptuous
5. defiance
B. Briefly answer each question.
1. What effect does the first paragraph have on the reader?
2. What is the reason for the group’s seclusion?
3. Describe in detail each of the seven rooms, focusing on color.
4. How does the arrangement of the rooms differ from that of most imperial suites?
5. What room differs from all the rest? How does it differ?
6. How are the rooms lighted?
7. What causes the musicians to periodically stop playing? Why are they afraid?
8. Why is this a “gay and magnificent party”?
9. Why are color and music given so much emphasis in this story?
10. What happens at the stroke of midnight?
11. Describe the masked figure in detail?
12. How does Prince Prospero react to this imposter, and what does he promise to do to this specter of death?
13. What do the guests do at this point in the story?
14. Describe the masked figure’s actions.
15. What is the climax of the story?
16. How does the story end?
C. Write the letter “C” if the italics word is used correctly, and write the letter “I” if the word is incorrect.
1. The king was a sagacious ruler.
2. The word Gothic may be used to refer to a type of architecture or to a literary genre.
3. The bizarre phantasms of the night frightened Eric.
4. A dominion is a decorative piece of furniture.
5. Being blasphemous in school is inappropriate.
6. A person in seclusion is part of the crowd.
D. Briefly answer each question.
1. Who is the main character and what is his main objective?
2. What is the Red Death? Describe it manifestations.
3. Who is invited to go to Prospero’s court?
4. What and where is the center of the main action?
5. Describe the interior of the ballroom, specifically the order and color of the rooms and the windows.
6. Describe the final western room.
7. What was the result when people grabbed the masked figure?
8. What is he meaning of the last line: “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
EDGAR ALLAN POE
BORN 1809 IN BOSTON, MASS
HIS FATHER DESERTED THE FAMILY WHEN EDGAR WAS 1 YEAR OLD
HIS MOTHER DIED WHEN HE WAS 2 YEARS OLD
MR. AND MRS. JOHN ALLAN ADOPTED AND RAISED POE
POE DIED IN 1849 IN BALTIMORE…THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS DEATH WERE NEVER CLEAR.
MANY THOUGHT ALCOHOL KILLED HIM.
POE WROTE A NUMBER OF POEMS AND SHORT STORIES AND ONLY 1 NOVEL.
HIS SHORT STORIES USUALLY CREATE A SINGLE, HORRIFYING EFFECT.
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1842.
POE IS CONSIDERED THE CREATOR OF THE SHORT STORY AS WELL AS THE DETECTIVE STORY AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR STORY.
HE USED A TECHNIQUE IN HIS STORIES WHEREBY A STORY COULD BE READ AS BEING EITHER ABOUT THE SUPERNATURAL OR ABOUT THE IMAGININGS OF A MAD MAN.
HIS DEFINITION OF A SHORT STORY IS: A BRIEF FICTIONAL WORK, THE DETAILS OF WHICHARE CAREFULLY CHOSEN TO CREATE IN THE RADER A SINGLE DOMINANT IMPRESSION.
THE ALLEGORICAL NATURE OF THIS STORY IS INDICATED BYTHE FACT THAT ITS ONLY NAMED CHARACTER, PRINCE PROSPERO, AND ITS ONLY REAL CONFLICT IS THE SYMBOLIC ONE BETWEEN PROSPERO AND THE RED DEATH.
THEMES AND MEANINGS
THE THEME CLEARLY FOCUSES ON THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF ESCAPING ONE’S MORTALITY REGARDLESS OF POWER, WEALTH OR INFLUENCE.
THE CHARACTERS SEEM LESS LIKE READ PEOPLE THAN FANTASIES CREATED BY A MADMAN.
IRONY OF THE COLOR RED—RED BLOOD IS THE COLOR OF LIFE BUT POE CALLS IT THE RED DEATH.
POE’S POINT IS THE VERY PRESENCE OF LIFE WILL EVENTUALLY MEAN DEATH.
PROSPERO CREATES A WORLD OF IMAGINAGIVE REALITY WHICH IS NOT SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE EXTERNAL REALITY.
THE SEQUENCE OF ROOMS REPRESENTS THE SEVEN STATES OF MAN.
THE COLOR BLUE SHOWS THE BEGINNING OF LIFE INCLUDING LIGHT IN THE EARTH.
THE ENDING COLOR OF BLACK IS THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT IN THE WEST AND DEATH.
THE IMAGE OF THE CLOCK SUGGESTS THAT LIFE EXISTS WITHIN A TIME FRAME—IT IS TIME THAT MAKES LIFE END INEVITABLY IN DEATH.
STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
THE STYLE FOCUSES ON PICTORIAL RATHER THEN NARRATIVE.
POE ATTEMPTS TO CREATE THE STORY IN A SENSE THAT IT EXISTS WITHIN SPACE AND OUTSIDE TI
PROSPERO, FOLLOWING THE RED DEATH THROUGH THE ROOMS GOES THROUGH A TEMPORAL PROGRESSION FROM BIRTH TO YOUTH TO MATURITY TO OLD AGE AND FINALLY TO DEATH.
LIFE ALWAYS INSISTS UPON DEATH.
THIS STORY IS A MORAL LESSON ABOUT THE HUMAN INABILITY TO ESCAPE DEATH.
¨ Poe may have considered historical examples of the Black Death or bubonic plague as well as the cholera epidemic of 1790 in Philadelphia and Baltimore—but his plague takes on the form of a RED DEATH rather than black—so now blood, the substance of life, now becomes the mark of death.
¨ What is the RED DEATH? Sharp pains, sudden dizziness, profuse bleeding from the pores, scarlet stains upon the body and face and very contagious. This all took place (seizure, progress and termination of life) within ½ hour.
¨ Setting—The story covers six months during the RED DEATH—the action takes place in Prince Prospero’s abbeys. The masquerade takes place in the imperial suite which consisted of seven very distinct rooms.
¨ Character—Only Prince Prospero speaks and his name suggests happiness and good fortune—Within his abbey he has created a world of imagination.
¨ Point of View—an allegory—a prose in which characters, actions and settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities.
¨ Style and Interpretation
The story takes place in seven connected but carefully separated rooms
The significance of the number seven—history of the word had seven stages—an individual’s life had seven stages—there were seven wonders of the world—universities divide learning into seven subjects—there are seven deadly sins—there are seven cardinal virtues—seven is important in mysticism
¨ The seven rooms represent the seven stages of a person’s life from birth to death.
¨ The Prince chases a figure of the RED DEATH through all the chambers only to die himself in the final chamber.
¨ Prince Prospero’s name implies happiness and suggests that all people use happiness to wall out the threat of death.
¨ The masked ball reminds us of the dance of death where a skeleton leads a group of people to the grave. (The Prince leads his people to the RED DEATH.)
¨ The significance of time is found in the clock of ebony in the final room. The clock takes on human aspects.
¨ The relationship of time to the RED DEATH helps us understand the symbolic meaning of the story.
¨ The seven rooms were laid out east to west which was to symbolize the course of the sun which measures earthly time.
¨ The last room is colored Red and Black symbolizing Death and Time.
¨ Blood pours out form every pore indicating that death is not outside of us but is a part of each of us.
¨ Its presence is felt in our imaginations as we become aware of the control death has over us.
¨ Theme—No one escapes death—it comes like a thief in the night.
HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Edgar Allan Poe
A. Write a sentence for each word below. Sentences must reflect the story.
1. masquerade
2. pestilence
3. sagacious
4. voluptuous
5. defiance
B. Briefly answer each question.
1. What effect does the first paragraph have on the reader?
2. What is the reason for the group’s seclusion?
3. Describe in detail each of the seven rooms, focusing on color.
4. How does the arrangement of the rooms differ from that of most imperial suites?
5. What room differs from all the rest? How does it differ?
6. How are the rooms lighted?
7. What causes the musicians to periodically stop playing? Why are they afraid?
8. Why is this a “gay and magnificent party”?
9. Why are color and music given so much emphasis in this story?
10. What happens at the stroke of midnight?
11. Describe the masked figure in detail?
12. How does Prince Prospero react to this imposter, and what does he promise to do to this specter of death?
13. What do the guests do at this point in the story?
14. Describe the masked figure’s actions.
15. What is the climax of the story?
16. How does the story end?
C. Write the letter “C” if the italics word is used correctly, and write the letter “I” if the word is incorrect.
1. The king was a sagacious ruler.
2. The word Gothic may be used to refer to a type of architecture or to a literary genre.
3. The bizarre phantasms of the night frightened Eric.
4. A dominion is a decorative piece of furniture.
5. Being blasphemous in school is inappropriate.
6. A person in seclusion is part of the crowd.
D. Briefly answer each question.
1. Who is the main character and what is his main objective?
2. What is the Red Death? Describe it manifestations.
3. Who is invited to go to Prospero’s court?
4. What and where is the center of the main action?
5. Describe the interior of the ballroom, specifically the order and color of the rooms and the windows.
6. Describe the final western room.
7. What was the result when people grabbed the masked figure?
8. What is he meaning of the last line: “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.
# posted by Sister Pat / English @ 6:12 AM 
