Transcript Masque of the Red Death” - Lebanon City Schools

“Masque of the Red
Death”
English II Academic
Theme
 Looking at plot:
 Prince Prospero and friends attempt to
escape death in his castellated abbey
(Cause)
 Death overtakes them all (Effect)
 Theme: Death holds “illimitable dominion over
all” (83).
Symbolism
 The seventh room:
 Black in color: “The seventh apartment was
closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries
that hung all over the ceiling and down the
walls, falling in heavy folds upon carpet of
the same material and hue” (80).
 What does the color black usually symbolize?
 Do many people want to enter the room?
 Where does Prince Prospero die?
Symbolism

The seven rooms:

The stages of life:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Birth (Blue)—easternmost
Toddler Age (Purple)
Childhood (Green)
Teen Years (Orange)
Middle Age (White)
Old Age (Violet)
Death (Black)—westernmost
What moves from east to west?
Symbolism
 The seven rooms:
 The seven deadly sins:







Pride
Greed
Lust
Envy
Gluttony
Wrath
Sloth
 Did Prince Prospero exhibit all of these things?
 When did Prince Prospero get really angry and begin chasing
the masked figure?
Symbolism
 The clock:




A clock tells what?
The courtiers do what when the clock strikes?
What are they doing?
How much time do they have left?
 The clock is symbolic of the passage of time before
death—a constant reminder that death is inevitable.
Allusions
 “In truth the masquerade license of the
night was nearly unlimited; but the figure
in question had out-Heroded Herod” (82).
 Who is Herod?
 What did he do?
 How does this connect?
Allusions
 “And now was acknowledged the presence of
the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the
night”(83).
 A thief in the night comes from where?
 I Thessalonians 5:4,9-10 "For you yourselves know full
well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the
night. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for
obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died
for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live
together with him."