Transcript The Masque of the Red Death

The Masque of the Red Death
Edgar Allan Poe
Exposition
• In the beginning of the story we
meet the main character, Prince
Prospero and his supporting
characters, the Knights and
Dames of the castle.
• The Prince Prospero held a
masked ball in his castle, where
the “Red Death” was supposedly
present.
Vocabulary:
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Pestilence: infectious disease
Fatal: leading to death
Avatar: version of one’s self
Dissolution: something breaking down
Sagacious: wise or shrewd
Dominions: slaves
Hale: fit and strong
Vocabulary continued
• Contagion: spread of disease
• Baffoon: bumbling clown of a person
• Revelry: dream
Rising Action
• The narrator gives you a mental tour
of the kingdom and tells about each
room or chamber, there were seven of
them. There are not any lamps and
candelabrums in the entire castle,
there were also stained glass windows,
in every chamber a different color. But
the pane failed to correspond with the
window colorings…they were all
scarlet-a deep blood color.
• The gigantic clock of ebony struck
every minute and making the
orchestra pause during their
performance. The ebony clock is in the
velvet hallway and soon the chimes
begin to fade away.
Rising Action Continued
• A tall masked man enters the room.
Prince Prospero confronts him and
asks who he is so they will know who
they are hanging at sundown, but no
man is courageous enough to seize the
man when the Prince orders them to
do so.
Climax
• Prince Prospero runs through the six
chambers as he is chased by a dagger
held by the masked man. Prince
Prospero finally reached the last
chamber, the velvet chamber. Prince
turns and faces his pursuer, the dagger
drops to the sable carpet.
Falling Action
• Immediately after the dagger
reaches the ground, Prince
Prospero follows and is left
laying on the ground dead.
• The others threw themselves into the “Black” chamber and watching as
the masked man stand erect to the ebony clock as he drops the mask at
which they handled with so violently and rudeness.
Resolution
• The Red Death was acknowledged and “Had come like a thief in the
night, and one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed
halls of their revel and dies each in the despairing posture of his
fall.”
• The Red Death killed all and tripod torches went out…the ebony clock expired and so
“the Red death held illimitable domination over all.”
Symbols
• Symbols are people, places, events, or
things that stand for ideas larger than
themselves.
The Seven Rooms
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Blue- East, windows the same color
Purple- windows the same color
Green- windows the same color
Orange- windows the same color
White- windows the same color
Violet- windows the same color
Black- West, blood-red windows
Other Symbols & Meanings
1. The Ebony Clock
2. The Masquerade Ball
1. wearing masks, anonymous… could
represent everyone
3. Plague(The Red Death)
4. The Uninvited Guest
The Seven Rooms:
What do they symbolize?
• Where does the sun rise/set?
– East & West
• Which color symbolizes death?
– Black
• A day can represent a person’s life…
– Sunrise is birth
– Sunset(or night) is death
The Ebony Clock:
What does it mean?
• Time… running out?
– Mortality – time running out eventually ending
in death
The Uninvited Guest?
• A representation of death (specifically The
Red Death) that comes to kill Prince
Prospero and the rest of the nobles.
Theme?
• No one, no matter how rich or powerful,
can escape the slow march of time…and
ultimately death.