Poe excels above all in symbolism, and has a way of entwining it into all of his works. This story above all contains symbolism from the very name of the story, to the name of the main character. The Name The Masque of The Red represents death being a mystery, and disguised in what seems to be a mask.. The name Prince Prospero was derived from the word prosperous, which means to make money. This shows that his character is selfish, and often times greedy. The major symbolism throughout this story that cannot be overlooked is the conspicuous similarities between the seven rooms and the seven deadly sins. Each room has tinted class that converts the sunlight to a tinted color. Each of these seven colors (red, orange, white, green, black, violet, blue) represent one of the seven deadly sins,
(Wrath-black
Envy-Green
Pride-Purple
Sloth-Blue
Gluttony- White
Greed-Orange
Lust-Violet)
Also one more piece of symbolism hidden in this short story is the ebony clock, and how it strikes upon midnight, and a vast wave of death floods the mansion. This strange phenomenon does in fact represent the inevitable death by the Red Plague.
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