The Masque of the Red Death

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The Masque of the Red Death

• Edgar Allan Poe

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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.

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Vocabulary

• Pestilence infectious disease
• Fatal leading to death
• Avatar version of ones self
• Dissolution something breaking down
• Sagacious wise or shrewd
• Dominions slaves
• Hale fit and strong

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Vocabulary continued

• Contagion spread of disease
• Baffoon bumbling clown of a person
• Revelry dream

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Rising Action

• 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.

• 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 coloringsthey were
  all scarlet-a deep blood color.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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
  outthe ebony clock expired and so the Red death
  held illimitable domination over all.

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Symbols

• Symbols are people, places, events, or things
  that stand for ideas larger than themselves.

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The Seven Rooms

• 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

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Other Symbols Meanings

1. The Ebony Clock
2. The Masquerade Ball
3. wearing masks, anonymous could represent
   everyone
4. Plague(The Red Death)
5. The Uninvited Guest

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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 persons life
• Sunrise is birth
• Sunset(or night) is death

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The Ebony ClockWhat does it mean?

• Time running out?
• Mortality time running out eventually ending in
  death

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The Uninvited Guest?

• A representation of death (specifically The Red
  Death) that comes to kill Prince Prospero and the
  rest of the nobles.

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Theme?

• No one, no matter how rich or powerful, can
  escape the slow march of timeand ultimately
  death.