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| | name = The Masque of the Red Death | | name = The Masque of the Red Death | ||
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| | caption = Illustration for "The Masque of the Red Death" by ], 1919. | | caption = Illustration for "The Masque of the Red Death" by ], 1919. | ||
| | author = ] | | author = ] | ||
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| country =[United States | ||
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| language = English | ||
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| | genre = ], ] ] | | genre = ], ] ] | ||
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| ], 1894–1895]] | ], 1894–1895]] | ||
| In "The Masque of the Red Death" Poe adopts many conventions of traditional ], including the setting of a castle. The multiple single-toned rooms may be representative of the human mind, showing different personality types. The imagery of blood and time throughout also indicate corporeality. The plague may, in fact, represent typical attributes of human life and mortality.<ref>Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. "Poe and the Gothic tradition" as collected in ''The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe'', edited by Kevin J. Hayes. New York City: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-521-79727-6 p. 88</ref> This would imply the entire story is an ] about man's futile attempts to stave off death; this interpretation is commonly accepted.<ref>Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in ''Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays'', edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 137</ref> However, there is much dispute over how to interpret "The Masque of the Red Death"; some suggest it is not allegorical, especially due to Poe's admission of a distaste for ] in literature.<ref>Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in ''Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays'', edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 134</ref> If the story really does have a moral, Poe does not explicitly state that moral in the text.<ref>Quinn, Arthur Hobson. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography''. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8018-5730-9. p. 331.</ref> | In "The Masque of the Red Death" Poe adopts many conventions of traditional ], including the setting of a castle. The multiple single-toned rooms may be representative of the human mind, showing different personality types. The imagery of blood and time throughout also indicate corporeality. The plague may, in fact, represent typical attributes of human life and mortality.<ref>Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. "Poe and the Gothic tradition" as collected in ''The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe'', edited by Kevin J. Hayes. New York City: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-521-79727-6 p. 88</ref> This would imply the entire story is an ] about man's futile attempts to stave off death; this interpretation is commonly accepted.<ref>Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in ''Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays'', edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 137</ref> However, there is much dispute over how to interpret "The Masque of the Red Death"; some suggest it is not allegorical, especially due to Poe's admission of a distaste for ] in literature.<ref>Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in ''Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays'', edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 134</ref> If the story really does have a moral, Poe does not explicitly state that moral in the text.<ref>Quinn, Arthur Hobson. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography''. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8018-5730-9. p. 331.</ref> | ||
| It is possible that the story is merely a revenge fantasy, in which the indifferent wealthy suffer the fate they "deserve", concocted by Poe in response to his observations of class distinctions of his day, a sublimation of his own frustrations at his own situation in life or perceived slights. The omniscient third-person narrator presents the arrival of the Red Death impassively, without regret, as if it is the logical consequence of moral depravity.{{or|date=August 2013}} | |||
| Blood, emphasized throughout the tale along with the color red, serves as a dual symbol, representing both death and life. This is emphasized by the masked figure – never explicitly stated to be the Red Death, but only a reveler in a costume of the Red Death – making his initial appearance in the easternmost room, which is colored blue, a color most often associated with birth.<ref>Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in ''Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays'', edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 141</ref> | Blood, emphasized throughout the tale along with the color red, serves as a dual symbol, representing both death and life. This is emphasized by the masked figure – never explicitly stated to be the Red Death, but only a reveler in a costume of the Red Death – making his initial appearance in the easternmost room, which is colored blue, a color most often associated with birth.<ref>Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in ''Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays'', edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 141</ref> | ||
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| Poe first published the story in the May 1842 edition of '']'' as "The Mask of the Red Death", with the tagline "A Fantasy". This first publication earned him $12.<ref>Ostram, John Ward. "Poe's Literary Labors and Rewards" in ''Myths and Reality: The Mysterious Mr. Poe''. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society, 1987. p. 39</ref> A revised version was published in the July 19, 1845 edition of the '']'' under the now-standard title "The Masque of the Red Death."<ref> at the Edgar Allan Poe Society online</ref> The original title emphasized the figure at the end of the story; the new title puts emphasis on the masquerade ball.<ref>Sova, Dawn B. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z''. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 149. ISBN 0-8160-4161-X</ref> | Poe first published the story in the May 1842 edition of '']'' as "The Mask of the Red Death", with the tagline "A Fantasy". This first publication earned him $12.<ref>Ostram, John Ward. "Poe's Literary Labors and Rewards" in ''Myths and Reality: The Mysterious Mr. Poe''. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society, 1987. p. 39</ref> A revised version was published in the July 19, 1845 edition of the '']'' under the now-standard title "The Masque of the Red Death."<ref> at the Edgar Allan Poe Society online</ref> The original title emphasized the figure at the end of the story; the new title puts emphasis on the masquerade ball.<ref>Sova, Dawn B. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z''. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 149. ISBN 0-8160-4161-X</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | ==In popular culture== | ||
| ==Literature and graphic novels== | |||
| *The story "Death And Venice" (From Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman : Endless Nights") parallels many aspects of "The Masque Of The Red Death" |
*The story "Death And Venice" (From Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman : Endless Nights") parallels many aspects of "The Masque Of The Red Death". | ||
| * The final lines of "The Masque Of The Red Death" are quoted in the short horror-western comic story "120 Days Of ]", written by ] and drawn by Antonio Conversano. | |||
| *] makes frequent reference to "The Masque Of The Red Death" in his 1977 novel ]. | *] makes frequent reference to "The Masque Of The Red Death" in his 1977 novel ]. | ||
| *] wrote and illustrated ]", an erotic version set in the future. |
*] wrote and illustrated ]", an erotic version set in the future. | ||
| ==Film, TV, theatrical or radio adaptations== | |||
| * Fritz Lang's 1919 Plague in Florence (Die Pest in Florenz) was based on Poe's Masque. | * Fritz Lang's 1919 Plague in Florence (Die Pest in Florenz) was based on Poe's Masque. | ||
| * The story inspired ]n filmmaker ]'s '']'' in 1921. | * The story inspired ]n filmmaker ]'s '']'' in 1921. | ||
| * ] read the entire short story in his early 1960s Caedmon LP recording ''The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe''. Other audiobook recordings have had ], ], ] and ] as readers. | * ] read the entire short story in his early 1960s Caedmon LP recording ''The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe''. Other audiobook recordings have had ], ], ] and ] as readers. | ||
| ⚫ | * Short films based on the story include a 1969 ] production, ''Maska crvene smrti'', and <ref>{{cite web|title=The Best of Zagreb Film Volume 1|url=http://www.rembrandtfilms.com/zagreb-vol1.htm|publisher=Rembrandt Films|accessdate=22 October 2010}}</ref> a 2006 Tarantula production directed by Jacques Donjean, ''Le Masque de la Mort rouge''.<ref>{{cite web|title=''Le Masque de la Mort rouge'' de Jacques Donjean|url=http://www.lesfilmsdunord.com/catalogue/film.php?id_film=lemasquedelamortrouge|publisher=Suivez mon regard|accessdate=22 October 2010}}</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | * The story was adapted in 1964 by ] as a film, '']'', starring ]. Corman produced, but did not direct a ] of the film in 1989, starring ] as Prince Prospero.<ref>Sova, Dawn B. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z''. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 150. ISBN 0-8160-4161-X</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | * Short films based on the story include a 1969 ] production, ''Maska crvene smrti'', and <ref>{{cite web|title=The Best of Zagreb Film Volume 1|url=http://www.rembrandtfilms.com/zagreb-vol1.htm|publisher=Rembrandt Films|accessdate=22 October 2010}}</ref> a 2006 Tarantula production directed by Jacques Donjean, ''Le Masque de la Mort rouge'' |
||
| ⚫ | * The story was adapted in 1964 by ] as a film, '']'', starring ] |
||
| * The story was adapted, combined with elements from Poe's "]", by American director ] as a planned episode for the Poe anthology film '']'', which was to have starred Welles as Prince Prospero and ] as Fortunata. The ] producers replaced the episode with segments directed by ] and ].{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} | |||
| * The story was adapted by ] for the January 10, 1975, broadcast of the '']''. It starred ] and Staats Cotsworth. | * The story was adapted by ] for the January 10, 1975, broadcast of the '']''. It starred ] and Staats Cotsworth. | ||
| * A radio reading was performed by ], with music she composed. The program was produced by ] as part of ]'s ] series. | * A radio reading was performed by ], with music she composed. The program was produced by ] as part of ]'s ] series. | ||
| * The story has been adapted by ] Productions, in collaboration with ], as a ] performance in ] from September 17, 2007 to April 12, 2008.<ref></ref> | * The story has been adapted by ] Productions, in collaboration with ], as a ] performance in ] from September 17, 2007 to April 12, 2008.<ref></ref> | ||
| ==Musical adaptations and references== | |||
| *The ] band ] wrote and released the song "Masque of the Red Death", which follows the story, on their 1988 album '']''. | |||
| *The horror adventure game '']'' features a reading of the story by writer ]. | *The horror adventure game '']'' features a reading of the story by writer ]. | ||
| *The metal band ] released the song "Masque Of The Red Death" on their 1985 album '']''. Its lyrics follow the storyline. | *The metal band ] released the song "Masque Of The Red Death" on their 1985 album '']''. Its lyrics follow the storyline. | ||
| *The ] band ] effectively re-tells the story in the song "The Red Death", on their album '']''. | |||
| * ] band ] sampled the 1964 Vincent Price film on the song "And When He Falleth" on their album '']''. | |||
| *] by ] ] band ] has a direct quote. | |||
| * ] is a metal band from Upstate New York whose name is derived from the title disease and released albums on ] and ]. | |||
| * Italian progressive rock band Mad Puppet made a song called "The Masque of the Red Death" on their début album ''Masque'', which closely follows the storyline as well. | |||
| * The guitarist ] of ] released an instrumental titled "Masque of the Red Death" which appears on his 1994 solo album ] | |||
| * Italian singer-songwriter ] has a song, "Lettera al futuro" ("Letter to the future"), included in his 1996 album '']'', whose lyrics are essentially a very concise retelling of the events in the story. Unlike other singers and bands, however, Ramazzotti does not conclude the story, preferring instead to draw his own conclusions from it. As the song is set in the present, his mentioning in the lyrics of "the bad wind of an horrendous disease" was interpreted at the time as a reference to ], mainly by music journalists who were not familiar with Poe's story. | |||
| * The ''Conte Fantastique'' of ] is based on Poe's ''The Masque of the Red Death''. | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 01:16, 6 September 2013
For other uses, see The Masque of the Red Death (disambiguation). Illustration for "The Masque of the Red Death" by Harry Clarke, 1919. | |
| Author | Edgar Allan Poe |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Gothic fiction, Horror short story |
| Publisher | Graham's Magazine |
| Publication date | May 1842 |
| Publication place | [United States |
"The Masque of the Red Death", originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death" (1842), is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague known as the Red Death by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, has a masquerade ball within seven rooms of his abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms. Prospero dies after confronting this stranger, whose "costume" proves to have nothing tangible inside it; the guests also die in turn. The story follows many traditions of Gothic fiction and is often analyzed as an allegory about the inevitability of death, though some critics advise against an allegorical reading. Many different interpretations have been presented, as well as attempts to identify the true nature of the titular disease.
The story was first published in May 1842 in Graham's Magazine. It has since been adapted in many different forms, including the 1964 film starring Vincent Price. It has been alluded to by other works in many types of media.
Plot summary
The story takes place at the castellated abbey of the "happy and dauntless and sagacious" Prince Prospero. Prospero and one thousand other nobles have taken refuge in this walled abbey to escape the Red Death, a terrible plague with gruesome symptoms that has swept over the land. Victims feel overcome by convulsive agony and sweat blood. The plague is said to kill within half an hour. Prospero and his court are presented as indifferent to the sufferings of the population at large, intending to await the end of the plague in luxury and safety behind the walls of their secure refuge, having welded the doors shut.
One night, Prospero holds a masquerade ball to entertain his guests in seven colored rooms of the abbey. Six of the rooms are each decorated and illuminated in a specific color: Blue, purple, green, orange, white, and violet. The last room is decorated in black and is illuminated by a scarlet light- "a deep blood color": because of this chilling pair of colors, very few guests are brave enough to venture into the seventh room. The same room is also the location of a large ebony clock that ominously clangs at each hour, upon which everyone stops talking or dancing and the orchestra stops playing. Once the chiming stops, everyone acts like nothing happened and continue on with the masquerade. At the chiming of midnight, the revelers and Prospero notice one figure in a dark, blood-splattered robe resembling a funeral shroud, with an extremely realistic mask resembling a stiffened cadaver, and with the traits of the Red Death, which all at the ball have been desperate to escape. Gravely insulted, Prospero demands to know the identity of the mysterious guest so that they can hang him. When nobody (out of fear) dares to approach the figure, instead letting him pass through the seven chambers, the Prince pursues him with a drawn dagger until he is cornered in the seventh room, the black room with the scarlet-tinted windows. When the figure turns to face him, the Prince lets out a sharp cry and falls dead. The enraged and terrified revelers surge into the black room and forcibly remove the mask and robe, only to find to their horror that there is no solid form underneath either. Only now do they realize (too late) that the figure is actually the Red Death itself, and all of the guests contract and succumb to the disease. The final line of the story sums up: "And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."
Analysis
In "The Masque of the Red Death" Poe adopts many conventions of traditional Gothic fiction, including the setting of a castle. The multiple single-toned rooms may be representative of the human mind, showing different personality types. The imagery of blood and time throughout also indicate corporeality. The plague may, in fact, represent typical attributes of human life and mortality. This would imply the entire story is an allegory about man's futile attempts to stave off death; this interpretation is commonly accepted. However, there is much dispute over how to interpret "The Masque of the Red Death"; some suggest it is not allegorical, especially due to Poe's admission of a distaste for didacticism in literature. If the story really does have a moral, Poe does not explicitly state that moral in the text.
Blood, emphasized throughout the tale along with the color red, serves as a dual symbol, representing both death and life. This is emphasized by the masked figure – never explicitly stated to be the Red Death, but only a reveler in a costume of the Red Death – making his initial appearance in the easternmost room, which is colored blue, a color most often associated with birth.
Though Prospero's castle is meant to keep the sickness out, it is ultimately an oppressive structure. Its maze-like design and tall and narrow windows become almost burlesque in the final black room, so oppressive that "there were few of the company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all." Additionally, the castle is meant to be an enclosed space, but the stranger is still able to sneak inside, suggesting that control is an illusion.
Like many of Poe's tales, "The Masque of the Red Death" has also been interpreted autobiographically. In this point of view, Prince Prospero is Poe as a wealthy young man, part of a distinguished family much like Poe's foster parents, the Allans. Under this interpretation, Poe is seeking refuge from the dangers of the outside world, and his portrayal of himself as the only person willing to confront the stranger is emblematic of Poe's rush towards inescapable dangers in his own life.
The "Red Death"
The disease called the Red Death is fictitious. Poe describes it as causing "sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores" leading to death within half an hour.
It is likely that the disease was inspired by tuberculosis (or consumption, as it was known then), since Poe's wife Virginia was suffering from the disease at the time the story was written. Like the character of Prince Prospero, Poe tried to ignore the fatality of the disease. Poe's mother Eliza, brother William, and foster mother Frances Allan had also died of tuberculosis. Alternatively, the Red Death may refer to cholera; Poe would have witnessed an epidemic of cholera in Baltimore, Maryland in 1831. Others have suggested that the plague is actually Bubonic plague or the Black death, emphasized by the climax of the story featuring the "Red" Death in the "black" room. One writer likens the description to that of a viral hemorrhagic fever or necrotizing fasciitis. It has been suggested that the Red Death is not a disease or sickness at all but something else that is shared by all of humankind inherently.
Publication history
Poe first published the story in the May 1842 edition of Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine as "The Mask of the Red Death", with the tagline "A Fantasy". This first publication earned him $12. A revised version was published in the July 19, 1845 edition of the Broadway Journal under the now-standard title "The Masque of the Red Death." The original title emphasized the figure at the end of the story; the new title puts emphasis on the masquerade ball.
In popular culture
- The story "Death And Venice" (From Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman : Endless Nights") parallels many aspects of "The Masque Of The Red Death".
- Stephen King makes frequent reference to "The Masque Of The Red Death" in his 1977 novel The Shining.
- Wendy Pini wrote and illustrated "Masque of the Red Death", an erotic version set in the future.
- Fritz Lang's 1919 Plague in Florence (Die Pest in Florenz) was based on Poe's Masque.
- The story inspired Russian filmmaker Vladimir Gardin's A Spectre Haunts Europe in 1921.
- Basil Rathbone read the entire short story in his early 1960s Caedmon LP recording The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Other audiobook recordings have had Christopher Lee, Hurd Hatfield, Martin Donegan and Gabriel Byrne as readers.
- Short films based on the story include a 1969 Zagreb Film production, Maska crvene smrti, and a 2006 Tarantula production directed by Jacques Donjean, Le Masque de la Mort rouge.
- The story was adapted in 1964 by Roger Corman as a film, The Masque of the Red Death, starring Vincent Price. Corman produced, but did not direct a remake of the film in 1989, starring Adrian Paul as Prince Prospero.
- The story was adapted by George Lowther for the January 10, 1975, broadcast of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. It starred Karl Swenson and Staats Cotsworth.
- A radio reading was performed by Winifred Phillips, with music she composed. The program was produced by Winnie Waldron as part of National Public Radio's Tales by American Masters series.
- The story has been adapted by Punchdrunk Productions, in collaboration with Battersea Arts Centre, as a promenade theatre performance in Battersea from September 17, 2007 to April 12, 2008.
- The horror adventure game The Dark Eye features a reading of the story by writer William S. Burroughs.
- The metal band Stormwitch released the song "Masque Of The Red Death" on their 1985 album Tales Of Terror. Its lyrics follow the storyline.
See also
References
- Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. "Poe and the Gothic tradition" as collected in The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Kevin J. Hayes. New York City: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-521-79727-6 p. 88
- Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 137
- Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 134
- Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8018-5730-9. p. 331.
- Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 141
- Laurent, Sabrina. "Metaphor and Symbolism in 'The Masque of the Red Death,'" from Boheme: An Online Magazine of the Arts, Literature, and Subversion. July 2003. Available online.
- Peeples, Scott. "Poe's 'constructiveness' and 'The Fall of the House of Usher'" as collected in The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-521-79727-6 p. 186
- Rein, David M. Edgar A. Poe: The Inner Pattern. New York: Philosophical Library, 1960. p. 33
- Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. Harper Perennial, 1991. ISBN 0-06-092331-8 p. 180-1
- Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. Cooper Square Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8154-1038-7 p. 133
- Cummings Study Guide for "The Masque of the Red Death"
- "Molecules of Death" 2nd edition, edited by R H Waring, G B Steventon, S C Mitchell. London: Imperial College Press, 2007
- Roppolo, Joseph Patrick. "Meaning and 'The Masque of the Red Death'", collected in Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 139-40
- Ostram, John Ward. "Poe's Literary Labors and Rewards" in Myths and Reality: The Mysterious Mr. Poe. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society, 1987. p. 39
- Edgar Allan Poe — "The Masque of the Red Death" at the Edgar Allan Poe Society online
- Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 149. ISBN 0-8160-4161-X
- "The Best of Zagreb Film Volume 1". Rembrandt Films. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
- "Le Masque de la Mort rouge de Jacques Donjean". Suivez mon regard. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
- Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 150. ISBN 0-8160-4161-X
- National Theatre online
External links
- "The Masque of the Red Death" at EServer.org
- "The Masque of the Red Death" with annotated vocabulary at PoeStories.com
- Sabrina Laurent (July 2003). "Metaphor and Symbolism in The Masque of the Red Death", Bohème Magazine Online.