Edgar Allan Poe, those who are familiar with that famous name always allow a chill to run down their spines when they hear it. Poe has always been known for his dramatic and eerie writing style that has entertained readers for centuries. Of course we, as the reader, believe it is simply his brillance that sends a cold shudder through our bodies as we curl up on the couch with The Raven or The Masque of the Red Death, but there is still something more that we can attribute to his writing style.
The techniques Poe used in his many stories are what created the fantastic sensation of acutally being a part of the story. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss the chilling techniques this legendary figure, Edgar Allan Poe, used to rope in his reader into the horrible, grotesque, and disturbing world of Prince Pospero and the age of “The Red Death”. Poe provided us with three major techniques to lead us through this disquieting and disconcerting world that is the reality of Prince Prospero, Poe provided us with, setting, tone, and props. Simply using these three sutble yet powerful techniques, Poe has created an imaginative and mind-boggling universe.
First of all, Poe introduced us with surreal, but profound imagery to paint the landscape and life of Prince Prospero and his “friends”. Setting, one of the most dominant techniques in this short story, can be find around every corner of Prince Prospero’s dark maze. Poe described seven rooms that connected to each other in a sick and twisted maze. In order to leave this “maze” you had to walk through all seven rooms which ranged from color to color and when you finally reached the end you found yourself inside a room, “closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue”. This obviously represented the room of the red death and the eventual downfall all the masqueraders would certainly meet.
The Essay on Red Death Prince Prospero Walls
Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death is an elaborate allegory that combines objects in the story with visual descriptions to give focus to the reader's imagination. In the story, a prince named Prospero tries to dodge the Red Death through isolation and seclusion. He hides behind impenetrable walls of his castellated abbey and lets the world take care of its own. But no walls can stop ...
