Discovering Symbolism in Poe’s Short Stories
Symbolism is often a very important aspect of literature. It is defined as the practice of attributing symbolic meanings to objects, events, or relationships. Often, an author will use symbols to represent a major theme in his work. In one of Edgar Allen Poe's best-known tales of horror, "The Cask of Amontillado," he suggests that pride can be a very dangerous thing. Through the use of symbolism, Poe presents the drama of two men. One vowing to get his revenge while the other who’s towering pride will soon be responsible for his death. In “The Masque of the Red death”, Prince Prospero and his followers attempt to flee the horrors of death, but are constantly hounded by the ebony clock. There are seven rooms in Prince Prospero’s abbey, and they are laid out from East to west with the westernmost room housing the ebony clock while decorated in black and red. The use of symbolism throughout this story is a constant reminder of the inevitability of death. The uses of symbols in Poe’s short stories have been used to reinforce its themes. The short story, "The Cask of Amontillado," contains many accounts of symbolism. The coat of arms of Montressor's family is perhaps the best example of symbolism in the whole story. Mont
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a story of revenge. The coat of arms represented Montresor’s duty to destroy his enemy and right the wrongs done to his family. He achieved his goal due to Fortunado’s soaring pride. “The Masque of the red death” is a story of death. The ebony clock serves as a reminder that death is lurking all the time, and that with every passing hour it creeps closer to us. The seventh room in the Prince’s abbey holds the clock. This room represents death, and the end. There are many more symbols found throughout Poe’s short stories. These symbols are very important in developing the story because without them the themes would be hard to discover or understand, and the story would then be meaningless. deep seclusion of one of Prince Prospero’s abbeys. "The abbey was amply provisioned....The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure...buffoons, ...improvisatori,...ballet dancers,...musicians,...Beauty,...wine. All these and security were within. Without was the 'Red Death.' " (Poe 1) The abbey consisted of 7 rooms, and in the final room, stood a large ebony clock. The significance of time in this story is seen in the symbol of the "gigantic clock of ebony" which is draped in black velvet and located in the final room. Although the clock is an object, it quickly takes on human aspects as the author describes it as having a face and lungs from which comes a sound that is "exceedingly musical" but "so peculiar" that the "dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand,"(Poe 3) The crucial theme of this story if that there is no escape t
Some topics in this essay:
Prince Prospero,
Death' Poe,
Cask Amontillado”,
Fortunato Montressor,
Cask Amontillado,
Prince Prospero’s,
Red Death,
,
ebony clock,
Masque Red,
Allen Poe's,
prince prospero,
coat arms,
“the masque,
masque red,
“the masque red,
masque red death”,
red death”,
figure running eastern,
death symbols,
poe’s short,
short stories,
montressor's family,
masked figure running,
pursues masked figure,
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Approximate Word count = 1064
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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