-- tori
Monday, April 19, 2010
There is a fair amount of personification in The Masque of the Red Death. Poe makes characters out of objects or ideas like death, the clock, and dreams. Death is a relatively common personification, and deliberately and overtly portrayed. But Poe more subtly depicts the clock as having "brazen lungs" and a voice. Dreams, too, are personified in that they can stand, stalk, take steps, live, and "writhe to and fro... merrily." However, only Death has any major impact on the plot of the story. The others seem to have no purpose except to enhance the story stylistically, like the themes of colors, time, and sounds.
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I think Poe does this to give the story a fantasitical edge. It's not so much meaningful in plot, as in mood. He sets it as mysterious and bizarre by adding the writhing dreams and bright colors. They make the story have more of a psychological effect by appealing to our emotions and senses. They also make the story more Gothic.
ReplyDelete~Becca
I agree with Tori. The detailed description of the rooms and their furnitures seemed insignificant compared to the symbol of the Masque.
ReplyDelete-Joanne
I agree with Becca that the colors and desciptions Poe includes appeal to our senses, despite not having a large impact on the overall purpose of the story. However, I still think that some of his description, such as that of the seven rooms, has at least some sort of value. I think it was Emily who suggested in class that the seven rooms could be the seven deadly sins? Or maybe the seven days of the weeks? Either way, these symbolic meanings still manage to fit into the story and have some level of importance.
ReplyDelete-Bryce C.