Stanley Huang The Masque of the Red Death Notes Setting: - Takes place in Prince Prospero’s “castellated abbey” which is secluded from the outside world. Castellated Abbey = a fortified building formerly used as or built to resemble a monastery - The fortress was sealed with iron doors that Prospero’s royal court welded with iron bolts to prevent people from leaving or entering the castle - In his palaces there were seven different imperial suites, each one with distinct colors and themes. The wall hangings, the decorations, and even the windows of a given room are all one color. The first room in the suite – the farthest room to the east – is blue, the second is purple, the third is green, the fourth is orange, the fifth is white, and the sixth is violet. - The arrangement of the rooms from east to west symbolizing the beginning to the end of the sunset. As the rooms go from bright colors to dark, gloomy colors. From full of life to death. - Purple vs. Violet Purple = a combination of blue (birth) and red (associated with life, intensity) suggests the beginnings of growth Violet = Violet (a combination of purple and blue, or purple and grey) is a shadowy color, and represents darkness and death - Related to the seven stages of man or seven sins Symbols: The Ebony Clock: is a constant reminder of death and symbolizes the inevitability of it. “so peculiar a note and emphasis that , at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily, in their performance to hearken to the sound; and there was a brief disconcert…”

The Masque of the Red Death Notes

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Page 1: The Masque of the Red Death Notes

Stanley Huang

The Masque of the Red Death NotesSetting:- Takes place in Prince Prospero’s “castellated abbey” which is secluded from the outside world.Castellated Abbey = a fortified building formerly used as or built to resemble a monastery

- The fortress was sealed with iron doors that Prospero’s royal court welded with iron bolts to prevent people from leaving or entering the castle

- In his palaces there were seven different imperial suites, each one with distinct colors and themes. The wall hangings, the decorations, and even the windows of a given room are all one color. The first room in the suite – the farthest room to the east – is blue, the second is purple, the third is green, the fourth is orange, the fifth is white, and the sixth is violet.

- The arrangement of the rooms from east to west symbolizing the beginning to the end of the sunset. As the rooms go from bright colors to dark, gloomy colors. From full of life to death.

- Purple vs. VioletPurple = a combination of blue (birth) and red (associated with life, intensity) suggests the beginnings of growthViolet = Violet (a combination of purple and blue, or purple and grey) is a shadowy color, and represents darkness and death

- Related to the seven stages of man or seven sins

Symbols:The Ebony Clock: is a constant reminder of death and symbolizes the inevitability of it. “so peculiar a note and emphasis that , at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily, in their performance to hearken to the sound; and there was a brief disconcert…”

Prince Prospero symbolizes the end of feudalism. Prospero's inviting only wealthy knights and ladies to his castle at the expense of peasants and commoners represents the socioeconomic divide between landowners and peasants that existed during the feudalistic period. It is not coincidental that the Black Death, which reduced the number of workers, led to a demand for labor and played an important role in ending feudalism in Europe.