Exposition: Poe uses the beginning of the story to offer important background information; Prospero's kingdom is under attack from the Red Death, and Prospero locks his friends and himself into his castle to escape the plague.
Inciting Incident: Prospero's decision to hold a masquerade ball starts the main conflict between he and the Red Death in motion.
Rising Action: The description of the rooms, the chiming of the clocks, and details of the party increase the tone of anxiety and fear in the story. The conflict intensifies when the mummer (mummy) dressed as the Red Death appears and angers Prospero. Prospero's decision to chase him when the other knights in the castle back away from the unexpected guest in fear leads to the climax.
Climax: Prospero has reached the point of no return when he falls dead while attempting to kill the mummy.
Falling Action: The knights must react to Prospero's death in the climax of of the story and they pull the sheet off the mummy only to find nothing there. They all fall dead.
Resolution: With all the knights and Prince Prospero dead, the conflict is resolved as the Red Death takes complete control of the kingdom.
4. Symbols
The ebony clock: The clock symbolizes the passage of time, the onset of death, and the life of the party goers (revellers). Poe builds the symbol by giving details on how the party stops and the partiers get nervous every time they hear the clock chime, and he finishes the meaning of the symbol when he states "And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay." The clock stops when life stops.
Prospero: Prospero symbolizes ignorance by believing that he is untouchable. He truly believes that he cannot catch the disease and that he can avoid his obligations to his people by having a party.
East and West: The rooms are arranged east to west. Prospero chases the red death from east to west and dies. This symbolizes life and death. Sun rises, and sets. Prospero rose, and eventually he died.
The Abbey: The Abbey Symbolizes all things good and they are generally free of evil people. It also stands for the power of god and righteousness
Room Colors: The room colors symbolize different emotions through the different colors of the room. Each room has a different color and is meant to give off a different emotion. The color of each room was spread out through everything in the room, the ornaments tapestries, and windows.
5. Irony
a. Prospero locks himself in an abbey. When Prospero locked himself in the abbey it is ironic. It is ironic because Prospero was a very bad person and was not worthy of entering an abbey. Obviously, he does not agree, thinking that he is worthy and enters.
b. The narrator's description of Prospero. It is ironic because the red death is devastating his kingdom, and he is not concerned about their faith and instead he is partying. He is unafraid of what the red death could do to him and his kingdom. He does not view the red death as a threat. In the end of the story, he loses happiness that his name implies. This happiness soon turns to fear as he flees from the red death.
c. Prospero: Prospero's name is an obvious allusion to the word Prosperity or Prosperous: the condition of being successful or thriving; especially economic well-being. While Prospero is thriving at the beginning of the story, Poe creates irony when the Red Death is able to sneak into the party and kill the "most prosperous" man in the kingdom. Although Prospero thinks he is wealthy enough to escape death, he isn't.
6. Characterization: Offer descriptive adjectives for Prospero and Prospero's hale and light-hearted friends
Prospero:
- Selfish
- Arrogant (cocky)
- Cowardly
- Proud
- Fool / Stupid
- Does not care for the people of his kingdom.
- Loves the strange / grotesque
Knights:
- Not good friends
- Cowardly
- Hale - Acquaintances
- Light Hearted - Don't take anything seriously
- Not Loyal
Themes:
* No human can escape the clutches of death.
* Prosperity cannot save an indvidual from death.
Conflicts:
Man vs. Supernatural
Man vs. Nature