Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare have both written marvelous and intriguing
stories that are famous throughout time. Each of them has their own unique style of writing
and their works can be recognized across the globe. Both Poe and Shakespeare include
underlying messages in their stories and there are often little pieces you may not pick up on
during your first read. Poe’s story The Masque of the Red Death can relate to an excerpt
Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It (Act II, Scene VII). Poe’s description and deeper meaning of
the seven rooms can relate to the seven stages of life expressed by Shakespeare.
The first relation between the two stories is the first few lines of Shakespeare’s poem.
Shakespeare notes that everyone has “their exits and their entrances”, which is describing how
people are born and die. In Poe’s story, the seven rooms represent the beginning and ending of
life. The people in the story enter the blue room alive, travel through all seven rooms, and then
die in the last. In addition, the first room is the furthest to the east, where the sun rises. The
final of the seven rooms, is furthest to the west, where the sun sets. This is a representation of
being born and then eventually life comes to an end and we all must die.
The first stage of life Shakespeare mentions is the life of an infant. The first of the seven
rooms mentioned in Poe’s story is the blue room. This room is similar to Shakespeare’s
reference because it suggests birth and the beginning of life. This is the room furthest to the
east and where the sun rises. In addition, Prince Prospero firsts meets the Red Death in the blue
room which symbolizes that as soon as you are born, you are dying. The following room is the
purple room which relates to Shakespeare’s second year of life as a young child complaining
and whining. The purple room has many tapestries and ornaments and is the colour of royalty.
This refers to the toddler to child stage of life who wants to have everything and have all the
attention, such as royalty. The third stage of life described by Shakespeare is the stage of the
lover or a teenager. This room is green which represents growth and youth. This contrasts with
Shakespeare’s stage of life in which the teenager is maturing and becoming an adult; realizing
the real world. Subsequent to the green room is the orange room, and in Shakespeare’s excerpt
the stage of life as a soldier; the stage of fighting back and defending honour. In this stage you
are beginning to grow older and enter the adult years. The colour orange is used for this room
to represent the season fall where trees and leaves begin to slowly wither. Poe then takes us to
the next room which is white, nearing the end of the seven rooms. This room is similar to the
fifth stage of the life, in which Shakespeare describes as aging and becoming wiser. The white
walls of the room represent the aging of adults as their hair begins to change colour and their
skin beings to wrinkle. You have gained many experiences by now and have gathered much
knowledge. The sixth stage shows the final stages of life that humans must face and death is
near. The violet walls represent the colour of royalty, similar to the toddler age. Like royalty,
they are being cared for mentally and physically because their life is soon coming to an end.
The final room and stage of life is very important, especially to Poe’s story The Masque of the
Red Death. The seventh room is the black with scarlet panelling. The black symbolizes death
and the scarlet represents blood. This is the room where Prince Prospero and the final guests
die. The seventh and final stage of Shakespeare’s words is similar to this room because this is
where man finally wears away and dies. Shakespeare wrote “sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste,
sans everything,” which simply describes life coming to an end. In the black room, there is a
clock made of ebony that strikes every hour. Every time it strikes, the guests and orchestra all
pause in horror, for they are all scared of death. The striking of the ebony clock signifies time
running out and how we are all aware that death is among us. Once the Red Death has killed
the last person in the black room, the clock stops ticking; the clock a symbol of life passing
away.
Poe and Shakespeare both use their work to demonstrate the inability to escape death.
Everyone is destined to die and all lives come to an end. Though you have power and control
over your own body, you cannot help death. In the excerpt from As You like It, Shakespeare first
few lines are “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have
their exits and their entrances...” These lines reveal that there is no escaping death and we
must all go through it. Throughout Poe’s story, The Masque of the Red Death, Prince Prospero is
trying to escape the red death. He hosts a large ball for many guests and tries everything to stay
in control and not let the Red Death kill everyone. Prince Prospero can do as much as he can
but he cannot prevent fate. Poe and Shakespeare each reveal that death is unavoidable and is
in the future of all of us.