1. Why does the Prince retreat to his abbey?
• Prince Prospero retreats to his abbey in an
attempt to avoid death.
– The “Red Death” is a plague in the story that kills
its victim with half an hour.
– The sign of the disease is profuse bleeding from
the pores, especially the face.
2. Why did the courtiers seal off the
entries and exits?
• The courtiers seal the gates so that no one
with the contagious plague can enter, as well
as to prevent anyone from leaving in a
moment of weakness.
• FYI: A courtier is someone who attends the court of a
king or other member of royalty. They are generally of
the noble class.
3.Why were there seven rooms of different
colors?
• There are seven rooms of different colors
because the prince wanted to create an
elaborate setting for the masked party.
4. What could the colors symbolize
together?
• The imperial suite of various colored rooms
might symbolize the different stages of life.
5. What color is the first room? Where is it
located in the abbey? What might this room
symbolize?
• The first room is blue,
• and it is located in the eastern extremity of the
imperial suite of rooms.
• It might symbolize birth and beginnings.
6. What color(s) is the last room? Where is
it located in the abbey? What could it
symbolize?
• The last room is decorated in black and has a
stained glass window of “a deep blood color.”
• It is located in the western end of the suite of
rooms,
• and is meant to symbolize death.
7. Why do the guests avoid entering the
seventh room?
• The guests avoid entering the seventh room
because fire that shown through the red
stained glass window into the black room
created a “ghastly” and grim effect upon the
face of whomever went into the room.
• As the night continues, it grows even darker
and more grim, causing fear in the revelers.
• In other words, the strange light made them
look dark and scary, and possibly death-like.
8.Why is there an eerie clock in the blackcolored room?
• The black clock in the black room marks the
passage of time.
• It reminds the guests of the brevity of life,
and that sooner or later all will die.
9. Why might some think Prince Prospero is
mad?
• He has eccentric (strange) tastes and
decorates his abbey in a bizarre way: grand
towers, dark corridors, sharp turns from
room to room, and (of course!) symbolic
colors with ornate details.
• He throws an elaborate masked ball while
people outside of his castle are dying of the
Red Death.
10. Why does the music stop when the
chimes of the clock ring?
• The music stops with the chiming because
the crowd is uncertain and fearful. They have
a sense that something dreadful is coming.
They pause briefly, but then they continue on
with the party once the moment of
uncertainty passes.
11. Where does the masked stranger come
from? Who is he?
• The masked stranger has always been among
the guests—he is Death.
• Though they do not want to acknowledge his
presence, they cannot escape him, even in
the party of the sealed abbey.
12. Why are the partygoers hesitant to
approach the masked figure?
• The guests seem to sense that he is
dangerous and should be feared.
• Symbolically, since he is Death, he cannot be
stopped. We all must die at some point.
13.Why is the Prince angry with the
stranger’s presence?
• Prince Prospero is upset that he could not
keep reality at bay after all. He, and all the
revelers, must face human mortality.
14. Edgar Allan Poe wrote Gothic fiction
during what century?
• Poe wrote during the nineteenth century,
from the 1820s until his death at age forty.
15. Poe was part of a group of writers from
(country) called the
.
• 15. Poe was part of a group of
writers from America called the
Dark Romantics.