"The Masque of the Red Death"

Symbols:

1. Seven Rooms/ the number seven: symbolizes the seven deadly sins

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avarice (greed)

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sloth (laziness)

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envy (jealousy)

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gluttony

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wrath

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lust

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vanity

colors are only partially related; for example, black, the last room in the abbey, and also the room in which the prince committed his last sin, is symbolic of wrath--"to be black with anger"

2. The abbey--the kingdom/the world; the sins are present everywhere

3. Prince Prospero--"dauntless and sagacious" he is smart and fearless

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leader of people; he is guilty of all seven deadly sins

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he description of the abbey represents the extravagant tastes he has

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Red Death can already be seenas punishment for violatin the sins

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the people of the abbey would not be present if each were not guilty of committing at least one of them

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Prince's chase through all seven rooms symbolic of his committing all seven of the deadly sins

4. Clock--the time remaining Prospero and the revelers

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during the story, each time theclock tolls, the orchestra stops playing and th revelers stop dancing

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this foreshadows the ultimate devise of each occupant

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when the clock tolls for the last time, so do the last revelers fall victim to the Red Death

5. The Masque-- a masque is a costume party

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symbolizes how the revelers tried to hide their true identities

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each was guilty of at least one deadly sin, and did not want to expose it

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suggests that people f the world in general never really show their true faces to one another

6. The Masked Figure--(Red Death)obviously for Prospero, it symbolizes death.

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also symbolizes revenge and retribution for arrogance and the commission of sins

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to the revelers, it symbolizes death also

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"cerements": many layers of fabric wound around--hides a "stiffened corpse" just like costumes hid a deadly sin