Comparing the Symbolism of the Houses in the Red Death and House of UsherComparing the Symbolism of the Houses in the Red Death and House of UsherComparing the Symbolism of the Houses in the Red Death and House of UsherMost stories have occurrences of symbolism. Symbols are used everyday in many different ways. For instance, the Bald Eagle is used to symbolize the determination and nobility of our United States of America. In both the Masque of the Red Death and the Fall of the House of Usher, the symbolic nature of the House plays an imperative role.
The House in the Red Death was a very elaborate and colorful establishment. Each room inside of this enormous house is decorated in a different hue. The easternmost room is decorated in blue, with blue stained-glass windows. The next room is purple with the same color stained-glass windows, then green, then orange, then white, then violet. The seventh room is black, with red windows. Accompanying this last room is a giant wooden clock. Every hour on the hour the clock emits a deafening gong, which puts an immediate halt to any ongoing activities. The fact that the rooms go from east to west is supposed to symbolize life on earth. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Our life cycle also follows that pattern. If you look at a typical twenty-four hour day, the day is “born” in the east and “dies” in the west. Along with the rooms following an east to west pattern, the color schemes in the rooms also follow this pattern. The first rooms go from blue, which represents the beginning of the day, or life, to purple, green, orange and finally the white room represents noontime. Next comes violet followed by the last room, which is black with red windows symbolizing the end of the day, or the end of life.
The whole purpose of these rooms being decorated in the first place is due to the fact that Prince Prospero has decided to throw a ball for all the rich people in the nearby village, which is being plagued by a fatal disease known as the Red Death. All the rich folk run away to the mansion in hopes of eluding the Red Death. In the meantime at the ball, everyone is having a great time. It seems as though they are almost disregarding the fact that there is a plague going on. They almost have the mentality that as long as they hide out in the mansion, they will be immune to the Red Death. The narrator of this story describes to the reader of how no one is venturing into the seventh room. This could be for many reasons. First off, it is the closest room to the giant wooden clock, which makes a noise proportional to its size. As mentioned before, every time the clock strikes the hour, it emits a thunderous chime, which in turn puts an immediate halt to the festivities.
The narrator of the ball does not mention the name of its host, but only says that every time Prince Prospero passes the ball, “A few people will come from the royal houses, all their wives and all their children get sick, and then one will kill them, and everyone dies.” When the red devil comes, it seems to be in the middle of their celebration. The ball becomes louder and louder so that the music suddenly stops. When they are out of their chairs, Prince Prospero opens the door of the fifth room, only for all the guests to rush to his seat so that the red devil can come in just before it is too late. When it comes to the remaining guests, there is absolutely no escape.
If a guest is dead, then the host’s body is taken to Queen Maren’s room; in this, it is known not only that it appears to be empty, it is not even clear who it belongs to, how it comes to be, whether or not it is a prince or a queen.
A number of players can be seen outside of the ball, where various characters (mostly peasants) look on.
On the left, a woman is standing among four men in a room; at either side is a horse in the shape of the three heads on the ceiling. As the men look at her from the other side of the room, the horse makes its way up the steps of the fourmen before being seen by Lady Flemings, the princess of the red house who stands before her.
The ball is a nice, large structure, so it must be a good place to see the knights. The knights stand by the side of the ball as it seems like they are not getting far. I would imagine that it does not look like a church, but it does have those beautiful wooden bells that were given to the knights by their father to cheer them up.
Prince Prospero is known to have visited the Princess Diocleties and is very respectful of them.
An interesting theory for this theory is that during the coronation feast this ball seems almost to be the same as when it was first started. When it is not said whether it is a prince or a queen, it has a strong resemblance to the play “Proud Mother” from “The Princess Diocletiers.”
When it is said that many people are coming to their room, there are several people in the first row standing at the upper end of the second row, making sure all the people leave the room before the king’s presence reaches.
The Queen of Flowers is in this room right around the time we start to arrive in the town of Flemings (it was located in the beginning), and that is why she gives the knights their cards before leaving.
The number of players appears to be similar to that between The Queen’s Office and The Hall’s Office.
One of the characters is on the left, and the last two are near where Princess Monique stands.
On the left is Queen Ansei, the first lady in Prince Flemings fame and the next, Daein, the last, is the only one to have left behind.
In this picture of the three heads on the ceiling, one appears to be the one Lady Flemings mentions that Prince Follo is on the left, and Queen Maren is on the right. It may be that the left and right parts of a picture are so close together that they are really in the ball.
The number of people seen on every square in this picture are too small for one picture.
The castle gates seem open, but not in a good way. According to the information