In 1835, at the age of twenty-six, he married his young cousin, Virginia Clemm, who was only thirteen. Poe spent his early adult life in and out of the army, engaging in an ongoing struggle over money with his foster father, and developing the notorious habits of alcoholism and debt.

Although John never legally adopted him, Poe added the Allan surname to his own. Allan, Poe’s beloved foster mother, died of tuberculosis in 1829, when he was still a teenager. He was then adopted by John Allan and Francis Allan, but Mrs. The son of minor stage actors, Poe was orphaned at any early age, as his father abandoned him and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was still a very young child. Author BiographyĮdgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” powerful imagery and an illusive narrative voice are tightly woven into a macabre tale of horror with insight into the human condition. According to Poe, a short story should be tightly focused so that every word, from beginning to end, contributes to the overall effect. “The Masque of the Red Death” embodies Poe’s mastery of the short story in addition, it illustrates his literary philosophy. Poe evokes a dark and eerie mood in a story that focuses on images of blood and death, while the personification of the Red Death lends an element of the supernatural. This tale is a prime example of Poe’s Gothic horror fiction. The story is narrated in a manner which gives it the quality of a myth, allegory or fairy tale, exploring themes of man’s fear of death, sin, madness, and the end of the world. But when the group indulge in a lavish costume ball in order to distract themselves from the suffering and death outside their walls, the Red Death, disguised as a costumed guest, enters and claims the lives of everyone present. In this macabre tale, a Prince Prospero seals himself and a thousand of his friends into the abbey of a castle in order to protect them from a deadly pestilence-The Red Death-that is ravaging the country.

In the original publication, the title was given the English spelling of “mask,” yet it was changed to “masque” in 1845. Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death” was first published in 1842.

The red masque of death