What symbols did E.A. Poe use in his writtings and what did they mean?

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

Answers

Lupe- Edgar Allan Poe greatly used symbols in all of his works. The house in "The Fall of the House of Usher" refers to the actualy physical house crumbling into the abyss. It symbolises the family of usher's falling because Roderick and Madeline were the last of the Usher's and they died so the family died as well. Roderick, his family and his mind symbolised the house. Also in "The Masque of the Red Death" Prospero's name is symbolized and refers to the term "prosperous". Prospero was a wealthy individual hence "prosperous". The 7 rooms in that story are allegorically connected to the seven stages of life and to the bible. The symbols in E.A. Poe's writings were always specific for no other reason than affect. He always seemed to pick the right word, the right symbol.. to create a journey that was made. I hope this helped in the least!!

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

Lupe- In the Masque of Red Death Poe used the number seven to represent the seven deadly sins, as well as the seven cardinal truths. He also uses it to represent the seven days of the week, and the seven stages of life. He also has the rooms going from east to west, and that is the path that death and Pospero took. The sun sets in the west and that is where it "dies" every night only to be brought back to life again each morning. The colors gradually increase from thos associated with new life to those associated with death. The embers that shine through the windows from the fires outside of the rooms are always the same color of the room, and as they go through the rooms in the end they go out. The end room has a window of bloodred. This represents the fact that blood keeps us alive, but in the end its a color of death also. The clock represents the fact that they realize that they're doing something wrong, and everytime it strikes they are temporarily brought back to reality. Also, the symptoms of the plaque resemble the systems of tubercolosis (not sure of the spelling) which is a disease that many females of his life died of. If you chose to focuse around the Masque of the Red Death that should come in helpful.

-- Anonymous, March 26, 2002