Describe the internal and external workings of the Protagonist (Prince Prospero).
Why does Prince Prospero voluntarily isolate himself?
Who does Prince Prospero invite to his great fete?
Describe Prince Prospero's great fete and the physical description of each of the seven apartments (chambers).
Who is the villian and how does he represent the "repressed emotions" of Prince Prospero?
Chisom, Jackson, Deidre, Shelley:
ReplyDelete1) Internally, the prince is a coward because when the masked figure was approaching him, he expected the people to hold him back. When they didn't, he got scared and grabbed a knife to defend himself. Externally, he is very flamboyant and comes off as a happy prince. He is very self-centered and loves to have fun, which is why he throws the masquerade when there is a plague occuring outside the abbey walls.
2) He does not want to get the Red Death, so he goes into hiding with 1000 fellow nobles.
3) He invites the 1000 friends he went into hiding with.
4) It was a masquerade ball. The people there had very bizarre costumes on. It was held in seven apartments with windows on each wall. Every room is a different color with the windows being the same color as the room. The first was blue, the second room was purple, the third was green, the fourth was orange, the fifth waqs white, the sixth was violet, and the seventh was black. It's window had red panes, which differs from the other rooms, because they have windows that are the same color as the walls. Opposite to each window was a tripod of fire. There was no other source of light in the seven rooms. Also in the black room was "a gigantic clock of ebony." Every hour it had a very peculiar sound that caused all of the party-goers to stop what they were doing and listen. No one entered the black room, because it was very scary and intimidating.
5) The villain is the masked figure. He represents the “repressed emotions” of Prince Prospero, because it is the prince’s worst fear to contract the disease and die, which is exactly what happens to him because of the masked figure. The prince tries to repress this fear and not show it to his friends, but it is revealed when he is confronted by the antagonist. The prince also does not want to appear fearful, but that is what he looks like when the masked figure approaches him.
Chisom (individual):
ReplyDelete1) Describe the internal and external workings of the protagonist (Prince Prospero).
• Internally, Prospero’s greatest fear is his own mortality. He tried to repress this fear by acting like a carefree and happy prince. He shows his true fears when he convulses at the sight of the Red Death at the ball. Immediately he tries to make up for this moment of weakness by chasing the Red Death with a dagger.
• Externally, Prospero is very bizarre, with many weird and eccentric tastes: “He had a fine eye for colors and effects…His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric lustre.” Although he was very bizarre, he was not mad.
2) Why does Prince Prospero voluntarily isolate himself?
He isolates himself, because he does not want to become infected by the plague. He has no cares for the people of his country, even though half of them are already dead: “The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think.” As long as Prospero is safe in the abbey, he is okay. He puts himself in front of his subjects, when it should be the other way around.
3) Who does Prince Prospero invite to his great fête?
When Prospero throws a masquerade ball, he invites the 1000 friends he went into hiding with. Prospero was getting bored in the abbey, so he decided to create a little excitement: “It was toward the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence.” He also had many entertainers there, including buffoons, ballet-dancers, improvisatori, and musicians.
4) Describe Prince Prospero's great fête and the physical description of each of the seven apartments (chambers).
It was a masquerade ball. All of the guests wore masks and very bizarre costumes: ““Be sure they were grotesque…There was…not a little of that which might have excited disgust.” The party was held in 7 chambers with windows on each wall. Every room is a different color with the windows being the same color as the room. The first and easternmost room was blue, the second room was purple, the third was green, the fourth was orange, the fifth was white, the sixth was violet, and the seventh and westernmost room was black. Its window had red panes, which differs from the other rooms, because they have windows that are the same color as the walls. Opposite to each window was a tripod of fire. There was no other source of light in the 7 rooms. Also in the black room was "a gigantic clock of ebony." Every hour it had a very peculiar sound that caused all of the partygoers to stop what they were doing and listen. No one entered the black room, because it was very scary and intimidating.
5) Who is the villain, and how does he represent the "repressed emotions" of Prince Prospero?
The villain is the Red Death. He represents morality, which Prospero tries to repress. He does not know that he will inevitably fail, though. You cannot escape your own morality; everyone must meet their demise. The Red Death represents morality, because it is a plague, which makes you feel the palpability of death.
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ReplyDelete1) Internally, Prospero’s greatest fear is his own mortality. He tried to repress the reality of his mortality by acting youthful and fun, but, when the Red death appears at the party, he is extremely shaken by the fact that the Red Death got so close to him so easily. So, after he failed to repress his emotions mentally, he then attempts to end tem physically, which leads to his demise. Externally, Prince Prospero is a guy with crazy tastes who appears to be a bit insane. This behavior is his way of making himself feel youthful and exciting, with his mortality being a very, very distant possibility, which is in fact not the case.
ReplyDelete2) Prince Prospero isolates himself because he does not want to get the plague. He did not really care about how people outside of his walls would fare, but he did not care because he was only worried about his survival.
3) Prospero invites 1000 wealthy nobles to his masquerade. Because he was tired if staying secluded in the walls of his abbey by himself, he threw a massive party and then locked the 1000 guests into the walls of the abbey with him. He entertained himself and the nobles with buffoons, dancers, improvisatori, and musicians.
4) Prospero’s great fete was a masquerade ball held in his seven room apartment. On each wall in each room, there was a window. Every room was a different color, with the windows being the same color as the room. The first room, wich was furthest to the east, was blue, the second room was purple, the third green, the fourth orange, the fifth white, the sixth violet, and the seventh, the room farthest to the west, was black. This last room was different, as it was painted black, but the windows were a burgundy color. It also has a large ebony clock, that, when it rung, stopped everything that was going on around it for the duration of its ringing. The only sources of light in the rooms were tripods of fire that were stationed across from the windows.
5) The villain of the story is the Red Death because it represents morality, which Prospero is trying to repress. However, it is known that every human must at some point reach his/her demise, and the Red Death represents Prospero’s repression of mortality because he is death
- Jack
Chisom Oraedu:
ReplyDelete1) • Internally, Prospero’s greatest fear is his own mortality. He tries to repress this fear by acting like a carefree and happy prince. He shows his true fear at the ball: “When the eyes of Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral image…he was seen to be convulsed, in the first moment with a strong shudder either of terror or distaste…” Immediately he tries to make up for this moment of weakness: “It was then, however, that the Prince Prospero, maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, rushed hurriedly through the six chambers…He bore aloft a drawn dagger…” He chases the masked figure with a dagger because he is trying to defeat his own mortality, which is impossible.
• Externally, Prospero is very bizarre, with many weird and eccentric tastes: “He had a fine eye for colors and effects…His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric lustre.” But contrary to popular belief, he was not mad. When he decides to throw the masquerade, he makes sure all the guests’ costumes are at just the right level of bizarre and that the décor and entertainment are perfect.
2) Prospero voluntarily isolates himself because he is trying to escape the plague. He does not want to become infected so he abandons his dying subjects and goes into hiding with 1000 of his friends: “When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court…” (Red Death 256). He cares not for his subjects; nothing else matters as long as he stays protected from the plague: “…retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure…The abbey was amply provisioned…” (Red Death 256-257). Prospero chooses to isolate himself in hopes of evading the plague.
3) Prospero invites his 1000 friends to the masquerade ball. They had been in hiding for a while and needed some excitement: “It was toward the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence” (Red Death 257).
4) Prospero’s masquerade ball is unusual because instead of holding it in one large, open room, it is instead held in 7 separate suites. From east to west, the rooms’ colors change from very bright and carefree, to dark and ominous. The order of the colors is blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. Each room has a corresponding window of the same color, except for the black room: “But in this chamber only, the color of the windows failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes her were scarlet—a deep blood color” (Red Death 257). The corridors opposite the windows had a brazier of fire that illuminated the rooms. The light illuminated in the western room made it seem eerie rather than warm: “But in the western or black chamber the effect of the fire-light that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in the extreme…” (Red Death 258).
5) The villain is the Red Death. It represents mortality, the repressed emotion of Prospero. Prospero longs to be immortal; he even believes that he can defeat mortality because he chases the Red Death with a dagger: “He bore aloft a drawn dagger, and had approached…to within three or four feet of the retreating figure…” (Red Death 260). The Red Death symbolizes mortality because it’s a plague and makes you feel the palpability of death. The dagger symbolizes Prospero’s lack of power. He drops it in the end because his mortality, the Red Death, is more powerful than he is.