The following stylistic and lexical devices have been identified in the narration: The cases of repetition, metaphor, simile, synecdoche, personification, allusion, climax, and polysyndeton and the abundant use of epithets and synonyms make the story interesting to read and create a vivid picture of the events described. For instance, the use of alliteration and assonance gives the narration some peculiar sense of rhythm. However, there are many other methods of making the story captivating. The major effect, as has been mentioned, is produced by inversion. This structure captures the attention and pushes to the conclusion that there is some faulty hope and some intangible danger because it sounds too self-assured.Īpart from the storyline, another aspect makes “The Masque of Red Death” so impressive ─ the unique tone and numerous stylistic devices employed by the author. Immediately after this, Poe writes, “Without was the “Red Death” (262).

The castle had “buffoons, … improvisatori, … ballet-dancers, … musicians, … Beauty, … wine,” all of which “and security were within” (Poe 262). The inverted word order is particularly powerful in describing the castle’s formidability and the impossibility of the “Red Death” to enter it. Although the “deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys” seems to promise Prince Prospero’s friends the shield from the “Red Death,” it becomes obvious from the context that something tragic is going to change these people’s lives soon (Poe 662). Such a focus draws the readers’ attention to the events and keeps them in suspense about what is about to happen next. When explaining how the narrator relates the story, it is impossible not to mention the abundant use of inversion, the instances of which create a peculiar effect, and emphasize the actions rather than actors. The author provides a detailed portrayal of the figure, and later it appears to have been only the object of people’s imagination.

This feature is reflected in the description of the “masked figure which had arrested the attention of no single individual before” (Poe 664-665). Poe’s way of writing may also be considered as mysterious.

Probably the best explanation of these feelings is offered by Poe himself in such a stylistic device as anticlimax employed when describing the reaction of Prince Prospero’s guests to the masked figure: “there arose… a buzz, or murmur, expressive of… terror, horror, and of disgust” (Poe 665). The succession of these paragraphs makes the whole idea of the story finished and indicates the storyline’s threatening character. Every paragraph of the narration clarifies the author’s intention to arouse feelings of apprehension and fear in his readers. Poe’s writing style in the story selected for close reading is somewhat sinister and rich in stylistic devices.

The masque of the red death short story