Poe’s “Red Death” (1842)

What do the numbers and colors suggest?

Prospero’s 7 rooms

seven a heavenly number: three of the soul, combined with four of the body; unifies spiritual and earthly

feminine number (of the great mother who “creates”)

signifies totality, safety, synthesis

its symbol is heptagram, often known as “Witch’s Star” and suggesting the occult

Context for 7

in Christianity, there are seven deadly sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth)

in Egyptian mythology, there are seven houses of underworld; seven is also sacred number of Osiris (god of dead, rebirth, harvest; husband of Isis, mistress of magic; father to Horus, god of sky, sun, time)

associated with Venus: feelings and instincts, “Group Mind” (i.e., collective soul), also sexual energy

Prospero’s colors

blue: truth, serenity, harmony; of electricity; relates to future

purple: royalty and nobility; good for emotional problems

green: hope, growth, and nature; linked to healing and alchemy

orange: balance and immunity; tied to sexual potency

white: transcendence and perfection; pure consciousness

red: courage and sacrifice; also sin, danger, wrath and Satan

Masque context masquerades popularized by 1710s, fall out of favor by 1780s; an 18th-cent. institution

combining aspects of medieval- and Renaissance-era carnivals (public entertainment) with elements of early 17th-cent. court masques (aristocratic theatre); imported to England via Italy and France

while carnivals take place outside, masquerades move into buildings, behind closed doors, etc., which leads to ticket sales (tickets cheap until about 1760; e.g., five shillings)

casual intermingling of different classes at masquerades (e.g., robbers, prostitutes, kings, princes, upper-class women) since tickets affordable and identities hidden in costume and by voice distortion (called “squeaking”)

“Midnight Masques” are most notorious, taking place until six or seven in morning and frequented by pimps, prostitutes, and men and women of “quality” looking for a good (and anonymous) time; sometimes even “gate-crashers” would sneak in without paying entrance, despite security provided by musketed gentlemen

Castle, Terry. Masquerade and Civilization. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1986. (pp. 1-37)