eAim: Why is it significant that the “black” room is being positioned at the west end of the castellated abbey?
Do Now:
We started the lesson by discussing the symbolic meanings of east and west. Since the sun rises from the east, it could symbolize new beginnings, new life, rebirth, land of birth, youth, and renewal. And west, the direction where the sun sets, would represent the end, evening, old age, and death. Soon we will see how this information correlates with today’s reading of “The Masque of the Red Death”.
First of all, “The Masque of the Red Death” is full of symbolisms, so it is crucial for us to comprehend what symbolism is.
Symbolism is the use of specific objects or images to represent abstract (non-concrete or intangible) ideas. This term is commonly misused, describing any and all representational relationships, which in fact are more often metaphorical than symbolic.
And what makes something a symbol?
A symbol must be something tangible (touchable) or visible, while the idea it symbolizes must be something abstract (non-concrete or intangible) or universal.
In other words, a symbol must be something you can hold in your hand or draw a picture of, while the idea it symbolizes must be something you can’t hold in your hand or draw a picture of. Mrs.Peterson provided us with a great example; Bravery is absolutely something you cannot hold in your hands, but it can be represented by objects. Some things that I thought of would be lions, swords, bears, and etc.
It is important to notice the distinction between symbolism and allegory.
Here’s a video to help you with what’s the difference between symbolism and allegory?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVZTcUj1yJg
To summarize their differences, a symbol is a word or object that stands for something else. It’s much smaller as one symbol is only one piece. For example, a heart represents love and a dove represents peace.
However, an allegory is a narrative story and it acts as an extended metaphor. The story has two meanings, one literal and the other figurative, much broader than a symbol. For instance, “I got lost in the oceans of his eyes.”
Now that we have a good understanding of symbolism, we are presented with the activity of the day, which is to annotate while you read section 3 and 4 of “The Masque of the Red Death.”
Here’s a video for some tips on annotating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5Mz4nwciWc
During our class discussion, our classmate pointed out how each room was particular with its own colors and decorations, like blue windows, purple ornaments and tapestries and panes, green throughout, orange furnished and lighted, white, violet, and black velvet tapestries but scarlet panes. Also, she pointed out how the last room may seem unsettling for its eerie colors. In addition, these rooms are scattered in the zigzag hallway, with sharp turns.
What they have in common is the lack of candles and lamps, but instead a heavy tripod, similar to a large fire pit, lit the rooms. The ignition from the fire, reflected against the panes, is enough to illuminate the room.
As mentioned in the Do Now, east means beginning, while west represents the end. From what we know, the rooms’ order goes from blue to black. And in conventional symbols, blue represents new birth and life. On the contrary, black represents darkness and death. Therefore, we can infer that the rooms symbolized the seven stages of life, from birth to death, the life cycle.
The light from the tripod displayed a fascinating effect in the first six rooms, which made the setting seem joyful and hopeful. However, it made the seventh especially threatening and dreadful as it is dark and eerie.
In addition, we noticed that the clock is placed at the most western end, which we knew symbolizes death and end.
The clock is constantly ticking in the room of death, as if it was a constant reminder. The second we are born, we start to die. The clock chimes every hour, and when it does, the guests seem almost frightened and startled, but when it hinders, they begin their laughter again. With that being said, we can infer that the clock seemed to symbolize the loss of time, as their life is slipping away every hour. It constantly reminds them of the nearing death that is unavoidable.
Reflection
In today's lesson, we reviewed the meaning of symbolism, and enhanced our understanding of the difference between an allegory and a symbol. We also learned various symbols that I’ve never really paid attention to, which tied into our reading of “The Masque of the Red Death.” For instance, how colors other than black can represent various stages of life. On the contrary, I also recognized a lot of symbolisms that I knew, but didn’t carefully consider previously. This makes me think that symbolism is not only an important aspect in literature, but also in life. Whether we may realize it or not, we use symbolism almost every day and everywhere. For example, a red hexagon sign represents to stop. At times where we can’t necessarily convey certain ideas, we can use symbolism to represent them, just like what the clock represented in “The Masque of the Red Death.” It symbolized a constant reminder of death and how time is passing. Through interpreting the deeper meaning of symbolisms in the text, we have a better understanding what the author is trying to convey, as well as certain themes in the story.
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