What it represents:
They represent humanity/ human beings.
How it helps teach the lesson:
Although the party guests isolate
themselves, they still die from the Red Death,
thus showing no one can escape death.
What it represents:
The abbey is a physical barrier to the
disease, an escape from the disease
How it helps teach the lesson:
Even though Prince Prospero thinks he can
build a castle strong enough to keep death out,
death still penetrates the castle walls.
What it represents:
The wealthy,
privileged people; the
upper class.
How it helps teach the
lesson:
The wealthy think
they can avoid suffering
and death or think they
are above the powers of
mortality, but they are
not.
What it represents:
An attempt to have
fun/ avoid unpleasant
things by pretending
everything is okay.
How it helps teach the
lesson:
People have a hard
time facing their
mortality or a serious
problem, so they simply
ignore it.
What it represents:
It represents
the grave, a coffin,
forebodes of death
(the red symbolizes
blood).
How it helps teach
the lesson:
It shows that
death is the final
resting place for all.
blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, black
What it represents:
The stages of life : infant, schoolboy, lover,
soldier, justice, pantaloon/second childhood,
death
How it helps teach the lesson:
The rooms begin in the east and end in the
west. The seventh room represents death. No
matter where our journey begins, it will always
end with death.
From As You Like It
by William Shakespeare
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school.
And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow.
Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth.
And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part.
The sixth age shifts into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound.
Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
What it represents:
The seven deadly sins: pride, envy, gluttony,
lust, anger, greed, sloth.
How it helps teach the lesson:
The seven deadly sins underlie all that is wrong
in the world and are attributed to the selfish causes
of human behavior, the actual reasons why we hurt
each other.
Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities
that interferes with the individual's
recognition of the grace of God. It has been
called the sin from which all others arise.
Pride is also known as Vanity.
Envy is the desire to have others' possessions,
status, abilities, or situation. Envy is also
known as Jealousy.
Gluttony is an excessive desire to overeat.
Lust is an excessive craving for the
pleasures of the body.
Anger is manifested in the individual who
has a strong feeling of annoyance,
displeasure, or hostility. It is also known as
Wrath.
Greed is the excessive desire for material
wealth or gain. It is also Covetousness.
Sloth is laziness.
What it represents:
It represents life or the tempo of life .
How it helps teach the lesson:
It gives us a sense of vulnerability; each
time it is stilled by the chiming of the clock, we
recognize life is fleeting.
What it represents:
The clock
represents our time on
earth.
How it helps teach the
lesson:
The chimes are a
constant reminder of
the time we have left on
earth. Time is still
ticking onwards (like
the beating of a heart).
What it represents:
It represents the
Red Death, plague,
death in general.
How it helps teach the
lesson(develops the
theme):
It shows us that
we cannot escape
death, no matter how
hard we try. Death will
come looking for us.
What it represents:
They represent
light, heat, life.
How it helps teach
the lesson:
Like the party
goers, the tripods
are snuffed out at
the end by death.
Wealth cannot save you from death. There is
no escaping death. Everyone is on the same
playing field where death is concerned.