Gothic literature is full of dark, disturbing, bizarre, deathly things. In the Masque of the Red Death, there are many elements reflecting the gothic literary parts of its nature. The Prince Prospero is slightly bizarre, perhaps insane even. Inside the building the people were hiding from the grotesque and death filled area of Europe. The palatial living quarters were twisted and unusual. The whole irony in the story was very imaginative and eerie. This story was excellent in its show of the strange and fantastic plot twists and turns, the irony was just perfect.
In this story, the Prince, who feels he can escape death and throw a party receives an ironic ending. Death comes and takes him; he joins all those who the Red Death claimed earlier. This irony shows some of the bizarre and twisted imagination of the gothic writers. The Prince also being slightly disturbed in his mind helped add to the eerie atmosphere of the whole story. .
The rooms the Prince created show just how distorted the minds of the writers were when this story was written. Instead of the flowing plaza, the Prince's hideaway is full of sharp and unnecessary angles. The rooms each have their own colors and themes; each of these themes represents some part of the imaginative thinking going on through the romantic/gothic age. The last room, which holds the truest character of the times was dark, dreary, it drove fear into the partiers who ventured into it. This room captured every essence of gothic literature. The way this story ended played a huge role in the feelings of that very room.
The twist at the end shows how morbid and strange events were quite common in gothic literature. While the Prince was partying and having a superb time, a large amount of people were dying from the Red Death. The Prince and his guests all felt they could escape this plague, when in the end it gets every single one of them. The black room and the Red Death claim every last soul.
