Citazioni da La maschera della Morte Rossa

8 citazioni celebri da The Masque of the Red Death (1842) di Edgar Allan Poe, parola per parola, con il significato e la provenienza di ciascuna.

10 min di lettura

1. 1

   The “Red Death” had long devastated the country.

   Significato: A deadly epidemic has been ravaging the country for a long time.

   NarratorParagrafo 1Copia
2. 2

   The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think.

   Significato: The sheltered nobles dismiss the suffering outside and avoid thoughts that might disturb their pleasure.

   NarratorParagrafo 2Copia
3. 3

   All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death”.

   Significato: The abbey appears to separate pleasure and safety from the deadly epidemic outside.

   NarratorParagrafo 2Copia
4. 4

   To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of dreams.

   Significato: The fantastically costumed guests seem like dreams moving through the colored rooms.

   NarratorParagrafo 7Copia

Un racconto al giorno, nella tua casella di posta La tua email Inviami racconti Un racconto classico gratis ogni mattina. Puoi annullare l’iscrizione quando vuoi.

5. 5

   There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made.

   Significato: Even reckless people have fears and sensitivities that make some subjects impossible to treat as jokes.

   NarratorParagrafo 9Copia
6. 6

   “Who dares,”—he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him—“who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him—that we may know whom we have to hang, at sunrise, from the battlements!”

   Significato: Prospero treats the stranger’s costume as an insult to his authority and orders a brutal punishment.

   Prince ProsperoParagrafo 11Copia
7. 7

   And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night.

   Significato: The guests finally recognize that death has entered their refuge unexpectedly and cannot be kept outside.

   NarratorParagrafo 14Copia
8. 8

   And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

   Significato: The clock and fires stop as everyone dies, leaving death triumphant over the prince’s imagined sanctuary.

   NarratorParagrafo 14Copia

Domande su queste citazioni

What does the final line of The Masque of the Red Death mean?

The ending declares death’s complete victory over Prospero and his guests. Their wealth, defenses, and entertainments cannot protect them from mortality.

What does the ebony clock symbolize in The Masque of the Red Death?

The clock symbolizes passing time and approaching death. Its chimes repeatedly interrupt the celebration, forcing the guests to confront what their pleasures help them ignore.