Red Death

Term used to describe the disease sweeping the country in which Prince Prospero resides. The Red Death is symbolic of all death and of the mortality of al humans; it is also possibly symbolic of tuberculosis, given that Virginia Clemm suffered for years from TB and was prone to bleeding from the mouth.

Imperial Suite

Suite of rooms, designed by Prospero, in which the masquerade ball is held. These rooms are color-coordinated, with the final room decorated in black with blood-red windows. These rooms represent the progression from birth to death, traveling from east to west as the Sun travels in the sky. It is in the final black room that Prospero dies.

Ebony Clock

Tolls the hour every hour. Located in the black room, the clock's hourly chimes remind the partygoers of the passage of time, symbolically reminding them of their own mortality. It is...