Prose and Mixed Media essay

Proseand Mixed Media

Somecomparison can be drawn between the prose and mixed media of Masqueof the Red Death. Thetwo versions explain the problems caused by red death that upon acountry. Edger Allan Poe (1842) in the original text clearlyelaborated the problems that people faced as a result of a pestilencethat befell their country. Perhaps the one person who seemed to enjoythe situation was Prince Prospero (Poe91).He was happy with the way death had halved the existing populationand did not shy away from merry-making alongside his friends. Theseissues were also well highlighted in a 1991 movie that featuredactors Frank Stallone, Brenda Vaccaro, and Herbert Lom. In spite ofthe similarities, there are some notable differences between theprose and the mixed media of the story (&quotThe Masque Of The RedDeath (Full Movie)&quot).

Oneof the differences that may be established is the fact that theexplanation that was given by Poe was graphical, creating a vividpicture in the minds of the audience of how the actual situation wason the ground. It is well enhanced by the vocabularies that used inthe text. The vocabularies are not only catching, but also go a longway in helping the reader have a clear view of the suffering thatpeople experienced as a result of the red death disease. Forinstance, he used the words ‘blood was the Avator and the seal ofthe red death’ (Poe102) creatingsome element of horror upon any individual who reads the text. Thetext goes on to indicate that, ‘people experienced pains,dizziness, and intense bleeding.’ The movie does not capture thisaspect correctly despite the fact that the film attempts to bring itout. This occurrence is because it appears for a very brief moment,not enough to make the audience understand the grave nature of thedisease and the suffering that it predisposed people to (&quotTheMasque of the Red Death (Full Movie)&quot).

Anotherfeature that seems quite evident as far as the difference between theprose and the mixed media of the story are concerned is the omissionof some scenes. Some scenes that were in the text are missing in thefilm version. This scenario is expected, given the fact that it isquite hard for the producers to include all the scenes featured inthe text into the film. Among the scenes that are evidently missing,is the situation where Prince Prospero faced the courtiers andreprimanded them for saying that he had failed the people. In thetext, the rage of the prince could be seen, even as he uttered thewords, ‘Who dare!’ The prince was out to state that people whomocked him and said that he had done very little to alleviate themfrom the suffering that they had faced as a result of the red deathwere committing blasphemy. The failure to include this aspect of thescript in the movie has some notable negative effects (Poe110).The audience is not able to understand the general rudeness andinsensitivity that was shown by the prince at a time when his peoplewere going through very tough moments (&quotThe Masque Of The RedDeath (Full Movie)&quot). He appeared to have completely neglectedthem to fight their battles while he went on to enjoy life withoutgiving any consideration to what he could do so as to assist them.

Thedifference between the two forms of media can also be established inthe elaborateness of the explanation given about the story (Barger138). The text is quite comprehensive regarding how the red deathcaused great suffering upon the people. For instance, it explains theway apartments were crowded as people lived next to each otherbecause of the fear that they had regarding the plague. The text alsothoroughly explains the confrontations that the prince had with hispeople as they blamed him for the less action that he had taken tohelp them but instead chose to engage in some parties with hisfriends while the people had to endure facing the disease on theirown (Poe106).The people also presented the prince before the assembly of phantasmsso that a ruling could be made upon him regarding the behavior thathe had shown at a time that the people needed his support andguidance (&quotThe Masque Of The Red Death (Full Movie)&quot).

Inconclusion, the prose version of the story is more worthwhile sinceit enables the audience to have a real picture of how the situationwas at a time when people in the country were faced with the reddeath. The film version seems to have omitted many important aspectsof the story. However, this omission was quite critical towards thesuccess of the film since the inclusion of very many elements wouldmake it boring and hard for the audience to follow, though.

WorksCited

Barger,Andrew.&nbspPhantasmal:The Best Ghost Stories 1800-1849.USA: Bottletree Books LLC. 2011.&nbsp138.

Poe,Edgar Allan. TheMasque of the Red Death. 1842. 91-110

&quotTheMasque Of The Red Death (Full Movie).&quotYouTube.N.p., 2016. Web. 20 May 2016.