Rather than look for specific meanings to specific elements portrayed in the story (black chamber, tripod, etc.) one must first consider who Poe is and when he was writing. Poe, often and misfit in life, typifies the ideal of the Romantic artist, struggling against a world that fails to understand him, yet trapped, forever, seeking its approval. Forced to turn inward for inspiration, material and content, the Romantic Artist uncovers much which he himself could not understand, that mysterious and dark place within the soul. Here, the image of the "Doppelganger" (double) becomes prominent as it is in much of Romantic literature (see, William Willson), as an example.
The Romantic Artist, and Poe is the quintessential one, struggles to deal with the myriad of bizarre, grotesque and seemingly random images that come to conscioussness when contemplating the "Self." Later, Freud would call it the "Id" the place in all humans, left over from our own primordial past, when lust, and the struggle to live ruled our lives, unchecked.
Observe the story from this light and you will find many different and valid interpretations.
Mine: Poe senses intuitively, the downfall of civilization, his, our own, which I believe we are witnessing even more drammatically and clearly today. Look around you: learning is at an all-time low, respect for tradition is non-existent, indeed, many of the trappings that held society together for centuries are mocked and derided.
Poe's "Red Death," is simply that, the encroaching fall of High Western Civilization from we we all (as the Prince) try vainly to hide from and sometimes, absurdly, attempt to deny.
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