In Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," Prince Prospero looks himself, along with a great number of people from his kingdom, in a castle-like structure that he hopes will serve as protection from the Red Death.
The structure, which is sealed shut so that no one can enter or exit, is designed to be the permanent residence for its inhabitants for a period of months. Designed by Prospero, the castle reflects the Prince's "love of the bizarre":
The apartments were so irregularly disposed that that vision embraced but little more than one at a time. There was a sharp turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel effect. To the right and left, in the middle of each wall, a tall and narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which purused the windings of the suite.
More interestingly, each "apartment" is themed in a...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
different color, which some critics interpret as representing the different stages of a person's life. The seventh and final room is "shrouded in black tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls" and has windows that are blood-red in color. Moreover, this room contains a gigantic ebony clock whose sound makes the castle's inhabitants stop and shudder each time it rings.
Describe the prince's fortifications in "The Masque of the Red Death."
Prospero hid himself away in an abbey with a wall and iron gates.
When Prince Prospero’s kingdom is threatened by a terrible plague in the form of the Red Death, his first thought is not to help his people. Even though the pestilence kills half of his population, Prospero decides to take one thousand of his friends and hide away in the “deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys” to protect himself and his own. He is a terrible leader!
The abbey is a thing of beauty. It is so well designed that no one can get in, and no one can get out.
A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts.
Oh, but don’t worry, it is “amply provisioned.” They have all of the food and entertainment they need for months in there, and the outside word is on its own. Prospero left his kingdom dying and leaderless.
The Red Death is so terrible that it can kill you in a half an hour, and blood drips from your pores. Prospero wanted to make sure that it could not come in. Unfortunately, he had an uninvited guest to his party. Near the end of the “fifth or sixth month,” Red Death invited himself to the masquerade (Prospero was not kind enough to send him an invitation).
Prospero was very angry when he saw him. He thought it was an intruder in a very inappropriate costume, and he rushed him.
Prince Prospero, maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, rushed hurriedly through the six chambers, while none followed him on account of a deadly terror that had seized upon all.
Prospero dies, and so do all of his partygoers. Red Death has come to the abbey.
This story is a good demonstration of why you should not try to serve yourself before your constituents if you are a leader. It is also an example of not trying to cheat Death. Poe demonstrates allegorically the consequences of greed and gluttony, and a few other Deadly Sins too. You may think that the guests are innocent, but remember that they agreed to go with Prospero. They became a party to his delusion, but they were guilty too of greed and gluttony too.