We have these characters in a structure. Contained, confined. And they are confined because Prospero has locked them in. And yes, while this could be interpreted as ‘well-intentioned’, he did assign these characters their final location. Even if unknowingly. And with the personification of death, in the plague’s actuality, we have a figure featureless; a ghost, like we many times see in Poe’s work, hunting people, murdering. This consistency of vengeance in ‘Red Death’ could be interpreted as more evidence of Poe’s foul estimation of Human Beings. And in this structure, the characters are no more than feed for this animated and tangible Death. Does Poe think they deserve to die? More than likely, yes. “Most unusual magnificence,” indeed.
By stating the Prince is complicit, that asserts he had a role in all these deaths. Well, didn’t he? Again, yes, maybe unknowingly. Or maybe not. He knew it was coming, that is was out there, encroaching. And sure enough, it found them. All. The masquerade, while festive and seemingly civil, provides only momentary distraction, sedation. Yes, I’ll agree that this is generous, but I also offer that this just as well weakens the other characters just before their respective falls, as they’re pretending rather than confronting a realistic present. This is also characteristic of characters as self-elevating as Prospero. Maybe that’s why Poe killed him first…
In the face of death, we can either act or adhere to actuality, embrace the scenes before us. This, too, is one of Poe’s intentions with this piece. Consider what a mask does.. it disguises, it’s for the purpose of hiding something, pretending, assuming a pervasive fiction. And isn’t it interesting that the guests succumb after Prospero, that even though he never witnessed their ends, they still met finality as a result of being locked in that structure, in that locale, where he was. With all dead, death is even more personified, with the visual of a peppered deathbed. “Peppered,” with lifeless shells.
(11/19/13)
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