Fifth Day of Poe: Masque of the Red Death

There is no escaping death is most likely the lesson Poe intended for The Masque of the Red Death. The other might be the folly of pride.

Prince Prospero has surrounded himself with opulence and beauty. For all of this he is not a good man, and cares little for the responsibilities of his station and seeks only pleasure. His abbey, a fortress, is full of wonders and strange rooms, and the fantastic masquerade that he throws sets the scene for the tale. Beyond its walls a plague that has overcome the world. The Red Death, this sickness is called, as the infected will bleed out through their pores. It is a painful and horrendous lingering death, which Prospero has locked his doors against. After all, he and his friends are not tainted and will be safe within the abbey's walls.

And yet, on some level, they know that they aren't.

There is an ebony clock that, when the hour strikes, echoes loud and discordant even over the revelry. The people still and are uneasy. Then the moment passes and the party continues. And the clock slowly counts down their hours.
And then, when none had noticed him before, their attention is drawn to a tall figure dressed in the garb of the Red Death as he moves through each room. Corpse-like is his mask and blood-red are his robes. "His vesture was dabbled in blood-and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror."
Prospero, both wary and enraged by this, moves to confront the figure and even draws a knife on him when, at a single look into the face, the prince drops dead. The rest throw themselves towards the figure as well and see that they had been vain and foolish.
They had thought to hide from death, but death had come to them.

"And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-dewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripod expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."

The Masque of the Red Death has always held strong imagery. The vividness the Poe creates, from the descriptions of the prince's abbey to the images of a series of rooms, each different in decor and colour, lead the reader deep into the extravagance. In 1964 the story was made into a movie starring Vincent Price and Jane Asher, and although the storyline was expanded and changed to create for a more dramatic movie (the prince worships Satan and is quite evil) the fundamental elements and message of the original remains.
Rich man or poor man, death comes for us all.

Wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masque_of_the_Red_Death_(film)
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