The Masque of the Red Death

At first introduction Prospero is described as “happy and dauntless and sagacious” (739), the proper picture of a charming prince. Poe quickly subverts this description. We are shown Prospero’s true nature in his summoning all his courtiers to his abbey during the devastation of the Red Death. Sealing himself and his friends off from the fatal plague that infests his own people, he shows little care for his subjects. Imprisoning his courtiers inside his abbey and then dressing them for a party of his own design (though they never object) shows his lack of respect for this group as well.

An embodiment of wealth’s obliviousness and folly, we are also told Prospero may be insane: “there are some who would have thought him mad. His followers felt that he was not. It was necessary to hear and see and touch him to be sure that he was not” (741). This suggestion of madness, combined with the characterization of his courtiers as dreams, may also suggest that we should read this story as occurring only within Prospero’s mind.

Prospero can also be considered to represent Poe himself. Like Prospero, Poe has a taste for the bizarre and