The Masque of the Red Death

The Masque of the Red Death is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842. It tells the tale of a prince who locks himself and all his friends behind the walls of an abbey to avoid becoming infected by a plague known as the red death.

I first read this story on 2017-11-14 as part of my goal to better familiarize myself with classic authors.

Status

I do not own this book, but I have listened to it as an audio book.

Review

Good

• The masquerader in the red death plague is a pretty interesting character.
• The story has a pretty creepy plot.

Bad

• Overall, I found the story to be kind of dull and predictable. The moment I read that the prince was trying to weather the plague by locking himself and his friends in an abbey, I knew they were all going to become infected, although I have to admit, the stranger in the masque is a nice touch.
• I don't get how the prince dies in the end. Is it from trying to touch the ghostly form?
• I'm assuming Poe was trying to teach a moral lesson by punishing the wealthy prince for thinking he was above the plague, and yes, he should have used his wealth to research a cure or treatment, but to some extent, it was a wise idea to hole themselves up to prevent spreading the disease.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Gallery

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  Illustration by Jeff Davis. Mixes in a seven deadly sins theme.

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  Illustration by Somniferum.

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  Illustration by Abigail Larson.

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  Illustration by Nahrin Sarkisova.

Links

• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masque_of_the_Red_Death - Wikipedia.
• poestories.com/read/masque - Complete text.