Power And Control In Poe's Masque Of The Red Death

Man is insignificantly cursed with constantly craving power, attention and control over what they have no jurisdiction in.“Prospero attempts to control death by fitting it into his own work as a motif rather than as a reality”(Dudley). In Poe’s “Masque of The Red Death” Prince Prospero feels that power and control are the key to success and survival, although he doesn’t realize that his depressive plan of trying to control the unknown and create power will end with his demise.

Prospero tries to build an alternate reality in which he thrives from clouded judgement and false sense of security. Excluding himself from the world along with the presences of a thousand of his knights and friends Prospero locks the world out. “With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself ”(Poe). Abandoning those in need and trying to save himself Prince Prospero selfishly runs from the problem. This false sense of security creates somewhat of a bubble blinding the people and Prospero from seeing that they do not control their fates.

Within this security bubble there lies a flaw, in which the “Mummer” uses to enter this false reality. The Mummer enters the scene causing panic and threatens Prospero’s salvation causing him to concatenate. “Prospero's instinctive reaction to the
This story enimates how powerful the human mind truly is. Prospero was completely convinced that he was doing the right thing by leaving his people and locking himself away from the issue at hand. It’s amazing how a little fear can make someone completely psychotic and delusional enough to even fantasize the thought of murder is tolerable. Overall, Poe wrote this short story with efforts of enriching the minds of readers that the most dangerous thing man poses is his own