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Which three parts of this excerpt from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" highlight the suggestion that the powerful and wealthy in the story are insensitive toward the outbreak of the disease and those who are suffering?

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The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal—the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress, and termination of the disease were the incidents of half an hour.

But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince's own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress nor egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions, the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime, it was folly to grieve or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the "Red Death."

It was towards the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence.

Answer :

Final answer:

In Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," the wealthy, represented by Prince Prospero, exhibit insensitivity to the suffering caused by the Red Death. Key examples illustrate their retreat into hedonism and disregard for the plight of the afflicted. This critique underscores the moral failings of the powerful during crises.


Explanation:

Analysis of Insensitivity among the Wealthy in "The Masque of the Red Death"


In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," the portrayal of the wealthy and powerful, particularly Prince Prospero, highlights their insensitivity towards the suffering caused by the outbreak of the disease known as the Red Death. Here are three key parts of the excerpt that illustrate this insensitivity:



  2. "The Prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within."
    This line shows how the prince and his courtiers retreat into hedonism while ignoring the plight of those outside their luxurious walls.

  4. "The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime, it was folly to grieve, or to think."
    Here, the dismissive attitude of the prince reflects a prevailing belief that their wealth and isolation afforded them a false sense of security, indicating an acute lack of empathy.

  6. "When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends..."
    This action demonstrates Prospero's insensitivity to the devastation around him, as he invites close friends to celebrate while ignoring the fact that many are suffering and dying from the disease he seeks to escape.


Through these examples, Poe effectively critiques the moral failures of those in positions of power during times of crisis.


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