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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:

Edgar Allan Poe's excerpt from "The Masque of the Red Death" illustrates the wealthy's indifference to the plight of the suffering due to the disease. Key phrases highlight their isolation from reality and their refusal to engage with the suffering beyond their walls. Overall, the text reflects themes of selfishness and detachment in the face of widespread despair.


Explanation:

Selecting Key Texts from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death"

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," several passages suggest that the wealthy and powerful are indifferent to the suffering caused by the outbreak of the disease. Here are three parts of the excerpt highlighting this insensitivity:

  1. "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." This highlights how victims were isolated and ignored, making it clear that society had abandoned them.
  2. "The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think." This shows Prince Prospero's refusal to acknowledge the plight of those suffering outside his seclusion, illustrating a deep selfishness among the elite.
  3. "But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious." This phrase indicates that while death loomed outside, the prince remained carefree and disconnected from the reality of the epidemic, signifying his detachment from the suffering of his subjects.

These excerpts collectively emphasize a theme of indifference among the wealthy towards the despair caused by the "Red Death," contrasting their lavish lifestyle with the horrific realities faced by others.


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