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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.

1. **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.

2. **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."

3. **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:

The wealthy in Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" exhibit clear insensitivity towards the suffering caused by the plague, demonstrated by their prioritization of pleasure and their willful ignorance of reality. Key phrases emphasize their detachment, particularly through their belief that external problems do not concern them. These attitudes highlight a broader theme of social irresponsibility during crises.


Explanation:

Understanding Insensitivity of the Wealthy in "The Masque of the Red Death"

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," the wealthy and powerful display a stark insensitivity to the suffering caused by the Red Death plague. Three key phrases highlight this insensitivity:

  1. "The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure" emphasizes how Prince Prospero surrounds himself with entertainment and lavishness rather than confronting the grim reality outside.
  2. "The external world could take care of itself" reflects the affluent mindset that the problems of the poor and afflicted are not their concern, suggesting a lack of empathy for those suffering.
  3. "It was folly to grieve, or to think" illustrates the willful ignorance of the prince and his guests, who choose to indulge rather than acknowledge the seriousness of the epidemic ravaging their kingdom.

These excerpts collectively underline the theme of insensitivity prevalent among the powerful in the face of widespread tragedy, illustrating a detachment that ultimately leads to their downfall.


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