Answer :
Final answer:
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" depicts the wealthy's insensitivity towards the suffering caused by the Red Death. Key excerpts illustrate how the privileged ignore the disease's impact on others while indulging in their own pleasures. This highlights a powerful social commentary on the moral failures of the elite during crises.
Explanation:
Analysis of Insensitivity in Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death"
In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," several passages suggest that the powerful and wealthy are insensitive toward the outbreak of the disease and the suffering of others. The following excerpts highlight this insensitivity:
- "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 line illustrates how the victims of the Red Death are abandoned by society, emphasizing the disconnect felt by the wealthy towards those suffering.
- "The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think." Here, the Prince Prospero dismisses the suffering outside the walls of his abbey, showcasing a stark disregard for the plight of others in favor of maintaining his own revelry.
- "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." This passage underscores the Prince's obliviousness to the tragedy surrounding him, highlighting the indifference of the aristocracy during a time of crisis.
These selections illustrate how the privileged choose to ignore the plight of those affected by the Red Death, instead indulging in luxury and pleasure. Poe uses these themes to criticize the moral failings of the wealthy during times of calamity.
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