High School

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

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."

2. "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."

3. "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.'"

Answer :

The powerful and wealthy in the story are depicted as indifferent to the outbreak of the disease and the suffering of others, focusing on their own pleasure and security.

The powerful and wealthy in the story are shown as insensitive towards the outbreak of the disease and the suffering individuals through their actions. The excerpt highlights their disregard for the plague and their self-centered focus on pleasure and security, distancing themselves from the suffering around them. The contrast between their extravagant lifestyle and the devastating effects of the disease on the common people further emphasizes their insensitivity.