the masque of the red death
... to interpret a sense of entrapment that carried into the plot. As the prince secured the castle, in an attempt to avert the plague of the Red Death, he was also eliminating any means of escape once the disease infiltrated the area. The prince’s solution to averting death was to seclude himself with his royal friends and celebrate with all of the amenities of being wealthy. “There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine.” However, in his naive attempts to lock himself in, the prince was allowing the deaths of those outside of his realm and locking himself out of the outside world at the same time. Therefore, as Prince Prospero put up the “...