The Masque of the Red Death

What it is

"The Masque of the Red Death" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in May 1842 in Graham's Magazine. It tells of Prince Prospero, who hides from a plague called the Red Death inside his abbey and hosts a masquerade ball, only to be confronted by a mysterious masked figure.

Why it matters

The story is often read as an allegory about the impossibility of escaping death, no matter how wealthy or secure one seems. Poe wrote it around the time his wife Virginia began showing signs of tuberculosis, and its imagery of blood, time and sealed rooms reflects his preoccupation with illness and mortality. It follows traditions of Gothic fiction established by earlier writers.

Look closer

• Why might Poe have used colored rooms to structure the story, and what might they represent?
• What does the nobles' attempt to wall themselves off from the plague suggest about wealth and power?
• Why does Poe leave it ambiguous whether the masked figure is truly supernatural?