ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The story opens with a recounting of a plague, the “Red Death"; it has long been devastating the country, and the narrator describes the process of the disease, emphasizing the redness of the blood and the scarlet stains. The disease is so deadly rapid that one is dead within thirty minutes after he is infected.

Detailed explanation-2: -The disease called the Red Death is fictitious. Poe describes it as causing “sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores” leading to death within half an hour.

Detailed explanation-3: -The story follows Prince Prospero’s attempts to avoid a dangerous plague known as the Red Death by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, has a masquerade ball within seven rooms of his abbey, each decorated with a different color.

Detailed explanation-4: -Throughout this story, Poe addresses a few distinguishable themes, or ideas meant to convey universal messages: humanity’s desire to escape death, madness, and human selfishness.