책소개
적사병이라는 무시무시한 역병! 공포와 절망, 슬픔과 고통 속에서 쓰러져가는 백성들! 자기들만의 세상에서 온갖 사치와 환락을 누리며 바깥세상은 나 몰라라 하는 왕족과 귀족들! 그리고 광란의 가장무도회! 에드거 앨런 포 특유의 간결하고 담백하면서도 의미심장한 공포, 시처럼 아름다운 경고가 제대로 담긴...
In <The Masque of the Red Death> by Edgar Allan Poe, there is one main character. He is Prince Prospero, the duke. In the story, the whole country was in panic of the ‘Red Death’. The pestilence was so fatal, and people who got infected died in a very short time. But Prince Prospero chose light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and took them to one of his castellated abbeys. They had fun there. They locked themselves in the big abbey without thinking or worrying about the people dying every minute outside. What they did was just enjoying the extravagant life in there. There were buffoons, improvisatory, ballet-dancers, musicians, and wine. They had everything but the concerns of the outside world. The people were enjoying themselves in the masquerade ball as usual, when the ‘Red Death’ visited them. Prince Prospero died, and everyone else died too.
In this short story of Poe, we can clearly see the selfishness of the high classes.