The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. ' The Masque of the Red Death' (originally published as ' The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy') is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. The circumstances these people live in are a far cry from the spacious intricately decorated abbey Prospero and his friends live in.Illustration for 'The Masque of the Red Death' by Harry Clarke, 1919 This is even more true for an estimated 70 million refugees, who aren’t guaranteed hospitalization if they get sick because they aren’t citizens and reside in camps that already lacked basic hygiene supplies like soap before the outbreak.

As we remain in the comfort of our dwellings, 200,000 Hong Kong residents live in “coffin homes” that are so small that preparing food indoors is less hygienic than going out to eat, and social distancing is impossible. The fact that we are able to do this is in itself a privilege we often take for granted. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think.” This is an impulse that I think many have shared while in quarantine: remain indoors and let the world sort itself out. The external world could take care of itself. Poe explains that within the secure abbey, “the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. It is not just the upper echelons of society that are shielded from the coronavirus. Morgan.' This advocacy for the interests of the wealthy and powerful in a time of crisis is a prime example of what philosopher Achille Mbembe called necropolitics: “the ultimate expression of sovereignty resides, to a large degree, in the power and capacity to dictate who may live and who must die.” It's bad for the people that are unemployed.

Several politicians have advocated for sacrificing elderly lives in the name of protecting the economy, Russian oligarchs are buying ventilators for personal use while they are in short supply elsewhere and Jamie Dimon, the CEO of J.P Morgan Chase declared in a radio interview: “I don't look at recessions as a bad thing. Just as the “happy and dauntless” Prospero shut himself away “when his dominions were half depopulated” to surround himself with “hale and light-hearted” friends, we have seen those who already live in luxury dismissing the lives of those less fortunate in favor of their personal health and comfort, even claiming their privilege as a point of pride and positivity during a time of unmitigated crisis.

The red masque edgar allan poe