Death In Prince Prospero's Fear Of Death

Dale Carnegie quotes, “All men have fears, but the brave put down their fears and go forward, sometimes to death, but always to victory.” Death is a natural phenomenon that every man has to face. Although humanity can try to prolong life as much as they can, death will eventually come. Prince Prospero’s act of isolating and secluding himself from his countrymen together with “a thousand of his knights and dames of his court” in an attempt to escape death while his people are suffering and dying from the gruesome and fatal plague is a clear manifestation of his cowardice. It is human nature to fear death; it terrifies both the brave and weak. However, as the ruler he ought to have faced the great pestilence together with his people or at

A brave leader gives hope to his people in times of need and does not hide behind walls in seclusion and lets his people suffer and perish. It is unfortunate that Prince Prospero, because of his great fear of death, tries to thwart it by building a fortressed castle and hiding behind these impenetrable walls. He must have thought that hiding and secluding inside his castellated abbey with his chosen friends could have protected him from the Red Death. However, his “castellated abbey” fails, because death is inevitable. As a noble prince, Prospero could have used his wealth to help his people to find a way of fighting the dreadful plague; but instead, he hides from

"But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious" from the text shows evidence that the prince never really cares about his countrymen suffering and dying from the lethal plague outside his castellated abbey. A brave leader is supposed to take care of his people not just himself. Doing what is right, good, and helping others must override one’s fears and self-interest. Prospero inhumane nature manifests itself when he invites only his close friends to hide from the Red Death in his castellated abbey. The prince sees the lives of his friends more important than other lives in the kingdom. From the text, the friends are "light-hearted," which refers to people who never really care much about others. Prospero never wants to rescue some of his friends who could question him on his inhumane acts. His “magnificent revel” also attests to his selfishness. It is unfortunate that Prospero was celebrating in the palace rather than mourning for his ordinary citizens who are dying from the Red Death (Roth 52). Instead, Prospero is hedonistic as the author wrote, “The prince has provided all the appliances of pleasure.” Happiness is his only objective in life, yet he was supposed to care for all his people. He calls his friends into the palace because of the fear of being alone but not because he cares for them (Bell