"Masque of Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe: The Masque of Red Death In The Masque of Red Death the Prince and his guests are attempting to escape the red death, which has plagued the country. Poe's reoccurring motive throughout most of his short stories, including this one, is death. He intertwines the fear of death, the attempt to escape death, and even an attempt to outsmart death. The clock in this short story plays an important role, which I …

… Writing. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1987 Krutch, Joseph Wood. Edgar Allan Poe: A Study in Genius. New York: Russell and Russells, Inc., 1965 Lee, A. Robert. Edgar Allan Poe: The Design of Order. New Jersey: Vision and Barnes and Noble, 1987 Womack, Martha. "The Masque of Red Death." The Poe Decoder. <http://www.poedecoder.com/essays/masque/> (Note: Womack has a BA in English from Longwood College and has taught American Literature)