On nearly the same day that the world's first
trillionaire
was birthed
unnatural and misshapen and unholy,
I went to see the story of Prospero,
the antagonist of Poe's masterpiece
The Masque of the Red Death
A summary of the story:
The Masque of the Red Death is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. It follows Prince Prospero, who retreats with a thousand wealthy courtiers into a sealed, fortified abbey to escape a devastating plague known as the Red Death. After months of seclusion, Prospero hosts a lavish masquerade ball in seven color-coded rooms. At midnight, a mysterious figure appears dressed as a victim of the Red Death. When Prospero confronts the intruder, he drops dead, and the revelers discover the costume contains no tangible form beneath it. One by one, the partygoers die as the Red Death claims them all. The story is a powerful allegory about the inevitability of death and the futility of trying to escape it through wealth and privilege.
This seems apt, this weekend, as many powerful people gather to "celebrate" death and gore and power and privilege - a caged fight orgy of violence and twisted toxic masculinity. Always, the privileged invited to such parties, at great cost to the poor.
“There was much of the beautiful,
much of the wanton,
much of the bizarre,
something of the terrible,
and not a little of that which might have excited disgust.”
There's so much to be said.
"Prospero and his court are indifferent to the sufferings of the population at large. They intend to await the end of the plague in luxury and safety behind the walls of their secure refuge, having welded the doors shut to ensure no one enters or leaves."
~The prophet Poe
“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom:
She and her daughters were arrogant,
overfed
and unconcerned;
they did not help the poor and needy."
~The prophet Ezekiel
Prospero, sadly, is the perfect role model for today's toxic conservatism and the echoes of today's realities is truly prophetic.
No comments:
Post a Comment