The Masque of the Red Death and Donald Trump – Courtesy of Covid and Edgar Allen Poe
The Masque of the Red Death and Donald Trump – Courtesy of Covid and Edgar Allen Poe
By David Gottfried
I do not like to use cliches, but this is very apt: Life is imitating Art in Donald Trump’s reaction to covid.
In Poe’s eerie short story, “The Masque of the Red Death,” a plague ravages a kingdom. The ruler of the kingdom, Prince Prospero, doesn’t much care about his dying subjects. His major objective is the safety and extravagant luxury of himself and his sycophants.
They retreat to a gaudy, majestic castle (Mara Lago), keep out the plebians and serfs and live high on the hog (Prince Prospero feasted on stimulating entertainers and artists; Trump’s idea of living it up is lying in bed, eating a big Mac, and watching Fox News)
Eventually, at midnight (All good horror stories defer deliciously deadly stuff to midnight), the revelries stop, and the Prince and his loyal Mitch McConnells are killed by the deadly plague.
I am not sure if there is a moral in the story, but I know which one I like: What goes around comes around.
PS. The Masque of the Red Death is only 10 pages long. Just as many people read “A Christmas Carol” on Christmas eve, I suggest we broaden our holiday reading list by reading the Masque of the Red Death on Halloween. After we read the tale, we can indulge in some more traditional Halloween pursuits, such as vandalizing homes, with a special destructive emphasis on the homes of Trump supporters. (Disclaimer: I advocate neither violence nor lawlessness of any kind. Any discussion of violence is a form of poetic license and hyperbole.)