Edgar Allan Poe

Summary of the story "The Red Death had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous... There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face...shut out [its victim] from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow men....[T]he whole seizure, progress, and termination of the disease, were …

…out of his sanctuary. However, the Prince learns that no one can escape death. Death holds "illimitable dominion over all." Theme No one escapes death. Human happiness (as represented by Prince Prospero) seeks to wall out the threat of death; however, the Biblical reference (I Thessalonians 5:2-3) at the end of the story reminds us that death comes "like a thief in the night," and even those who seek "peace and safety...shall not escape."