FEAR OF DEATH: POE’S “THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH” AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic represents one of the most difficult situations humanity has faced in modern times, although it is not the only pandemic human beings have experienced. In order to confront this medical and social crisis, citizens act guided by their fear of death, and these attitudes are similar to the ones caused many years ago during the tuberculosis epidemic in the 19th century, or even to attitudes seen in by fictional characters set in this period. This research paper aims to examine the similarities and differences between the current Covid-19 pandemic and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death”, focusing on the attitudes caused by the fear of death. Consequently, situations encountered in the short story and the current reality such as the confinement, the use of masks or the distortion of time will be analysed, as well as the attitudes towards these critical situations. Selfishness, foolishness, carelessness and anger conclude to be present in circumstances where the human being is threatened by death and has to survive the unknown, whether these circumstances are real or fictional.