Death is inevitable, whether rich or poor, evil or good, adored or despised. In the end, death makes all people equal. Edgar Allen Poe’s story “The Masque of the Red Death” is about Prince Prospero and his friends who attempt to hide in luxury from the Red Death, but in the end they endure a similar fate to the suffering people they left behind. Similarly, the movie Titanic is a tragic love story that takes place on the RMS Titanic where no one is safe from the fate of the ship. Both stories pose the idea that everyone is equal in the presence of death and is demonstrated in the setting, characters, and symbols.
The settings in each of these stories incorporate the idea of a social barrier. “The Masque of the Red Death” takes place in a luxurious, …show more content…
In the “Masque of the Red Death,” Prince Prospero is very prosperous and this gives him a dangerous sense of power. He feels that his power can provide him with everything, even immunity from death: “The prince provided all the appliances of pleasure…All these and security were within. Without was the ‘Red Death’ ” (Poe). He uses his wealth to construct a magnificent dwelling for him and his courtiers. The prince believes that he is indestructible, and that the red death cannot harm. He also believes that he is superior to everyone because of his power, especially the suffering people outside the abbey. In the end, this sense of immortality leads to his downfall, and he is killed by the “Red Death.” Furthermore, the character Caledon ‘Cal’ Hockley from Titanic also has a sense of superiority and power because of his wealth. Throughout the movie he repeatedly uses his power to get his way. Even as the ship is sinking he tries to use his money to save himself: “Your money can’t save you anymore than it can save me” (Cameron). Cal attempts to bribe an officer to let him on one of the lifeboats even though they are meant for women and children. He manages to live through the sinking of the Titanic, but years later the loss of his wealth and power in the stock market crash of 1929 is his downfall. Both Prince Prospero and Cal had the deceitful notion that death can be …show more content…
The presence of the man in the masque astonishes the guests and demolishes their sense of safety because of their superiority. The “Red Death” makes everyone equal by taking the lives of the people at the party, who believed they had beat death. These people suffer the same fate as the people they left behind, who they thought were inferior to them. Similarly, the RMS Titanic is the symbol for death in Titanic, and it also equalizes everyone on aboard. The RMS Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg, taking 1,500 passengers with it. Even while the ship was sinking in the midst of devastation, social classes still mattered to some but not to death: “Will the lifeboats be seated according to class…The water is freezing and there aren’t enough lifeboats, not enough by half. Half the people on this ship are going to die” (Cameron). Neither of the social classes were spared from the death and devastation of the sinking ship, despite the attempt of the crew to trap the lower class passengers in order to give the upper class a better chance. Death in the form of the sinking ship pardoned no one. The division between the social classes ceased to exist in the presence of death. The symbols for death in “The Masque of the Red Death” and Titanic both shattered the barrier between the social classes, equalizing
The settings in each of these stories incorporate the idea of a social barrier. “The Masque of the Red Death” takes place in a luxurious, …show more content…
In the “Masque of the Red Death,” Prince Prospero is very prosperous and this gives him a dangerous sense of power. He feels that his power can provide him with everything, even immunity from death: “The prince provided all the appliances of pleasure…All these and security were within. Without was the ‘Red Death’ ” (Poe). He uses his wealth to construct a magnificent dwelling for him and his courtiers. The prince believes that he is indestructible, and that the red death cannot harm. He also believes that he is superior to everyone because of his power, especially the suffering people outside the abbey. In the end, this sense of immortality leads to his downfall, and he is killed by the “Red Death.” Furthermore, the character Caledon ‘Cal’ Hockley from Titanic also has a sense of superiority and power because of his wealth. Throughout the movie he repeatedly uses his power to get his way. Even as the ship is sinking he tries to use his money to save himself: “Your money can’t save you anymore than it can save me” (Cameron). Cal attempts to bribe an officer to let him on one of the lifeboats even though they are meant for women and children. He manages to live through the sinking of the Titanic, but years later the loss of his wealth and power in the stock market crash of 1929 is his downfall. Both Prince Prospero and Cal had the deceitful notion that death can be …show more content…
The presence of the man in the masque astonishes the guests and demolishes their sense of safety because of their superiority. The “Red Death” makes everyone equal by taking the lives of the people at the party, who believed they had beat death. These people suffer the same fate as the people they left behind, who they thought were inferior to them. Similarly, the RMS Titanic is the symbol for death in Titanic, and it also equalizes everyone on aboard. The RMS Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg, taking 1,500 passengers with it. Even while the ship was sinking in the midst of devastation, social classes still mattered to some but not to death: “Will the lifeboats be seated according to class…The water is freezing and there aren’t enough lifeboats, not enough by half. Half the people on this ship are going to die” (Cameron). Neither of the social classes were spared from the death and devastation of the sinking ship, despite the attempt of the crew to trap the lower class passengers in order to give the upper class a better chance. Death in the form of the sinking ship pardoned no one. The division between the social classes ceased to exist in the presence of death. The symbols for death in “The Masque of the Red Death” and Titanic both shattered the barrier between the social classes, equalizing