“The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The Prince had provided all the appliances for pleasure. There were buffoons, improvisatori, there were ballet dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine.”
As the "Red Death" plagues the country, the land’s eccentric ruler, Prince Prospero, chooses to ignore the overall misery, and lives an extravagant life, secluded with the healthy nobility
"That at the eastern extremity was hung….in blue,-and vividly blue were its windows….purple in its ornaments,....green throughout,....furnished and lighted with orange,....the fifth with white…..the sixth with violet…the seventh was closely shrouded in black velvet."
Prince Prospero decides to have a masquerade party in his palaceand every room is decorated in a different color, much to the shock of his guests
“There was a sharp cry-and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which instantly afterward, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero”
A new and uninvited guest entered the party, which angered Prospero. He demands that he gets arrested and when the guest is confronted, Prospero dies.