what is the conflict in "The Masque of the Red Death" and also..do you believe that every conflict comes down to the struggle between good and evil..why? thanks!

-- Anonymous, October 07, 2001

Answers

A famous Person once said God alone is good. In the scheme of this story you can judge for yourself that two types of evil strive for mastery and in a sort of justice, I suppose, the lesser pretender loses. The revelers defy the absolute fatalism of the plague that ravages their shut out lands. Then the last unwelcome masquer arrives and conquers their arrogant refuge. The Conqueror Worm also has that not very optimistic theme of a story played out to the destiny of death. In "Eureka" Poe finds some hope in that the general dissolution of all things will come full circle to a new creation- and then the cycle repeats.

The conflict here is between the royalty and the Red Death. For Poe the conflict often seems to come from someone defying reality and doom and the forces of death. Sometimes the hero wins(The Pit and the Pendulum)but if he loses it is in part through the perverse work of his own hand. There are many variations of possible resolutions to this conflict with different perspectives.

-- Anonymous, October 08, 2001