The motif of denial in "The Masque of the Red Death" The motif of denial in "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe is important because it helps the reader understand how the prince and his guests can celebrate while the rest of the world dies. Their refusal also makes the realization that they cannot escape the Red Death that much more dramatic. One way the reader is shown their denial is when the story reveals that they believe “the outside world can take care of itself” and “Meanwhile it was madness to grieve, or think” (1). The story also says that the abbey in which they take refuge has “such precautions that the courtiers could defy contagion” (1). In these lines the reader is shown that the prince and his guests choose to deny that the world is helpless and that despite being inside the protected abbey they can still be infected by the Red Death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The narrator says that the “prince . 'it is a truth that seems so terrible to him that he prefers not to accept it as such. As a result, when people see a man with the Red Death they are deeply offended because they have now been reminded of the very truth they deny, which regardless of whether they are in it. inside the abbey, there is still the possibility that they could contract the Red Death and die Despite having seen this man, their denial reaches the point that they prefer to believe that the man is wearing a "made" "mask". . . resemble the face of a stiffened corpse" (4). The prince decides to deny the truth, defining the alleged insinuation of the masked figure that the red death was inside the abbey as a "blasphemous mockery" (4). . the Red Death is inside the abbey, the awakening of the people is of priceless drama. Without the motif of denial in “The Masque of the Red Death,” audiences would not understand how the prince and his guests can celebrate while the world falls apart, nor would they witness such a dramatic awakening...