An Analysis of Setting in "The Secret Sharer" and "The Masque of the Red Death"

“The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Secret Sharer” are both inseparable from their settings. The settings in the two stories were subtle depictions of the personalities of the main characters of the stories.
In “The Masque of the Red Death,” the keen descriptions of Prince Prospero’s abbey revealed many truths about the prince’s character. The elaborately and vibrantly decorated rooms were symbolic of Prospero’s grandiose disposition, even during the fragile state of his kingdom. The covered windows of the abbey represented his naivete to the severity of the epidemic that was raging in the outside world. Prospero felt that if he stayed indoors, the plague would pass, and he and his constituents would be free to live life as they formerly had. The location of the story was essential to the development of the plot because the single dark room with a scarlet window symbolized the inevitability of death. It was not until Death itself attended his masquerade...