Social Norms in Masque of the Red Death - Literature review Example

Religion in Masque of the Red Death

According Anolik (2010, pp. 149), the Primary agenda of Poe’s book is describing the disease that plagues the kingdom under Prince Prospero. On the other hand, Maul (2007, pp.5) illustrates the way the Prince’s ignorance leads to the death of most of the subjects. After a considerate period of observation from the interior palace chambers where they locked themselves, he calls for an indoor party. The celebration is full of vigour by the guests because they understood that the palace remained immune from the epidemic that killed outsiders.

However, Anolik (2010, pp. 149) says that one of the guests wears a gesturing attire, which looked exactly like a corpse. Members of the party trembled in fear without a gesture of the event that will happen next. The costume seemed devilish because the region established strong religious believes that paganism could not tamper with them. Nevertheless, no one could dare question the person because of the fear that drove his or her mind. The individual decided to enter the black room, which stored most important tools and equipment for the kingdom. Prince Prospero loses his temper and approaches the man with a sword.

Additionally, Anolik (2010, pp. 149) indicates that the Prince dies mysteriously at the edge of the black room. The whole crowd with tremor and shock approaches the man to try to kill him. They discover that the beneath the old rag and mask was no human. The ghost killed all the Prince’s associates immediately. It suggested that the ghost played as part of the plague. Individuals in the palace had to suffer because of chasing the outsiders by closing the gate in time of need.

Religion and Social Norms

According to White (2014, pp. 278), religion the 19th century discards anything that went against the social norms. For instance, believe in existence of ghosts was rejected by most individuals because it related to evil practices. Christians, Jews and Muslims believed that human beings had power over satanic practices. People were supposed to maintain societal purity by observing the standards set through religious practices. According to Gale (2015, pp. 10) Poe’s believes regarding the social norms was against conviction.

Religion considered ghosts as dead humans who attacked human beings because they want to gain something from the physical world. Tischler (2007, pp. 164) regards such an as devil’s plan to conquer human race using the spiritual world. Even religious leaders warned individuals against any practices relating to the dead. They had to respect them but not involving them in their normal lives. Murrell (2010, pp. 307) supports Poe in that some things happen in the society that no one will ever accept as part of reality. According to Tischler (2007), as religion fought all the other believes, it remained individual choice to decide whether to believe in other theories or not.

Tischler (2007, pp. 165) indicates that religious practices taught that only the Supreme Being, God, is untouchable and invisible. The aspect of ghosts being untouchable typically contradicted their perspective. The social norms were to guide the society through the different life stages until death as White (2014, pp. 278) suggested. Immediately after that, humans were considered spirits with no direct link to the living. Their souls awaited for judgment day. They could not wonder in the living world.

Religious Control over Theories

As gesticulated, Pattison (2002, pp. 10) suggested that religion was the master to everything that European societies believed in the 19th century. All theories regarding nature and the source of authority were part of the societal religious practices. It connected to values like justice and integrity. For example, Christians taught about the fair treatment to human race illustrated in the bible by God. The Supreme Being was the fundamental source of life and taker of the same. The human race could not determine the destiny of their counterparts at whatever cost. Gale (2015, pp. 2) suggests that Poe’s short story created hatred between leaders and their subjects especially during the time of crisis. Inciting individuals to decide the fate of others is unjust and unfair deed.

It seems like the writer supports the aspect of having a divided society basing on the position and role played in the community. Conferring to Anolik (2010, pp. 148), most of the people that the Red Death Plague swept away at first were ordinary citizens in the kingdom, peasant farmers and regular merchants. The rest involving royal family, their guards and wealthy individuals could stay within the palace quarters until the plague could swipe the entire villages. Instead of advocating for unity and sense of belonging, he questioned the choices made by religious leaders. The story indirectly attacks the church. The case is that he compared leaders to the Prince Prospero whose main aim was protecting the influential individuals in the society rather than considering everyone as equal (Anolik 2010, pp. 148). Additionally, he questions the existence of a sole supreme being. Considerately, ghosts could appear and disappear within a nick of time. The connection between humans and spirits was inevitable although religion was trying to escape that.

Considering Aristotle’s concept concerning authority is that it bases on rationality (Miller 2012, pp. 206). It insinuates that reality bases on human reasoning. The existence or inexistence of ghosts will depend on human beliefs in the reality of such events. Gale, (2015, pp. 2) shows that Poe makes the readers believe that human spirits still mingle with people at different levels in the community by using the dark figure. Moreover, they can cause harm to their counterparts, a sign of unsatisfied will by the living. It directs to individuals in charge of various facets in a nation that the way they treat their colleagues will still counter them in the future. The human ghost implicates the punishment that awaited the kingdom.

However, Tischler (2007, pp. 164) says that religious practices consider the theory as biased information that can lead to unfortunate crises. They consider God as the sole judge to human behaviour and actions. Additionally, when we contemplate Tischler (2007, pp. 167), Christians at that time believed that judgment day would come sooner meaning God will exercise rule of law over humans. Therefore, the revenge aspect brought by the human ghost was a bias to everything that the community understood regarding the norms. It left the readers wondering if human suffering was God’s plan or the work of the devil. Christians maintain that the religious proposed norms should guide the society other than basing on inaccurate human practices and theories.

Examples of Despised Religious Social Norms

• Rules regarding Death

As gesticulated, death was inevitable and God was the sole taker of life (Tischler 2007, pp. 164). Religion teaches that no human nor any other being has the power to decide others’ fate. Additionally, immediately after death, a person’s sole was connected to the spiritual world. Such beings seized interaction with humans insinuating that they had no control over anything happening in their immediate society. The question of good and bad spirits has often been a topic of discussion in most localities. Religion discards the matter by teaching that God’s love to human cannot allow the evil ones to hinder human development (Tischler 2007, pp. 165). Good spirits protect the living against any possible attacks from the devil.

However, Maul (2007, pp.5) says that Poe expresses death as an event that is under the control of human beings. Additionally, he uses a ghost as scapegoat to underestimate human life. The morals in religion hold that there is an attachment between human life and God. According to Tischler (2007, pp. 165), even under extreme pressure from human immorality, God will never use evil to punish people. Christian and Jewish Practices consider practices against their regulations as blasphemous. Most writers in the 19th century understood that whatever they involve in their books, scrolls and articles affected the way other individuals think. They considered such aspects as pacesetters to community life and pillar to morals. The few who went against the regulations were shun in the community for being free-minded. Gale (2015, pp. 1) indicates that the death of Poe’s wife makes him one of the few individuals who directed their thinking away from religious society norms; a strategy used to diverge personal thinking.

• Assisting the Less-fortune

According to Fluhman (2012, pp. 53) political rulers, religious leaders and wealthy individuals had the mandate to ensure the division of community resources in the right manner. Anyone could access public lands and everything directed towards the societal name. They considered discrimination as part of the evil practices that individuals used to divide the community. For instance, a well-decorated Christian society could not allow her members to suffer due to poverty (Fluhman 2012, pp. 53). The leaders joined hand at the time of need and provided the less- fortunate with basic needs. Moreover, rulers could at least offer job opportunities to some of their members to prevent future occurrence of the same problem. Poverty was part of the adverse social implications that resulted in human suffering. As nullified, religion could never allow such instances to rule the community. They had to take actions as soon as possible.

However, Asad, T (2009, pp. 260) insists that just like the setting of Masque of the Red Death, it is clear that the society is made of beggars and poor individuals who have so little to rely. The kingdom’s streets were full of unsupported children with no kin. The same community had a priest who resided religious matters. Readers expected that such religious personnel would be on the front line to ensure that poor families could at least have something to rely. As Gale (2015, pp. 1) insinuates that Poe wanted to shun religious biased information. As the church sometime pretends to care about other people living within the community, it fails to maintain social standards. Poe had the ability to transform some minds against some religious practices suggesting that such believes were strong because of fame and maintaining leadership positions.

• Unity

According to Murrell (2010 pp. 182), the community should be one entity bond by peaceful coexistence. Different people might have variety of opinions concerning a certain topic. The diverse choices could not affect their lives because religion united all the facets within their community. Individuals treasured peace because it was the key to assurance that their leaders had close contact to the subjects. Intimidation was a rare instance in such place as people could approach the rulers and seek clarity where the laws seem to contradict. Furthermore, religious leaders taught the society the essence of maintaining close touch with others especially during crises for better outcomes.

Poe illustrates the way pretending to abide by the social norms affected Prince Prospero’s kingdom, which White (2014, pp. 278) supports in that such actions affect interactions. The society was divided according to the social classes, religious believes and power. None of the mentioned groups considered the other’s interest. They all fought for a better share of the available resources. The decision to close the palace gates so that the plague could swipe the poor individuals in the villages meant that unity was just a phrase to their leaders. Their personal interests came first while the community was a scapegoat to their evil minds. Readers might expect that the priest could advocate for unity in the community. Instead, he is one of the individuals who assume their roles and support the ruler in discriminating the entire kingdom. Murrell (2010, pp. 247) supports Poe in the case where most of the wealth persons have less interaction with their counterparts insinuating that they divide the community according to social classes. The rich while the poor are subjects with little rights to enjoy.

• Immorality

Russell (2008, pp. 314) says that religion teaches a lot about maintaining sexual purity and moral standards in the society at all times. Such education should also act as a guideline to specific activities like celebration. People must celebrate victory after war and mourn for the loss of their colleagues. Moreover, in Christian festivals, the Bible discourages drinking alcoholic substances that can hinder once normal thinking. Hence, such celebrations should involve food and other soft drinks to ensure that people will not end up misbehaving.

The case is different in the story’s Christian setup. The priest precedes over the Prince’s party after the plague swipes a whole society just because of the selfish attitude demonstrated by the leaders. Anolik (2010, pp. 152) indicates that the major concern for the leaders was keeping their families safe instead of working together to save the society from the Red Death. According to Tischler (2007, pp. 168), part of the party activities includes immoral behaviours demonstrated in their celebrations, which goes against biblical teachings. Using the female slaves for sexual activities and drinking alcohol highlights the immoral activities in the kingdom.

The event highlights the same characteristics of his immediate community. According to Fluhman (2012, pp. 10), in the 19th century, Christianity was the primary law making body, which insinuates that Poe indirectly aimed their religious perspective. Social evils remained part of human race because Christian leaders went against the regulation, but no one could dare confront their leaders. He especially describes sexual immorality as one of the evils that such leaders support in the royal court because they understood it was difficult for outsiders to have any knowledge. Exposure of such ideas in the short story made the society understand that they have to take an active role in communal activities like establishing and maintaining social norms, which White (2014, pp. 278) thinks is the right way to maintain the suggested values.

Poe Contrasting Religion

As indicated by Gale (2015, pp. 4) the fundamental objective of Poe writing the short story was to expose the evil characteristics hidden in the community by religious beliefs. Most leaders use the excuse of social norms to acquire power then exploit their subjects in the process. It suggests that community principle should base on the personal contributions proposed by its people on the code of conduct. Some people are never comfortable with religious choices. It means that they need to be flexible to accommodate the changing aspects in the community. Nevertheless, religion maintains that the set principles must always apply. People will never get the opportunity to set their rules.

Additionally, Poe views religious leaders as the first people who direct the community to breaking social norms, which is exactly the same concept that Murrell (2010, pp. 84) illustrates in his work. It is precise that they are the makers and amenders of the practices. However, they favour some individuals and discard others. The rich will receive better treatment than the poor will. On the other hand, leaders are at a better position in the church than the subjects are; yet, religion suggests that they are of equal statuses. The biased attitude results in resistance from the subjects. Hence, religious controlled society seems the fundamental reason to inequality and lack of unity.

Critics

Poe’s work clearly questions the choices religion make for others to follow, which Gale (2015, pp. 4) views as the right attitude to control evil practices. Nevertheless, Christianity also shuns some of his actions. Foremost, the church urges individuals to condemn teachings that rule the community by suggesting the possible corrections. To be a responsible member of the then community, one needed to direct critics to a certain aspect and provide implementations from the church. Most European nations in the 19th century had a pillar of Christianity to guide the community (Fluhman 2012, pp. 10). They derived everything from the Bible including the moral aspects. According to Asad, T (2009, pp. 261) it is precise that even with regulations, the community would still make frequent mistakes. According to the existing laws, they were open for amendments considering the increasing social demands to eliminate some norms.

According to Murrell (2010, pp. 67), church leaders considered his work as biased information because of including the priest in immoral activities. Religion would prefer contemplation of some aspects that might hurt other people then developing codes of conduct from the Biblical point of view. Nevertheless, the church expects normal critics that rarely have a basis to argue. The then religion assumed that Poe was a Pagan who wanted to prove a point through his writings. They considered such individuals as a hindrance to communal success because they will trade wrong information about the church for their benefits.

Church leaders called upon such writers to consider the fragile community that read their stories because they typically judge the church regarding the adverse proposals suggested in their books (Murrell 2010, pp. 67). It made the society doubt even the Biblical teachings. Even if the church allowed some gap to question some social norms, going against the Bible was a blasphemy offence that could lead to death sentence. Therefore, opposing the religious societal norms by writers like Poe, later supported by Gale (2015, pp. 1), resulted in creation of further communal disputes.

Exemplary Studies

Other literature materials support Poe’s belief in ghosts while the rest discard the feeling. For example, Aristotle believed that everything on the earth surface existed as either form or matter substances (Miller 2012, pp. 206). His studies interject the idea of ghost existence in human form. The argument is that, after human beings die, the bodies decay and form part of humus. He links the human soul to their mind insinuating that immediately the body dies, the whole individuals seizes to exist. The theory challenges most religious believes. Regarding Maul (2007, pp. 1), the belief in life after death still supports the existence of bad spirits in the form of ghosts. Hence, Poe’s belief still influences some religious practices that individuals consider within or against the social norms.

Besides, another literal theory by Russell (2008, pp. 76), which applies to logical laws, supports Poe’s religious perspective. He considers the foundation for any community basing on the individuals’ beliefs in social norms. The societal standards must apply to everyone. For the case of the time of Poe’s work, the community had strong belief in their religion. Muslims, Jewish and Christians established a generalized way of conduct regarding their different practices. All the mentioned religions ascertained to the concept that life after death was never part of the living. The link between the spiritual and normal people would never manifest in the real world. Such facets characterized the divinity of religions. Russell (2008, pp. 177), illustrates that nobody can tamper with the structure and code of conduct in the community because they are guidelines to interpersonal relationships and communal living.

Conclusion

Clearly, Fluhman (2012, pp. 11) indicates that Poe goes against social norms regarding religion in the 19th century. Most of his teachings in the Masque of the Red death were consistent attacks to Christianity. He made the community to re-think before making any steps towards societal choices. Additionally, he suggests that humans consider some aspects like existence of ghosts as fictional, which implies that only Pagans could have such believes. He uses the topic to contrast some biblical teachings. For example, Christians believe in the existence of Satan, yet they oppose human attack by evil spirits. Moreover, they make and implement rules to guide others in the right direction. Nevertheless, they are the first people to break such regulations. A good example is the priest who presides the ceremony after a catastrophic plague. He would have advised the prince to consider the outsiders by providing food and medicine to avoid the Red Death from swiping their community.

Other exemplary studies support his work because he kept church activities in the society at bay. Religion had to control social norms knowing that such rules apply to everybody. Equality of choice and expression should be part of their teachings. Furthermore, Poe uses the divided community to gauge the aspect of unity. The poor individuals never received the right treatment, yet social norms advocate for unity. Therefore, the readers understood that they have a role to play to assure the community is harmonized by the norms. It insinuates that on one should be above the regulations.