Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death, as discussed in this weeks’ lecture, “is a literary work and no handbook for us, under COVID. But it can serve as the jumping off for contemporary reflections.”
Considering this with relation to the ideas of sovereignty and fantasies of power led me to seek out contemporary responses to those handling the current COVID pandemic, and see how our responses to power and sovereignty relate to those presented by Poe.
Firstly, I’d like to introduce a few headlines discussing the role of Boris Johnson in response to COVID.
Poe’s text shows sovereignty as fallible, with death holding ultimate sovereignty. This is exemplified in the following passage, during which Prince Prospero refers to the Red Death with terms such as “blasphemous mockery”:
““Who dares” — he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him – “who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him — that we may know whom we have to hang, at sunrise, from the battlements!””
Relating these ideas of sovereignty to today’s pandemic, it is interesting to note the partisan lines across which this sovereignty is afforded to our leaders. As in the above examples, one Spectator headline reads “Boris Johnson isn’t the only one to blame for Britain’s Covid Crisis”. Meanwhile, The Guardian is much more negative, with headlines such as “Johnson Marks Year Since First Lockdown—Knowing he Acted Far Too Late”. The two publications, on opposite sides of the political spectrum, clearly define the sovereignty of our political leaders very differently when it comes to their stand against our current “Red Death”.
Interestingly, The Spectator headline appears to paint Johnson as fallible, not entirely at fault for the COVID crisis. Here, though they are in support of Johnson, his sovereignty is not ultimate. The Guardian, however, despite being critical of Johnson paints him as an infallible figure. His shortcomings are seen as astute and ultimate. He is entirely to blame. He perhaps should be sovereign over the pandemic.
Though Poe’s text is a fantasy piece, the ideas of sovereignty it raises are very applicable to the ways we discuss political power today with regard to the Covid-19 pandemic.
References
Allegretti, Aubrey, and Jessica Elgot. “Covid: ‘Greed’ And Capitalism Behind Vaccine Success, Johnson Tells Mps”. The Guardian, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/mar/23/greed-and-capitalism-behind-jab-success-boris-johnson-tells-mps.
Crace, John. “Johnson Marks Year Since First Lockdown – Knowing He Acted Far Too Late | John Crace”. The Guardian, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/mar/23/boris-johnson-admits-he-will-forever-be-haunted-by-englands-covid-death-toll.
Cohen, Nick. Spectator.Co.Uk, 2021, https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/boris-johnson-isn-t-the-only-one-to-blame-for-britain-s-covid-crisis.