Brent has a Ph.D. in American Culture, with a specialization in cinema studies, from the University of Michigan. She is a freelance writer and teaches courses in American cinema. In the following essay, she discusses three possible interpretations of Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" in terms of identifying the narrative voice of the story.

Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Masque of the Red Death" may be interpreted variously as a parable for man's fear of death, a moral tale with biblical implications, or the delusional vision of a madman waging an internal battle for his own sanity. Depending on each of these interpretations, the narrator may be identified as a personification of Death, a divine being or an insane individual.