ung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue. . . . The [window] panes here were scarlet---a deep blood color. . . . In the
. . . black chamber the effect of the fire-light that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in the extreme. (874-875).
In other words, the Prince is determined to establish an atmosphere of evil in the room. He is proud of his creation, as if he were, perhaps unconsciously, challenging the Red Death ravaging the countryside beyond the barricaded walls. The protagonist in "Tell-Tale Heart" also has an intimate relationship with evil. The Prince in "Red Death" seems to be daring the Red Death outside his gates with the creation of the seventh room and all of its symbols of evil and disease and death. The man in "Heart" also is obsessed with evil. He says that he does not know why he first started thinking about killing the old man, but it is clear that he saw in the filmy eye of the old man some reflection of the evil within himself:
I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture---a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees---very gradually---I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever" (Poe 878).
We cannot know beyond a doubt the psychological key to Poe's stories, but it is clear that in both stories we are hearing the tales of men who become obsessed with evil, with death, and with what they see as their own ability to control those dark forces.
We also see that they are not as powerful as they think they are. The Prince is not beyond the reach of the Red Death. He believes he has successfully managed to keep the Red Death outside the walls of his power and wealth, outside where it can only kill the poor, people who are not among his wealthy and po...