CHARACTERS

The narrator speaks in the third-person and doesn't occupy any particular character's point of view. In fact, he doesn't even have much to do with the characters at all. Most of the time he's more interested in describing the setup of Prospero's party (creating the "atmosphere"). He prefers taking a "bird's eye" view of the crowd of revelers to lodging himself in any of their heads, though he does take a few quick peeks into Prospero's now and then.

Only two characters are named in the story: Prospero and the Red Death.

Prince Prospero:Selfish, wealthy ruler who withdraws to a castle-like abbey to avoid an epidemic of a deadly disease.  

The Red Death: Prince Prospero throws a costume party at which a figure "tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habilements of the grave" strolls through the castle. "His vesture was dabbed in blood and his broad brow, with all the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror." (149). The Red Death has arrived. Many interpret the story as an allegory of life, the end result being death to all.

Prospero's Guests: None of Prospero's guests are named. We do know, however, that they are of noble blood and that peasants and commoners are locked out, leading many to surmise that the story is an allegory for the death of feudalism, an economic system in which peasants worked the land and nobles made the money.