Final answer:
The way Poe's characters react to the Red Death in his works reflects the varied responses to the Black Death in Europe, ranging from piety and hedonism to resigned acceptance, as well as the use of art to represent the inescapable nature of death.
Step-by-step explanation:
The similarities between the way Poe's characters react to the Red Death and the way people reacted to the actual Black Death in Europe are seen through their behaviors and responses to the devastating epidemics facing their respective societies. In both instances, there were a range of reactions including fear, denial, and attempts to avoid the pestilence.
During the Black Death, people's responses varied from increased piety to hedonism and a resigned acceptance of inevitable death. Similar patterns of behavior can be discerned in Poe's work; his characters attempt to avoid death by secluding themselves away in opulent festivities, much like how people in the 14th century would shun the infected and seclude themselves in hopes of dodging the disease. The artistic representations of the period like macabre deathbed scenes also resonate with Poe's dark and atmospheric storytelling that contemplates mortality and the inescapable nature of death.