Final answer:
The idea that Poe wants his readers to sympathize with Prospero and his courtiers is false. Poe's storytelling in 'The Masque of the Red Death' aims to evoke a reflection on mortality and critique the elite's indifference to suffering, rather than to elicit sympathy for the privileged characters.
Step-by-step explanation:
The assertion that Poe wants his readers to sympathize with Prospero and his courtiers in the context of his work is false. Edgar Allan Poe typically instills a sense of macabre and irony in his stories, and in 'The Masque of the Red Death,' Poe's portrayal of Prospero and his courtiers is more a critique of their hubris and disregard for the suffering outside their opulent walls rather than an attempt to garner sympathy for them.
Instead of evoking sympathy, Poe highlights the inevitability of death and the futility of trying to escape it, as well as the moral implications of the elite's behavior during times of crisis.
The references to the representation of suffering, the creation of empathy, and the connection between characters and their audiences found in literature underscore the power of storytelling to evoke emotional responses. However, in the case of Poe, the emotional response sought is often not sympathy for the characters but rather a somber reflection on the darker aspects of human nature and the inevitability of death.