Prince Prospero (or That Poor Idiot)

Prince Prospero is a man who's county is under siege by a plaque called the Red Death.  Yet as his name implies he continues to monetarily prosper in Edgar Allen Poes "The Masque of the Red Death".  This money causes him to become ignorant and spoiled and eventually leads to his undoing.

The evidence of his ignorance becomes most clear in a quote from the beginning of this story.  The quote goes "When [Prince Prosperos] dominions where half depopulated, he summoned a thousand hale and lighthearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of his castellated abbeys."  We can take this to mean that once half of his people died the prince gathered up a thousand friends and they all went to one of his castles to try and hide from the Red Death.  However any one with a brain in their skull knows that it is impossible to escape the Death.

And of course no one wants to feel as they are, hiding like cowards facing death.  So Prince Prospero spares no expense to bring them the finest. "There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty,[and] there was wine." So although the world around him is collapsing Prince Prospero intends to make sure all of his spoiled wants are met.

Perhaps this is what intrigued the Red Death.  Perhaps this is what cause it to "come like a thief in the night".  Prince Prospero thought her could evade death in comfort.  So death found him and taught him a very important lesson.  No amount of money in the world can shield you from the Red Death.