Amontillado Symbolism

Montresor uses his knowledge of Fortunato to lure him into his trap. He tells Fortunato that he bought a cask of Amontillado and that Luchesi, a man who Fortunato is not fond of, is going to taste test the wine for him. This hurts Fortunato’s pride, which is made obvious when he repetitively states that Luchesi cannot tell the difference between Amontillado and Sherry. Fortunato predictably insists on tasting the Amontillado rather than allowing Luchesi to do so in order to prove how useful and important he is. Montresor leads him into the catacombs where he claims the Amontillado is being stored. Montresor lures Fortunato further and further into the catacombs by using reverse psychology. Montresor insists that they must turn around or else Fortunato will become sick from the nitre on the walls, which causes Fortunato to obsess over tasting the wine himself. While walking

He was known by many to be strong and feared, but this does not mean he was invincible, as even any super hero or villain has their weaknesses. Fortunato’s weakness was his likeness to drink, as he had been much of an alcoholic, and was proud of his knowledge of fine wines. Montresor knew this weakness however, and would use this to manipulate Fortunato, in his wicked plot. Montresor had a plentiful wine vault and knew he could use wine to help him get his revenge as he says in “The Cask of Amontillado, “I bought the best I could find. And wine, I thought, wine would give me my revenge! (Poe).” His family had a long history, and a palace which they had lived for hundreds of years, which underneath contained this vault. Montresor would tell Fortunato about a new full cask of wine, called Amontillado.” He would go on to inform him that he was going to get someone to taste test it for him, to make sure it really is amontillado. However, Fortunato then claims his knowledge of wine is better, and that it should be himself tasting the wine. This falls perfectly into Montresor’s plans, as he uses Fortunato’s alcoholism and love of wine to manipulate him into place to set up his revenge. Ultimately, however, this manipulation will turn into betrayal as Montresor finishes out his evil doings to get back at

In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor is not the only character who displays an overwhelming and ultimately detrimental sense of pride. Fortunato is also a very prideful man who is willing to go to great lengths to maintain his honor and reputation. For him, it is his reputation as a fine wine expert that he must defend. Fortunato’s pride overrides his common sense and is the driving force of the deadly decisions he makes throughout the story. Montresor claims to possess a bottle of the expensive and highly regarded Amontillado wine. He tells Fortunato that he has called an expert, Luchresi, to inspect the wine. Fortunato forces Montresor to take him to the vaults because he is certain that “‘[Montresor has] been imposed upon. And as for Luchresi, he cannot

When Montresor mentioned to him that he received the pipe of what passed to be for the Amontillado (179), he was completely astonished and nothing mattered more to him than holding and taking a look at it to make sure that it was the authentic cask of the Amontillado. The fact that this man was determined on actually taking a look at the cask, made him forget about what was really going on in his surroundings, nothing mattered more than that, not even his current health condition. This man was vulnerable. Poe states, “ ‘My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre.’ ‘Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado! You have been imposed upon. And as for Luchresi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado.’” (180). Fortunato becomes completely careless about himself, the only thing he truly cares about is taking a look at the Amontillado and he assures Montresor that only he could distinguish it, applying that he must take him and he must be the one who takes a look at it. He becomes completely obsessed and closed mined with the cask of Amontillado, nothing mattered, not even his own life. This cask becomes the casket for Fortunato’s hopes, dreams, and

Montresor is an effective enemy to Fortunato as he knows “his weak point,” his love for wine. Throughout the story, our narrator claims to be a friend and unaware about the authenticity of the wine he has purchased. As he plays on Fortunato's ego, the ill man is self-forced to

At the carnival, when Montresor meets Fortunato and tells him about the amontillado, he states, “As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi,” referring to Fortunato being inebriated. Fortunato insists that, “Luchresi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry” (Poe 361). “Knowing his victim’s vanity, Montresor baits him by saying that some fools argue that Luchresi’s taste is as fine as Fortunato’s” (Morsberger 334).

Furthermore, Montresor is very prepared or tactical. He plans to get Fortunato drunk; it works. In the falling action of “The Cask of Amontillado”, Fortunato’s drunken state wears off, but comes to see that it isn’t in his favor. “I had scarcely

The first thing that I found ironic in Poe’s story is its title, “The Cask of Amontillado”. Without reading this story, it was difficult for me to understand why Poe used

Furthermore, Aubigny and Fortunato suffer losses when trying to achieve self-gratification motivated by their tragic flaw, demonstrating situation irony. Fortunato tries to prove his knowledge by proving that Montresor does not actually have amontillado only to foolishly follow his murderer to his death. Fortunato accompanies Montresor to prove his alleged proficiency on recognizing wine, likely to outshine Luchresi: “And as for Luchresi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado" (Poe). Fortunato offers his self-proclaimed expertise to prove his

The Cask of Amontillado is a short story written by Edgar Allen Poe. It is a story about a man name Montresor who was insulted by Fortunado. Montresor then plots to exact revenge against Fortunado. Montresor is the narrator, and his tone is interesting as it changes in the story. The definition tone, “of a written work, is described as the attitude the narrator seems to take toward the subject and or the audience, and the tone is a primary way of determining the motivation and overall reliability of a narrator”.

To cover his tracks, Montresor plans his murder during the Carnival season, reasoning that during the festivities, Fortunato will drink wine and impair his judgement. During this time, Montresor encourages the servants to leave the house so there will be no witnesses to his crime (May). To lure Fortunato away, Montresor discerned that Fortunato's "weak point" is the great pride he takes in his "connoisseurship of wine" (Poe 91). Because Montresor, himself "skillful in the Italian vintages" (91), shares Fortunato's knowledge of and pleasure in wines, he is well positioned to exploit his victim's vulnerability (Mustafa). Montresor uses both of these incidents to create a perfect scenario by luring an already drunk Fortunato with the promise of a rare wine.

Montresor demands revenge for “THE thousand injuries of Fortunato” he had to bear (1). While Fortunato is attending the carnival, Montresor approaches him to tell him about some amontillado, an expensive wine, that he has in his possession. He claims to Fortunato that he wishes he would come to verify the amontillado. As Fortunato and Montresor proceed through catacombs to reach the cask of amontillado, Montresor continues to offer Fortunato wine, to keep him intoxicated. As they arrive to a niche within the catacombs, Montresor tells Fortunato that the amontillado is

Irony, in the short story, reveals that pride leads to downfall. Fortunato became too prideful to take notice that Montresor was giving him a chance to leave and avoid his fate. While venturing through the catacombs, Montresor took notice of the excessive amount of niter that was causing Fortunato to cough a lot and suggested that they should “ go back ere it is too late”, however Fortunato objected claiming that “ it is nothing”(Poe 65). Since Montresor actually wanted to keep Fortunato in the catacombs, it is ironic he asked him to leave. Nevertheless, Fortunato was blinded by the thoughts of being able to taste the Amontillado that he didn’t want to give into any physical weakness which would interfere with the rare opportunity. He wanted to prove to Montresor that he was a far more superior wine connoisseur. In conclusion, Fortunato's ignorance to Montresor’s many hints only lead him to his death like a lamb to a slaughter. In addition, Fortunato was too immersed in proving his experience in wine connoisseurship to notice Montresor’s indication that he is going to seek revenge. While the two men were trekking

Fortunato is supposed to be a connoisseur of fine wines and is delighted in the fact that Montresor has the Amontillado. Fortunato cannot resist the desire to taste this wine and he is blind to the fact the he has even insulted Montresor. Poe never discloses the exact nature of the insult. On their way down to the catacombs to find the Amontillado, Fortunato has a horrible cough. All the while smiling in Fortunato’s face and showing concern for his cough, Montresor has a plan.

Within Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor diabolically extracts his revenge on Fortunato. To carry it out, Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs and deflects the true intent of their trip, all while basking in the pleasure of the despicable deed. In the beginning, Montresor baits Fortunato with the prospect of amontillado. Once he has captured Fortunato’s attention, Montresor playfully rescinds the offer on account of the other man’s health and says he will have Luchesi inspect the wine instead. This seems as if Montresor is questioning Fortunato’s connoisseurship, which Fortunato takes as offensive.