Summary of “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe:
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” is the story of a man named Montresor who decides to seek revenge against a man named Fortunato who has insulted him. He meets Fortunato at a carnival, lures him into the catacombs of his home, and buries him alive.
Similarity #1: Setting/Characters In “The Cask of Amontillado” the short story takes place in a small Italian village during a time the time of a carnival. One thing to note, is that in this story the carnival is meant to be a literal celebration of freedom, while the catacombs are supposed to mean confinement. “It was almost dark, one evening during the winter when I met Fortunato in the street, alone.”(Poe 69)
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“Drinking the wine as we laugh at the time...which is passing incredibly slow…” (Alan Parsons Project 7-8). The short story by Poe also does this, and it allows the reader to learn that Fortunato is a connoisseur of wine which would greatly play into the story later on. “Fortunato was a strong man, a man to be feared. But he had one great weakness: he liked to drink good wine, and indeed he drank much of it.” (Poe 68). Both the song and the short story, let us know what happened at the end of the story. “When you’re chained in the dark all alone…Part of you dies each brick I lay…(Alan Parsons Project 16-18). This is also shown in the short story, “Throwing them to one side I found the stones which I had taken down from the wall. Quickly, I began to build the wall again, covering the hole where Fortunato stood trembling.” (Poe 71). The plot from that point onward allows the reader to have some liberty with what happens to Fortunato, and how Montresor feels after doing it. The reader will most likely infer that Fortunato will live the rest of his days in this chamber, “Part of you dies, with each passing day…”(Alan Parsons Project 10)
Edgar Allen Poe's brings us a twisted tale of vengeance and horror in "The Cask of Amontillado." Poe's character, Montresor, acts as our guide and narrator through this story. He grabs a hold of the reader as he tells the story from his own apathetic and deceptive mind to gain vengeance from the weak and dismal Fortunato. Montresor's mentality is disturbing as he uses his clever, humor, ironic symbolism, and darkness to accomplish this.
Edgar Allan Poe is a famous writer in writing detective stories and horror stories. One of his horror stories, “The Cask of Amontillado” was talking about how a man took his revenge to his friend. However, to look deeply in this story, I found that this story was not just simply a horror tale about how a man gets his revenge in the safest way. Instead, it also demonstrates much irony in several areas: the title, the event, the season, the costume, the environment, the characters’ personalities, a man’s dignity and cockiness and at the end, the public order. he are
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is a goosebump-evoking tale that follows one man’s twisted plot for revenge. Although carnival season is in full-swing above ground, Fortunato finds himself being lead to his death underground in the catacombs. His “past insults” will ensure that he will never again participate in such feasts and merriment; Montresor, his “frenemy”, will make sure of that. As if the story isn’t creepy enough, Poe uses dialogue and sensory details to produce a mood that is both suspenseful and dark.
Although Poe does not describe many of the Catacomb rooms, I believe he chooses not to. This is simply a tool to lead the readers to believe that the rooms are all the same, therefore, bringing sobering fear and possibly even death with them. Poe describes these few rooms, each having the decayed remains of the deceased, bringing on a feeling of uneasiness and fear. The air in the crypts is thick and oppressive, with the foul stench of decay and mold, which “…caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.” The main room is described as a small room four feet deep by three feet wide and six feet high, with chains affixed to the walls and human skeletons piled beside the entrance. Here, Montressor lures a drunk Fortunato into the room with the promise of Amontillado, only to chain him up and leave him to die.
In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, the dark side of human nature is illustrated through the character of Montresor and his victim, Fortunato. Montresor is a manipulative and vengeful person whom is obsessed with the downfall of Fortunato. Through the acts, words, and the thoughts of Montresor, one is able to see him carry out his plan for revenge.
It is Edgar Allan Poe's intense use of symbolism and irony throughout the Cask of Amontillado that establishes the short story as an indeed interesting candidate worthy of thorough analysis. The skillful use of these devices are utilized by the author to create this horrific and suspenseful masterpiece.
Poe starts out with a man, by the name of Montresor, wanting revenge on another man, named Fortunato. Most of the story takes place deep in the Montresor family catacombs. As Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs, he chains Fortunato up to a small hole in a wall, bricks it over, and leaves Fortunato to die. Even through the traits of anger, hatred, and revenge, as the story progresses on, Montresor, the main character in “The Cask of Amontillado”, starts to show signs of feeling guilty for wanting to murder Fortunato.
Could you keep a gruesome and murderous secret to yourself for 50 years? A good horror story should contain suspense and fear but also should include a well-produced plot, setting, and should include literary devices. Well, the author is able to successfully accomplish this in the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. Due to its dark, eerie and crowded setting like the catacombs, the riveting plot that makes the story suspenseful, and the intriguing point of view that helps the reader understand what Montresor is feeling make this story clearly a prime example of a quality horror story.
Vengeance and murder infects the minds of Montresor and Fortunato upon an exchange of insult in Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Cask of Amontillado”. This is the story of pure revenge after Forturano disrespects Montresor. The story follows the characters meeting up at a carnival and eventually the disguised Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs of his home by convincing him that he acquired something that could pass for Amontillado, a light Spanish sherry. Fortunato grows eager to taste this wine and to determine for Montresor whether or not it is truly Amontillado. He leads him back to the catacombs of his home and carries out his plot to bury him alive. Edgar Allan Poe writes from a mysterious first person perspective, uses colorful symbolism and situational irony to present the man's inner self, in turn revealing that revenge is fundamentally infeasible.
Edgar Allen Poe takes the reader on a dark, twisted journey to his oppressor’s timely death in one of his most famous fictional story, The Cask of Amontillado. Setting takes place in Italy during Carnival, a festive event for locals at that point and time. As one reads further into the story, the readers learn that the narrator and seeking revenge on someone who has repeatedly wrong him and insulted him in the past. The narrator, whose name is later revealed to be Montresor, is seeking revenge. The person Montresor is planning to seek revenge on ironically goes by the name Fortunato. After a long night of partying, Montresor tricks the belligerent Fortunato to his house to get his opinion on a certain type of wine. Montresor lures Fortunato
After a couple of drinks Montresor warns Fortunato about the danger of consuming this wine because of the high levels of nitre that it has, foreshadowing for the audience, telling us the venom Fortunato is consuming. When Fortunato starts to feel bad Montresor offers him a drink to make him feel better, this is not an act of sympathy, it's just to keep Fortunato alive until his burial ground; and also to keep the audience waiting for the action to come.
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado is thought to be one of his most popular vengeful short novels. The two main characters, Montresor and Fortunato are re-acquainted friends who meet each other at The Carnival. Montresor has intentionally planned to lure Fortunato to his own death by deceiving him to believe that Fortunato is coming to Montresor's family catacombs to taste a fine wine “Amontillado”. After Montresor leads Fortunato into the crypts, Montresor eventually chains Fortunato up in a secluded section and mortars him behind a brick wall while he is still alive. The story ends with Montresor throwing a flaming torch into the small opening while he continues to put the last brick in place, essentially burning Fortunato alive. Edgar Allan Poe creates conflict between characters Montresor and Fortunato which primarily creates the major theme of revenge in this story. Edgar Allan Poe depicts setting in this novel by portraying death by illustrating human bones, within a cold and damp crypt to contribute to the eerie theme of revenge. Montresor's characterization is expressed through the betrayal of his friend, which adds another element to the theme of revenge in this story. In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe utilizes conflict, setting, and characterization to create a theme of revenge.
"The Cask of Amontillado" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's greatest stories. In this story Poe introduces two central characters and unfolds a tale of horror and perversion. Montresor, the narrator, and Fortunato, one of Montresor's friends, are doomed to the fate of their actions and will pay the price for their pride and jealousy. One pays the price with his life and the other pays the price with living with regret for the rest of his life. Poe uses mystery, irony, and imagery to create a horrifying, deceptive, and perverse story.
The rest of the story takes place in the catacomb. In the basement of the catacomb is a graveyard. The passageway is claustrophobic, dripping with nitre from its proximity to a water source, and always leads downward. Fortunato doesn't know this, but he is descending a stairway to Hell rather than to sample a rare wine. They walk through the graveyard in the middle of the night. Not to forget that they are drunk and are getting more drunk. The room gets smaller and smaller and the cold keeps on increasing. It is gloomy and they only have 2 torches. This is a setting that has all the elements, a perfect gothic story would have. Next lets look at the atmosphere. In the story the purpose of Montresor is very clear and Fortunato is completely unaware of it. This creates an atmosphere of suspense, mystery and horror. It is dark, oppressiveness, and full of strange sounds. Another element that Poe uses in his stories is the Psychology of the people. Montresor's motive for murder is vague. He refers to thousand injuries but never gives a specific reason for doing so. It can be concluded that Montresor is insane but even this is questionable because of intricate details of the plot. In this story the intentions of Montresor hurting Fortunato is very clear. Though this is not directly implied in the story but with every passing minute it becomes even more clear. But what will be Fortunato's punishment is still not clear. And that makes the plot
Readers tend to use their imaginations when they read a story that is vivid. Many stories use costumes for readers to view the character. Costumes give ideas on how the character acts or if the character is rich, poor, intelligent, humorous, and many other characteristic traits. Edgar Allen Poe is an author who gives off ideas on a character. In the story “The Cask of Amontillado,” the costumes are important for the character roles in the story.