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.
“The Cask of Amontillado” composed by Edgar Allan Poe is one of the precise examples of Poe’s hypothesis of solidarity of the short story. Poe’s utilization of language helps the reader to understand the conflict between two men, Montresor and Fortunato. In the story, Montresor, cunningly, wants to take revenge from Fortunato. Although the two men are seen in an unexpected way, they both need a similar thing; to fulfill the desire for something that has long past due. Montresor is confessing his crime in front of someone. The story broadens Montresor character but limits Fortunato’s character. The theme of trickiness and revenge, is explained with the utilization of symbolism and irony, Montresor seeks peace
In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allen Poe skillfully integrates dramatic irony and portrays Fortunato’s ignorance as a way to engage the reader. He utilizes the power of human emotions and compassion to capture the audience’s attention. In the story, Montresor uses reverse psychology to coax Fortunato deeper into the catacombs and towards his own death. An example of dramatic irony occurs when Montresor says, “‘Come, (...) we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as I once was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchresi-’” (Poe 868). Only the reader and Montresor know of his plan to end Fortunato’s life. Through Fortunato’s point of view, it would seem that Montresor is trustworthy and worried about his health. However, Montresor could care less about Fortunato’s well being and is using this mask to hide his true intentions to complete his master scheme. At the end of this quote, Montresor sneakily mentions getting help from Fortunato’s rival Luchresi instead, knowing that Fortunato is extremely egotistic and greedy. Fortunato is the kind of man who thinks he is the finest and most sought after wine connoisseur in the area. He believes that Luchresi should not be trusted in the wine tasting business, especially with something as precious as Amontillado. This undesirable quality leads Fortunato to his death while the reader could do nothing to help. Unlike Fortunato, the reader can see Montresor’s tactics and can’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the victim. This emotional attachment intrigues the reader since they want to find out the result of the story and Fortunato’s fate. After taking another drink of Medoc, Fortunato performed a movement that symbolizes the Mason Brotherhood. Montresor did not understand what he meant by this unpredictable action. Fortunato got a little suspicious and said “‘A sign, (...) a sign.’ ‘It is this,’ I answered producing from beneath the fold of my roquelaire, a trowel. ‘You jest,’ he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. ‘But let us proceed to the Amontillado’” (868). At this point in the story, the audience knows
Though Fortunato is an intelligent wine expert, his expertise leads him to his death. In Italian the word Fortunato means fortunate, something that he is not by the end of the story. In “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe uses foreshadowing and dramatic irony and verbal irony to show Fortunato’s misfortunes which eventually lead to his death.
To begin with, “The Cask of Amontillado” is a story of revenge in which Montresor, the protagonist, retaliates to the “1000 injuries of Fortunato” (Poe 1) that he had bore; by meticulously planning the murder of his foe. Montresor seeks to avenge the insults made to his ancestral family name by Fortunato.
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a suspenseful tale of vengeance. To summarize, the main character, Montresor, seeks to avenge himself by destroying Fortunato, a man who had brought him agony. Poe’s use of grim diction, haunting images, and threatening details create a frightening plot. His dark imagination creates ominous images that appeal to our senses and aide in adding tension. His vivid word choice and details help add to the suspenseful mood.
He will tell me...." said Montresor. ” Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry" said Fortunato. (Poe PG. 374). The quote shows that Fortunato is cocky, this is shown when Montresor is trying to tell Fortunato that he can have someone else taste test the wine instead of him and he gets hurt because he thinks that he is the best wine taster in the land.
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.
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.
Montresor does this by flattering and acting concerned about the health of Fortunato when really his only concern is killing Fortunato. While in the wine cellar, Montresor says to Fortunato, “Come, we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi-.” Montresor does an excellent job of being Fortunatos’ friend and at the same time convinces him to continue drinking and telling him, “A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps.” Montresor was not trying to defend either one of them, his only purpose was to place Fortunato into a higher state of drunkenness. Montresor causes Fortunato to become so drunk that while he was being chained to the wall by Montresor, “He was too much astounded to resist.” “The Cask of Amontillado” is filled with many ironies and also life lessons; such as know who your real friends are. Fortunato thought his real friend was Montresor when, in reality, Montresor was anything but his friend. Not only did Montresor fake his sincerity towards Fortunato, he was also vengeful and very intelligent in his actions to kill Fortunato.
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
In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, the author Edgar Allan Poe allow the reader to be a participant in the story. The story is told by Montresor who shows a rancor against Fortunato for a displeasure that is never textualized defined. Montresor leads an intoxicated Fortunato into a series of halls under his palazzo with the promise of a taste of Amontillado. Throughout the story the, the author uses the first-person point of view to describe Montresor surroundings and show us his thinking, and his feelings.
In The Cask of Amontillado Montresor lived for fifty years after killing Fortunato and he narrates the events of the story coldly and that leads some to wonder whether or not Montresor has changed and if he has changed how did he change. Over the fifty years between the events of The Cask Of Amontillado and the time when Montresor narrates the story, time changed Montresor into a guilty and shamed man that may have PTSD.
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.
"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.