Revenge In Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask Of Amontillado

Revenge can bring out many people’s inner evil. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado”, the main character, Montresor carefully plans revenge against Fortunato. Montresor is a man who vows vengeance against a professional wine taster named Fortunato. The wine taster insults Montresor, and he had enough of it. The insult sets him off and he plans a deadly and successful revenge. Throughout the story, Montresor attentively plans his revenge against Fortunato just like an expert.

Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” is told through the eyes of a wine enthusiast, called Montresor. The author chooses to write the story through Montresor’s point of view, because it makes the reader really think, and shows them how a murderer thinks. It also adds suspense, leading up to the immolation of Fortunato. In the story Montresor talks about how he is in a toxic friendship, with a man named Fortunato. Montresor apparently suffered many injuries due to Fortunato, but when Fortunato insults him, Montresor can not tolerate it any more. He swears revenge; however, he takes it to the next level. Throughout the story, information is exposed about Montresor's personality. He paints Fortunato out to be a terrible

time to think about why he is chained and closed into a wall 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.

First, the theme of revenge is shown exceptionally clear by the very first line of the story, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato, I had borne the best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” (Poe 236). This line clearly shows that Montresor takes significant pride in not only himself but his family as well. Due to this great pride, he refuses for his family name to be belittled in any way, shape, or form. As mentioned by Elena Baraban, “Montresor elaborates a sophisticated philosophy of revenge.” (Baraban 164). This

Montresor’s obsession was rooted in wrath and vengeance against a man who supposedly had done him wrong. In fact, the very first line of the story discusses his plan for revenge, which implies just how severe his obsession was. Poe writes, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (116). This insinuates that Montresor has been dealing with this repetitive thoughts and obsessive behaviors for an extended period of time and that at this point, they are interfering with his ability to live normally. Poe continues with Montresor saying, “It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (116). This haunting line also implies that Montresor is completely consumed with this idea of revenge that he feels as though he has no other choice but to seek retaliation. This plays into the larger idea of the relationship between evil and abnormal psychology in a variety of ways. This indicates that Montresor was motivated by “haunting, anxiety-fueled obsessive thoughts” to commit the murder of Fortunato because of his distorted perception of reality. Another example of this obsession can be seen when Montresor is discussing his intricate, pre-mediated plan for his murder. He had thought about every possible detail of his master plan, from

t Montresor is insane.Such interpretation, however, seems to make certain details in the elaborate structure of the story unnecessary and this, in turn, goes against Poe's approach to composition."¹ rightly states Baraban.In addition,the dialogues including foxy implications help reader making guesses about Montresor's inner man.For instance,when Fortunado asks The Montressors' motto Montresor replies him,"Nemo me impune lacessit" or in translation, "Nobody provokes me without punishment" and with using that expression he reflects his intention in an almost friendly manner.These signals indicates about his insane and untrustworthy nature.It's nearly clear that the protagonist is insane.Besides,psychological occurances have many types and the Montresor's mental illness has the characteristics of obsession.This obsession's degree is so high that it drives him killing the one who insults upon him with a quite extreme method and without hesitation - except from the session in the end that he feels worried for a moment when he becomes aware of the thing he has done.Obsession has the same kinds of motivation argued by criminals in any terrene crime (envy,revenge,prejudice,sadism).In the highest degree of obsession,the person does some actions unconciously to his/her victim during the crisis of mind.After the job is done,he/she doesn't remember anything or remembers it with great regret².The readers watch the portrait of old Montresor confessing his action after half of a

Fear, suspense, and the upcoming revenge can be seen on the first line of the story when Montresor says, "The thousand injuries I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge." This line prepares the reader for the whole development of the story; it gives the reader a sense of fear, tells him that there is going to be revenge, but keeps him wanting to know

Edgar Allan Poe portrays conflict by creating tension between Montresor and Fortunato. In the story, tension is merely only seen through the eyes of Montressor because of the animosity that he has against Fortunato for the cursing of his family's name which was one of an old and honored one. Montresor states his revenge by saying “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed my revenge.” Montresor is stating that he had been able to bear insults, but once his family's name was insulted, he was driven to seek revenge from this humility. Montresor's evil intentions to murder Fortunato come solely from Fortantos insulting demeanor. The conflict that is shared between Fortunato and Montresor is the main factor which creates the theme of revenge in this story.

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated literary authors of all time, known for writing very suspenseful, dramatic short stories and a poet; is considered as being a part of the American Romantic Movement, and a lesser known opinion is he is regarded as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Most recognized for his mystery and macabre, a journey into the dark, ghastly stories of death, deception and revenge is what makes up his reputation. The short story under analysis is a part of his latter works; “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story of revenge takes readers into the mind of the murderer.

A wise man once said, “ Destroy what destroys you.” destroying what destroys you is a common theme of revenge. When it comes to revenge, The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe is the story to go to. The whole story and plot itself revolve around one word. Revenge. The story is based on Montresor wanting revenge for the one who wronged him, Fortunato. Therefore, the theme of The Cask of Amontillado is revenge. The author Edgar Allen Poe uses different literary elements to create this theme. The literary elements Poe uses include: foreshadowing, suspense, and irony.

Another indirect factor that could contribute to Montresor’s vengeful act, and thus the story’s theme of revenge, is his state of mind. Some critics have analyzed the opening line of this short story and have determined that it could contribute to an insane state of mind. When the opening line states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge,” it does not describe what the insult is. The fact that Montresor does not give a specific description of the insult leads many critics to believe that Montresor has acted irrationally in murdering Fortunato and that he is insane. Another example of Montresor’s insanity is found when he replies to Fortunato’s screams (Baraban). In the story, Montresor states, “I replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I re-echoed, I aided, I surpassed them in volume and in strength” (Poe 1616). Critics view this statement as contributing to Montresor’s unstable state of mind, and thus contributing to his act of revenge (Baraban).

In Edger Allen Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado the narrator, Montresor, seeks revenge against his friend Fortunato who he claims had cause him many injuries. The story takes place during carnival time and many are celebrating even Fortunato who was dressed as a clown and wore a colorful hat with bells. Fortunato had been drinking which made him even less aware of any sort of plot against him. Montresor lures him into his wine vaults and easily chains him to a wall deep inside a small crypt. Fortunato is too drunk to even comprehend what is happening or even resist. Finally Montresor builds a stone wall confining Fortunato inside to die. In the story we can distinguish many notable characteristics of Montresor. He may be perceived as heatless

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is a story full of irony. Irony is defined as a literary technique in which what appears differs radically from what is actually the case. In addition, irony can be divided into three groups: dramatic, verbal, and situational. Dramatic irony is when the readers notice something before the characters do. Verbal irony is when the characters say something that differs significantly from what they really mean. Situational irony is when the actual result is different from what was initially expected. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe combines all of these ironies to tell the story and to construct the personalities of the characters in an entertaining way.

As the story progresses, Montresor devises a careful plan to lure Fortunato to his death trap, but he is careful enough not to place himself at risk. He approaches him at a carnival, and plays on his victim’s weakness for wine by offering to show him a brand of wine akin to the light Spanish sherry, Amontillado (8). The narrator presents an interesting description of his encounter with Fortunato at the carnival; at first expressing dislike for his friend’s behavior by claiming that he approached him with too much warmth since he was drunk, but then he adds that he was extremely delighted to see Fortunato at that particular moment. This illustrates the depth of Montresor’s desire to exert revenge on his friend, since the sole reason of his pleasure at seeing Fortunato is that he knew his plans had taken off, and he anticipated the satisfaction of the act of brutal revenge.