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The Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe

Decent Essays

“The Cask of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allan Poe is a Gothic style short story from the mid-1800s. The story focuses on two main characters, Montresor and Fortunato, and a plot for revenge told as a recollection. It is set in Italy during Carnival, which seemed to play a massive role in the murder plot and how it played out. How do the characters and themes within the story accentuate each other? Themes of death and mortality, betrayal, and freedom and confinement help to bring out the intentions of Montresor and Fortunato while creating an overall sense of doom. The death and mortality theme in this short story provides the audience with the overall mood of the work. This theme really helps bring about the ominous mood and tone with the story taking place mostly in the catacombs. In the story, soon after Fortunato and Montresor depart from the Carnival, they made their way down a long and winding staircase with torches to light their way. (Poe, p.109) The catacombs they enter, the torches, and the winding staircase are all crucial components for the story to fall into the Gothic fiction genre. Poe made visualization uncomplicated by providing the reader with such a rich setting, almost as if he wanted the reader to be able to “feel” the dampness that surrounded Fortunato and Montresor. Another major theme within this work shows itself at the very beginning for Montresor and the end for Fortunato, betrayal. Fortunato had previously insulted Montresor, sparking a fire

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