Motive of Madness and Murder in “The Cask of Amontillado” While confessing his crime, Montresor seems as not having any feeling of guilty due to the peaceful way that he started to narrate at the beginning of the story. But, as soon Montresor started to talk about his feelings of jealousy and hate towards Fortunato, the reader can change the way its reading the story and the point of view towards Montresor. The “Cask of Amontillado” gives an open clue in the beginning of the story of why Montresor killed Fortunato and the motive of madness that he got along the story while confessing his crime. Montresor didn’t start to narrate the story angry or tense but calmly, accepting what he did and how he planned. The “Cask of Amontillado” took place
In "The Cask of Amontillado", Montresor is the narrator. He begins by describing very cryptically how he was wronged, "The thousands of injuries of Fortunato he has borne as he best could; but when he ventures upon insult, Montresor vows revenge" (Poe 528). As the story
From what kind of story he is telling the reader, to how he describes other characters, and from his actions, Montresor is an extremely unreliable source of information. Vengeance and pride both play a large role in “The Cask of Amontillado” and because of that Montresor loses credibility. Telling the story through the eyes of the one acting on revenge makes it so we are to believe he
In “Cask Of Amontillado” Montresor seems to have Fortunato's best interests in mind until his true intentions are revealed through his thoughts, not his actions. This is showing how Montresor is careful in his revenge; Fortunato disrespected Montresor, being the wicked and revengeful person he is must make him pay for his mistake. Therefore, Montresor carefully planned out his attack, he had every detail carefully outlined in his head. He made no mistakes; while Fortunato unknowingly made the biggest mistake of his life. Montresor felt satisfied and happy with the horrible crime he committed. While he was burying Fortunato alive, he enjoyed the screams of his foe, relishing in the fact that he won. “...felt
The Cask of Amontillado is the story of and envious man by the name of Montresor who has devised a plan to kill one of his long term friends Fortunato. Montresor devised this plan in the beginning of the story after Fortunato had pulled one joke to many while at a party surrounded by many of their close friends. Montresor while at the party remained calm however while still laughing and cheering with Fortunato he started to develop his plot to get his revenge on Fortunato. In the story Montresor while plotting his crime says, “I had to keep my true feelings to myself for not only must I punish but punish with impunity” (Poe). While Montresor plans the murder of Fortunato, Fortunato is simply enjoying life and his wealth. During carnival Montresor sees a drunk Fortunato and ceases his opportunity. A drunk Fortunato walks over to Montresor and gives him a friendly greeting. Montresor sees this as an opportunity to take Fortunato away from the festivities by using both his weakness for wine and his pride against him. Montresor does this by tricking Fortunato into thinking that he had recently brought a cask of Amontillado and he needed Luchesi to distinguish if it was actually Amontillado. Fortunato, who feels that he is the best wine tester in all of Italy quickly replies, “Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry” (Poe) . Montresor knowing the pride and arrogance of Fortunato then says, “"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own." (Poe) . That
In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor is guilty of the cold-blooded murder of Fortunato and should go to jail for his crime. Montresor speaks of the “thousand injuries” Fortunato caused him and, more recently, the “insult” that Montresor cannot forgive. Vowing to seek retribution, Montresor comments on the importance of ensuring his own innocence throughout the process of revenge. He goes out of his way to be friendly to Fortunato. Other evidence that supports the crime as being preconceived includes Montresor preying on Fortunato’s weakness, his love of wine and his conceited nature. He praises Fortunato on his knowledge of wine and taunts him with the full barrel that he just purchased asking him for his expert opinion. In preparation
In the article “Confession within a confession: Poe’s brave new world in “the cask of amontillado”, the author places his opinion the subject of what happens in the story. The author points out that both the characters in the story are indeed friends. The author points this out to the reader by stating that Fortunato fallows his friend, Montresor, deep into the catacombs under his house. Another argument that the author states, is that Montresor’s’ reason in killing his friend is anger at his friends new wealth with his old wealth that he has. The author as well states that Fortunato is a fool in the story. Fortunato is dressed as a fool for carnival, adding to Montresor’s’ view of his own friend. Another point is that Montresor in his confession
The Cask of Amontillado is considered to be one of the best short stories. Written by Edgar Allan Poe in first person and having all the main events as a three hundred page fiction book, The Cask of Amontillado is a complete novel. This short story has several themes which function from the first page of the story such as: suspense, fear, and revenge.
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.
Psychoanalysis is the search for evidence for unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, and whatever else may be hidden in perplexing literary works. Psychoanalytic criticism showcases what has been suppressed by the author’s conscious mind. The author’s sexual conflicts, family life, childhood traumas will be camouflaged in symbolism. One story that lends itself particularly well to this form of criticism is The Cask of Amontillado and throughout the story there are various literary elements that play a major role.
The criminal mind is one that carries out actions of insanity, and views them as a normal day-to day-duty. The stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, both by Edgar Allan Poe, as well as “The Blue Hotel” by Stephen Crane, show a portrayal of the criminal mind at work. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the main character killed an old man, just because the eye made him uncomfortable. Not only did he kill him without pity, he actually felt proud of the murder. “The Cask of Amontillado” presents a man (Montresor), who sought revenge on another man (Fortunato), so Montresor lured him to his catacombs. In there, Montresor didn’t just play with his victim, he killed him, by trapping him in a small
The setting creates the enviornment for the entire story, the time and the place. Every single part of the story revolves around this. What the characters look like, how they talk to eachother, where they live, what is going on around them. The main conflict is even determined by the time period and where in the world it takes place. For example, the story "The Cask of Amontillado" is set in Paris, France around the rennaissance era. but theres more to the setting than just that. "It was about dusk one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that i encountered with my friend." This describes more about the enviornment around the characters in the beggining of the story. Then the setting shifts,"Its walls had been lined with
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 often said that revenge is sweet, but that phrase does not hold to be extremely true throughout The Cask of Amontillado. There are various themes and lessons throughout the story, but there is one theme that seems to be shown more than others. The most prevalent theme is that jealousy can lead to vengeance, and ultimately lead to the downfall, or even death, of a person. This theme is clearly evident through the two main characters, Montresor and Fortunato. By looking closer at Montresor’s words and actions toward Fortunato, it is apparent that there is a superfluous amount of jealousy between them. This jealousy that is between them ends up playing a major part in Montresor ultimately killing Fortunato, someone who was thought to be one of his best friends. The author uses the characters and their actions to develop a solid plot line and prove the point that jealousy and revenge can destroy a person, both figuratively and literally.
In the story, “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, Montresor seeks revenge on Fortunato because he made fun of his family name. For years Montresor claims that Fortunato had, “hurt him”, so Montresor gets Fortunato drunk and tricks him into going to his house. When Fortunato arrives, they both go into Montresor’s basement and Montresor locks Fortunato up in addition to leaving him there to die. Montresor commits a crime by killing Fortunato in his own basement. Some people may argue that Montresor was a madman who only wanted to kill Fortunato because he made fun of Montresor’s family name; nevertheless, it is easy to see why one would believe that Montresor wasn’t a madman and that he had more motives rather than just that one reason to have killed Fortunato. What motivated Montresor to seek revenge on Fortunato was that he had made fun of Montresor’s Family name, had a drinking problem which causes him to lash out and say mean things to Montresor, and because Fortunato thought he knew more about fine wines than Montresor did. Theses motivations were also Fortunato’s weaknesses.
As for Montresor, he acts calmly from beginning to end. First, he wants to take revenge on Fortunato and plots it carefully in order to avoid the punishment. He knows his “enemy” very well, from Fortunato’s interests to his weakness, so he can easily kill Fortunato. During the process of murder, he is really calm and controlled. Step by step, he lures Fortunato to his gloomy cellar and kills Fortunato. He works in a place filled with bones and feels no terror. He even stops his “labour” just to hear Fortunato’s cry with “more satisfaction”. Though “for a brief moment [he] hesitated, [he] trembled”, he does not tremble for guilt but for the worry that Fortunato may escape. After Montresor take the revenge successfully, he feels satisfied and pleasant. The differences on their psychological changes create a terrified atmosphere which makes readers suffocate.