The Cask Of Amontillado Mood Analysis

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

     In this story the character of Montresor is revealed through his own words. When he reveals he is going to punish Fortunato for merely insulting him, that he has planned the whole act of vengeance, and that he has been playing as being Fortunato’s friend, we know we are dealing with a deranged personality. His character is also revealed with references to his family. It is almost as if Poe has Montresor’s ancestors tell the reader how nicely he fits into the family tree. His legacy from his family motto “No one attacks me with impunity” and a coat of arms that depicts a serpent whose last wish before death is to poison the foot that crushed it. Does the fruit of ever fall far from the tree? Montresor is as evil as his forebears were. He shows no remorse about what he has done, even in old age. When he says, “May he rest in peace” at the end of the story, the reader gets the feeling he means, “ I hope you stay there and rot” rather than, “I hope you found joy and peace in heaven.”

about conveying these feelings to his readers and why it is so effective. Poe uses an

By using word choice, Poe created extravagant amounts of suspense. “The Cask of Amontillado” is a great example of how Poe uses literary elements, using them to depict a story of revenge and create a suspenseful mood. This is shown in lines 149 to 152 when the book states the following: “We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on and descending again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.” This quote uses imagery to describe the setting and uses sensory details to help create the suspenseful mood. This helps set the tone of the story which contributes to the overall feel of the story which can make or break a piece of literature. This is how Poe expertly uses literary terms in “The Cask of Amontillado” to help produce the suspenseful mood that improves on his pieces of literature.

The first device Poe uses in the story “Cask of Amontillado” is mood. Poe uses mood to analyze the story to show that mankind believes in the necessity of revenge and doing justice by their own hands. One quote that supports this claim is, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (Poe 1). This quote supports the claim because this quote displays that the mood of this story is developed through word choice, dialogue, sensory details, and description. In the first sentence of the quote “A thousand injuries I had suffered” (Poe 1) the author explains in the opening sentence, it gives a justification of the actions of Fortunato. The narrator of the story, Montresor is talking about his side of the story, by telling the reader that Fortunato has “ventured upon insult”, and crossed the line. The mood of the story “Cask of Amontillado” is dark and suspenseful. The mood of the story is dark and suspenseful because the strength of Montresor hatred for Fortunato is strong. The way Montresor manipulates Fortunato builds a great deal of tension. The mood of the story is dark and suspenseful because while Montresor executing his plan of getting revenge by Fortunato, by killing him, he didn’t feel guilty and not having any mercy on Fortunato. Another quote from the passage that supports the claim is, “We had passed through long walls of piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs. I paused again, and this time I made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow” (Poe 3). This quote sets up the mood of the story because the walls of the catacombs are covered with spider webs as they

<br>The way the narrator treats his enemy is one of the clearest examples for ironic elements. When the characters meet, Montresor realises that Fortunato is afflicted with a severe cold, nevertheless he makes a point of him looking "remarkably well". Montresor acts in the most natural and friendly way towards the man object of his revenge, and even praises his "friend's" knowledge in the subject of wines. Also upon their meeting, Montresor begins a psychological manipulation of Fortunato. He claims that he needs his knowledge to ascertain that the wine he has purchased is indeed Amontillado. Furthermore, he acknowledges that Fortunato is engaged in another business (i.e.: the celebration of carnival), so he would go to Luchresi, who, one is made to believe, is a competitor of Fortunato's. To these words, Fortunato is forced by his pride to accompany Montresor to the vaults (where the Amontillado is kept), dissipate his doubts and also to prove his higher status than Luchresi as a connoisseur of wine. In fact, during their way down under in the catacombs, the twisted mind of Montresor, dares to give Fortunato the chance to go back, due to the almost unbearable dampness and foulness rampant in the vaults and Fortunato's state of health. The narrator clearly knows about the stubborn nature of Fortunato, and is

Edgar Allen Poe’s tale of murder and revenge, “The Cask of Amontillado”, offers a unique perspective into the mind of a deranged murderer. The effectiveness of the story is largely due to its first person point of view, which allows the reader a deeper involvement into the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist, Montresor. The first person narration results in an unbalanced viewpoint on the central conflict of the story, man versus man, because the reader knows very little about the thoughts of the antagonist, Fortunato. The setting of “The Cask of Amontillado”, in the dark catacombs of Montresor’s wine cellar, contributes to the story’s theme that some people will go

The main themes of Edgar Allan Poe’s works are death, perversity, revenge and destruction. The settings he employed in the given short stories, especially in The Fall of the House of Usher and The Black Cat are Gothic. Therefore, naturally the mood of these stories would be dark and sepulchral. However, this is not a trivial employment undertaken to put the reader in a certain kind of zone.

In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe tell of a man going to great extents to get revenge. Montresor holds a grudge against Fortunato because he has insulted him several times causing pain inside him to form and builds up day by day. Fortunato has a talent of tasting wine but needs to find a way not to express his feelings that much. Throughout the story, Edgar Allan Poe creates events in which he builds suspense. The author keeps his readers on their feel by having a surprise at every corner. Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates in “The Cask of Amontillado” how he uses the conflict to show the build of suspense, change of mood of the reader, develop the theme, reflect a change in the character/characters.

One of the main rhetorical devices evident within the short story is the use of dramatic irony, which Poe uses to foreshadow the climax of the story, which is Fortunato's death. For example, one of the most obvious uses of irony in the story is the name of Fortunato himself, which translates to “the fortunate one”. However,

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.

"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.

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).

Poe uses mood in a way to mirror the overall atmosphere that lingered in his life. One mood in the story is melancholy. The colors and the attitudes of the characters exhibit an exuberant amount of sadness. Rodrick claimed that the house is to blame for his gloom. Similarly, the house represents Poe’s life and Poe only has his life to blame for his recurring bad luck. Another mood used in the story is desperation. The narrator attempts to cheer up Rodrick, but fails to do so. He read Rodrick stories, watched him paint, and listened to him play guitar, but to no avail. Similarly, Poe tried his hardest to make a difference in his own life, but did not earn the recognition he deserved as far as he was still breathing. Tension is used as a mood, as well. The atmosphere gave off an ominous feeling since the readers never know what to expect. Poe’s life was as unpromising as his stories because just as one thought his life couldn’t get

The mood of “The Cask Of Amontillado” heavily relies on the setting of the story. The atmosphere of the gloomy catacomb works effectively to create the setting of “the cask of Amontillado” especially when we look on the overall time of the year which was the carnival season in Italy. Poe sets up the mood using the setting “but observe the white webwork which gleams from the cavern walls”, this plays in contrast of the festivities going on while they Fortunato is being lured to his death in the gloomy catacomb. Poe also sets a scary mood which is created by the the characters actions and word choice, as they begin their descent down into the catacombs, Montresor grabs two torches, which hints to the reader that the catacomb is a dark place.