Themes Of ' The Cask Of The Amontillado '

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

An important element in any story is setting. Authors use setting to convey certain feelings brought on by the character’s surroundings. It also subliminally serves to illustrate the character’s intentions. In “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allen Poe uses the dark, imposing setting to do just that, communicate the underlying theme of the story, being death, revenge and deception.

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 Edgar Allan Poe's intense use of symbolism and irony throughout the Cask of Amontillado that establishes the short story as an indeed interesting candidate worthy of thorough analysis. The skillful use of these devices are utilized by the author to create this horrific and suspenseful masterpiece.

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 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 beginning of the story Montresor shows that he is planning revenge on Fortunato and that is the only thing on Montresor mind. “ I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.”(1) This supports the theme because Montresor holds in a grudge and takes it

The first –person narration style of “The Cask of Amontillado” is vital in creating the quality of the story. The story allows one of the main characters in the story Montresor, to tell the story from his point of view which gives the reader intimate yet disturbing look into the mind story teller thinks and feels which the reader doesn’t normally get from other narrative styles. The narrative style of this story is important because it sets the tone of the story. The reader become more familiar with the thoughts and intentions of the main character and this allows the reader to slightly figure out the outcome of the story and further understand the ironies throughout the story. If this story was told from a different angle I don’t believe it would be as powerful. Narration in first-person “can evoke a stronger emotional attachment with readers; from the first instance, the reader connects with the main protagonist. It is his/her voice, thoughts and feelings being portrayed; therefore, this is the person the reader is most likely to bond with” (Wright). The first-person narrative style establishes a more personal connection between the reader and the narrator, who in this case is also the main character. In “The Cask of Amontillado” the narrator uses a very familiar tone to connect with the audience as if he knew his reader: “You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat” (Poe, 739). This line is one of the

Later on the story Montresor is offended by Fortunato when the fortuned one tells him that he

How do we define evil? Is measured in the volume of chaos produced by the deed (or deeds)? Or by the morality (or lack thereof) of the deed itself? What about the intent of the person behind the action? Does that play a part in how we perceive the malevolence of a task? Depends. In the story “the Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, we live through the eyes of Sanger Rainsford as he survives three days of being hunted by ex-german general and master hunter Zaroff, who hunts his fellow human beings for sport. On the other hand, in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, we watch through the eyes of Montresor, a rich man by heritage who murders his once friend, Fortunato, as revenge for being insulting by him. In the first, the antagonist’s morals were so twisted that he believed he had done nothing wrong, while in the second, the “villain” of the story, Montresor, gave in to the pull of anger and hatred so deeply, he forgot the morals which lay pawing at him just beneath the surface. So who is the most evil, the one who gave up his morals for revenge, or the one who had all the wrong morals in the in the first place?

"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.

Montresor has held this grudge against his friend who according to him had given him “thousands of injuries.” This grudge he has makes him vindictive as he seeks revenge against Fortunato for his insult against him. His family’s motto is “Nemo me impune lacessit" meaning “No one attacks me with impunity”. The motto implies that the entire Montresor family history is filled with acts of revenge. Montresor becomes obsessed with his vengeance and when he has Fortunato chained to the wall he mocks at his cries and moaning, “I replied to the yells of him who clamored. I re-echoed, I aided, I surpassed them in volume and in strength.” Montrosor never mentions what the insulting act was which can tell us that the actual act wasn’t as important as him just getting some sort of revenge.

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

The Cask of Amontillado is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe published in 1846. The story focuses on a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes betrayed him. Because of the plot arrangement, this short story seems to be written using biographical strategy. Biographical strategy is concerned about how the author’s biography may have influenced the story. The similarities between Poe’s personal life and the characters love with alcohol, failures in his life and along with the misfortunes Poe had lived shared many likenesses.

In short, the story “ The cask of Amontillado” does not simply tell about a revenge, it also consists of realistic values and appreciated human values. The revenge of Montresor with his hidden offence help to expose the reality of society, human characters on the 19th century. Every society has its downsides but it is much more important to live properly, behave well and continually improve ourselves. This story gives me the useful and profound lessons about revenge. Revenge just brings us the temporarily happy emotions because resentment always hurts us more than it does the person we resent. “While our offender has probably forgotten and gone on with life, we continue to stew in our pain...” (Rick Warren). Moreover, possessing intellience