Author Edgar Allan Poe
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Horror short story
Publication type Periodical
Publisher Godey's Lady's Book
Media type Print (Magazine)
Publication date November 1846
Plot summary
The story's narrator, Montresor, tells the story of the day that he took his revenge on Fortunato (Italian for "the fortunate one"), a fellow nobleman, to an unspecified person who knows him very well. Angry over numerous injuries and some unspecified insult, he plots to murder his "friend" during Carnival when the man is drunk, dizzy, and wearing a jester's motley.
Montresor lures Fortunato into a private wine-tasting excursion by telling him he has obtained a pipe (about 130 gallons. 492 litres) of what he believes to be a rare vintage of amontillado. He mentions obtaining confirmation of the pipe's contents by inviting a fellow wine aficionado, Luchesi, for a private tasting. Montresor knows Fortunato will not be able to resist demonstrating his discerning palate for wine and will insist that he taste the amontillado rather than Luchesi who, as he claims, "cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry". Fortunato goes with Montresor to the wine cellars of the latter's palazzo, where they wander in the catacombs. Montresor offers wine (first Medoc, then De Grave) to Fortunato in order to keep him inebriated. Montresor warns Fortunato, who has a bad cough, of the damp, and suggests they go back; Fortunato insists on continuing, claiming that "[he] shall not die of a cough." During their walk, Montresor mentions his family coat of arms: a golden foot in a blue background crushing a snake whose fangs are embedded in the foot's heel, with the motto Nemo me impune lacessit ("No one attacks me with impunity").
At one point, Fortunato makes an elaborate, grotesque gesture with an upraised wine bottle. When Montresor appears not to recognize the gesture, Fortunato asks, "You are not of the masons?" Montresor says he is, and when Fortunato, disbelieving, requests a sign, Montresor displays a trowel he had been hiding. When they come to a niche, Montresor tells his victim that the amontillado is within. Fortunato enters drunk and unsuspecting and therefore, does not resist as Montresor quickly chains him to the wall. Montresor then declares that, since Fortunato won't go back, Montresor must "positively leave" him there.Montresor reveals brick and mortar, previously hidden among the bones nearby, and walls up the niche, entombing his friend alive. At first, Fortunato, who sobers up faster than Montresor anticipated he would, shakes the chains, trying to escape. Fortunato then screams for help, but Montresor mocks his cries, knowing nobody can hear them. Fortunato laughs weakly and tries to pretend that he is the subject of a joke and that people will be waiting for him (including the Lady Fortunato). As the murderer finishes the topmost row of stones, Fortunato wails, "For the love of God, Montresor!" to which Montresor replies, "Yes, for the love of God!" He listens for a reply but hears only the jester's bells ringing. Before placing the last stone, he drops a burning torch through the gap. He claims that he feels sick at heart, but dismisses this reaction as an effect of the dampness of the catacombs.
In the last few sentences, Montresor reveals that 50 years later, Fortunato's body still hangs from its chains in the niche where he left it. The murderer concludes: In pace requiescat! ("May he rest in peace!").
ANALYSIS
"The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado") is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book.
The story is set in an unnamed Italian city at carnival time in an unspecified year, and is about a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes, has insulted him. Like several of Poe's stories, and in keeping with the 19th-century fascination with the subject, the narrative revolves around a person being buried alive in this case. Poe conveys the story by revealing the murderer's perspective in each plot.
There are two main characters that composes the story. First is Montresor the murderer, and Fortunato, the victim. The story begins with the former event where Montresor reminisces the insult of Fortunato that corollary begins his evil plan.
The overall theme of the story is a horror, as if it is obviously a form of terror. The author uses a style of irony and it For example, the name Fortunato is similar to the word fortunate which means full of hope, but in this case, Fortunato is clearly hopeless knowing that he died in the end the story.
The event and their costumes signifies happiness as Fortunato wears a colorful jester's motley.
Also, in the middle part, Montresor keeps on showing concern to the victim when he's showing illness by coughing.
SETTING
An underground catacomb, somewhere in Italy, during the carnival season
The setting in “The Cask,” and in most Horror or Gothic Fiction, has a special purpose: to suggest freedom or confinement, in harmony or opposition to the freedom or confinement of the characters. This is called the “Gothic Interior.” Most people go back and forth between feeling free and feeling trapped. The Gothic Interior is meant to make us hyperaware of these emotions through careful attention to the setting.
NARRATOR'S POINT OF VIEW
Montresor is our vile narrator. He is dedicated to his own point of view, which is cold, merciless, brutal, conniving, and vengeful. He doesn’t mind telling us about his torture and murder of Fortunato; indeed, he thinks what he did was the just, right way to handle the situation.
Given his brutality and insensitivity, it might surprise you to learn that Montresor’s point of view also involves poetry and writing. A quick look at Poe’s philosophy of fiction writing will help you see how we come to this conclusion.
GENRE
You don’t need us to tell you “The Cask” is Horror or Gothic – the whole story is about two guys walking through a vast underground graveyard, in the middle of the night, getting drunker and drunker. And somebody is getting walled in a hole. That scares us.
But what scares us in Poe is what makes “The Cask” Literary Fiction as well. Poe doesn’t show us the violence in the story; there is no blood and no guts or gore – it’s all in the psychology. “The Cask” presents a bizarre psychological study of two creepy men.
Both men are on a quest. Fortunato wants the Amontillado, and Montresor wants Fortunato to feel his revenge. And where there is revenge, there is usually tragedy – meaning somebody dies in the end.
TONE
Creepy, Elegant, and Funny
Montresor describes the mounds of bones and stench of human remains so elegantly, it almost sounds beautiful.
The creepily humorous tone also adds to our engagement in the story. In addition to being entertaining, Montresor’s sinister (and usually somewhat lame) jokes (like the one about how he gets his servants out of the house in paragraph 24) make us believe, for a moment, that everything is going be OK. If we can still laugh, it must not be so bad. When things get rough for Fortunato, we feel a little guilty for having laughed before.
WRITING STYLE
Ironic
Irony probably doesn’t sound very terrifying, but irony contributes hugely to the spine-tingling power of “The Cask.” You can find irony in every line of the story.
Critic and teacher Charles N. Nevi says that it’s a crime not to talk about irony when talking about “The Cask.” Irony basically means that somebody says one thing, but means the opposite. A good example is when there is only one stone left to fit into the wall, and Fortunato says, “Let us be gone.” This is ironic because he’d have to be a complete fool to think Montresor is going to undo all those layers of bricks and let him out. He’s hoping against hope.
Montresor’s reply is even more ironic, “Yes, let us be gone.” He’s torturing Fortunato with his irony – and has been all along. Come to think of it, he’s been torturing us with irony, too. We never know if he means if he means what he says.
Irony is a kind of “play.” We aren’t talking about a stage production, but rather, the use of language in a playful way. In this case, the stylistic play is twisted and creepy.
TITLE
The title comes up with unfamiliar words. Amontillado, means is a variety of sherry wine. Cask is another term for barrel.When combined, it means a barrel of wine.
ENDING
Now for the final line: “In pace requiescat”. This means, “may he rest in peace.” Critic Elena V. Baraban points out: “The phrase is used in the Requiem Mass and during Last Rites” (source.) It’s what a priest says to a dying person, after the dying person confesses his sins. By saying this phrase, a priest can forgive the dying for everything he or she has done wrong.
Baraban claims that this proves Montresor’s story isn’t his own confession. Instead, he’s taking on the role of priest, forgiving Fortunato for his sins, which Fortunato can’t confess on his own, because (obviously) he’s dead. Totally creepy.
Unless Montresor really means that “may he rest in peace?” If Montresor issincere, and means the words literally, then maybe he feels sorry for what he did, and really wants Fortunato to rest in peace. What do you think? For more discussion on this, see Montresor’s “Character Analysis.”
"The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado") is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book.
The story is set in an unnamed Italian city at carnival time in an unspecified year, and is about a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes, has insulted him. Like several of Poe's stories, and in keeping with the 19th-century fascination with the subject, the narrative revolves around a person being buried alive in this case. Poe conveys the story by revealing the murderer's perspective in each plot.
There are two main characters that composes the story. First is Montresor the murderer, and Fortunato, the victim. The story begins with the former event where Montresor reminisces the insult of Fortunato that corollary begins his evil plan.
The overall theme of the story is a horror, as if it is obviously a form of terror. The author uses a style of irony and it For example, the name Fortunato is similar to the word fortunate which means full of hope, but in this case, Fortunato is clearly hopeless knowing that he died in the end the story.
The event and their costumes signifies happiness as Fortunato wears a colorful jester's motley.
Also, in the middle part, Montresor keeps on showing concern to the victim when he's showing illness by coughing.
SETTING
An underground catacomb, somewhere in Italy, during the carnival season
The setting in “The Cask,” and in most Horror or Gothic Fiction, has a special purpose: to suggest freedom or confinement, in harmony or opposition to the freedom or confinement of the characters. This is called the “Gothic Interior.” Most people go back and forth between feeling free and feeling trapped. The Gothic Interior is meant to make us hyperaware of these emotions through careful attention to the setting.
NARRATOR'S POINT OF VIEW
Montresor is our vile narrator. He is dedicated to his own point of view, which is cold, merciless, brutal, conniving, and vengeful. He doesn’t mind telling us about his torture and murder of Fortunato; indeed, he thinks what he did was the just, right way to handle the situation.
Given his brutality and insensitivity, it might surprise you to learn that Montresor’s point of view also involves poetry and writing. A quick look at Poe’s philosophy of fiction writing will help you see how we come to this conclusion.
GENRE
You don’t need us to tell you “The Cask” is Horror or Gothic – the whole story is about two guys walking through a vast underground graveyard, in the middle of the night, getting drunker and drunker. And somebody is getting walled in a hole. That scares us.
But what scares us in Poe is what makes “The Cask” Literary Fiction as well. Poe doesn’t show us the violence in the story; there is no blood and no guts or gore – it’s all in the psychology. “The Cask” presents a bizarre psychological study of two creepy men.
Both men are on a quest. Fortunato wants the Amontillado, and Montresor wants Fortunato to feel his revenge. And where there is revenge, there is usually tragedy – meaning somebody dies in the end.
TONE
Creepy, Elegant, and Funny
Montresor describes the mounds of bones and stench of human remains so elegantly, it almost sounds beautiful.
The creepily humorous tone also adds to our engagement in the story. In addition to being entertaining, Montresor’s sinister (and usually somewhat lame) jokes (like the one about how he gets his servants out of the house in paragraph 24) make us believe, for a moment, that everything is going be OK. If we can still laugh, it must not be so bad. When things get rough for Fortunato, we feel a little guilty for having laughed before.
WRITING STYLE
Ironic
Irony probably doesn’t sound very terrifying, but irony contributes hugely to the spine-tingling power of “The Cask.” You can find irony in every line of the story.
Critic and teacher Charles N. Nevi says that it’s a crime not to talk about irony when talking about “The Cask.” Irony basically means that somebody says one thing, but means the opposite. A good example is when there is only one stone left to fit into the wall, and Fortunato says, “Let us be gone.” This is ironic because he’d have to be a complete fool to think Montresor is going to undo all those layers of bricks and let him out. He’s hoping against hope.
Montresor’s reply is even more ironic, “Yes, let us be gone.” He’s torturing Fortunato with his irony – and has been all along. Come to think of it, he’s been torturing us with irony, too. We never know if he means if he means what he says.
Irony is a kind of “play.” We aren’t talking about a stage production, but rather, the use of language in a playful way. In this case, the stylistic play is twisted and creepy.
TITLE
The title comes up with unfamiliar words. Amontillado, means is a variety of sherry wine. Cask is another term for barrel.When combined, it means a barrel of wine.
ENDING
Now for the final line: “In pace requiescat”. This means, “may he rest in peace.” Critic Elena V. Baraban points out: “The phrase is used in the Requiem Mass and during Last Rites” (source.) It’s what a priest says to a dying person, after the dying person confesses his sins. By saying this phrase, a priest can forgive the dying for everything he or she has done wrong.
Baraban claims that this proves Montresor’s story isn’t his own confession. Instead, he’s taking on the role of priest, forgiving Fortunato for his sins, which Fortunato can’t confess on his own, because (obviously) he’s dead. Totally creepy.
Unless Montresor really means that “may he rest in peace?” If Montresor issincere, and means the words literally, then maybe he feels sorry for what he did, and really wants Fortunato to rest in peace. What do you think? For more discussion on this, see Montresor’s “Character Analysis.”
READING STYLE
A way of reading that is being used merely critical since it includes analization and scrutinizing the story.
http://www.shmoop.com/cask-of-amontillado/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cask_of_Amontillado
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