Edgar Allan Poe'due south "The Cask of Amontillado"
"The Cask of Amontillado," which outset appeared in Godey's Lady's Book in 1846, is a classic instance of the use of an unreliable narrator. Montresor tells his tale of revenge smugly, as he invites the reader to applaud his cleverness much like the narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart." By telling the story from Montresor'due south point of view, Poe forces the reader to look into the inner workings of a murderer's mind.
- By Martha Womack
Martha Womack, amend known to Internet users equally Precisely Poe, has a BA degree in English from Longwood College in Virginia, and teaches English and Theatre Arts at Fuqua School in Farmville, Virginia. When Martha first began teaching American literature, she found so much conflicting information almost Edgar Allan Poe that she became confused nigh what to teach her students. As she began to research the writer's life and literature, Martha discovered that a horrible injustice had occurred, and she became determined, similar many others, "to set up the record straight." "This mission" has pb to ten years of research and the cosmos of her spider web site, Precisely Poe. Martha is proud and pleased to be a part of the Poe Decoder, a continual project to dispel the myth surrounding Poe, the man and his literature.
Click hither to electronic mail Martha Womack.
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- Summary of the story
- Setting
- Characters
- Point of View
- Style and Interpretation
- Theme
- Related Information
- Works Cited
- Complete Text Available
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Summary of the story
"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne every bit I all-time could; only when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge....At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled....I must not merely punish, only punish with dispensation." At present Montresor began to develop the perfect plan of retribution. During this fourth dimension, Montresor was careful not to agitate Fortunato'southward suspicions. "...[N]either past word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubtfulness my good will. I continued...to smile in his face, and he did non perceive that my grin now was at the thought of his [destruction]." Fortunato had a weakness which Montresor felt could exist advantageous to implementing his programme. Fortunato prided himself upon being a connoisseur of fine wines. In this respect, they were equals. Montresor was "...skillful in Italian vintages...and bought largely whenever [he] could." Effectually dusk one evening during the carnival flavor, Montresor encountered his friend Fortunato, who "...accosted [him] with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much." Fortunato wore the costume of a courtroom jester including a "...conical cap and bells." Montresor proclaimed how glad he was to run across Fortunato since he had just purchased a big cask of "...what passes for Amontillado [a variety of dry out sherry]," only he had his doubts nearly its authenticity. Fortunato as well had doubts. "How?" said Fortunato. "Amontillado?...Incommunicable! And in the heart of the carnival!" "I have my doubts," said Montresor; "and I was silly plenty to pay the full Amontillado price without consulting y'all in the affair. Y'all were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain....Every bit you are engaged, I am on my mode to Luchesi. If anyone [tin tell 18-carat Amontillado], it is he." Fortunato was outraged. Luchesi was not a connoisseur of Amontillado. Fortunato said, "Come, let us go....To your vaults...[to taste the Amontillado]." Montresor responded by telling his friend that he could run across that he had a prior engagement likewise as he noticed that Fortunato was afflicted with a severe cough and common cold. The dampness of the vault and the niter (white or grey salt deposit) with which the walls were encrusted, would not be good for Fortunato'southward health. Fortunato responded past saying, "Allow us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado! Y'all have been imposed upon. As for Luchesi, he cannot distinguish [sweet] sherry from Amontillado." Fortunato had taken the allurement, and the plan was put into activity. When they reached Montresor's palazzo (luxurious house), they establish no one at habitation. The servants had departed according to programme. Montresor handed Fortunato a flambeaux (lighted torch) every bit he took ane for himself, and they made their mode to the catacombs of the Montresors wherein lay the wine vaults. Fortunato's gait was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap jingled every bit he walked. Fortunato began to cough from the niter, and Montresor said that they must go dorsum. "...[W]eastward will get back; your health is precious. You lot are rich, respected, admired, beloved; yous are happy, equally once I was. You are a man to exist missed. For me it is no affair. We will go back; y'all will exist ill, and I cannot be responsible. As well, there is Luchesi--" Fortunato said, "Enough...the coughing is a mere nix; information technology will not impale me. I shall not dice of a cough." "True--truthful," said Montresor. "A draft of this Medoc [a French red wine] will defend us from the damps." Montresor knocked off the neck of the bottle of vino, and passed information technology to Fortunato. Fortunato raised the bottle to his lips as his bells jingled, and said, "I beverage...to the buried that tranquillity around us." Montresor said, "And I [drink] to your long life." They now proceeded through the vaults. Fortunato had forgotten how great and numerous a family Montresor had. He asked most the Montresors' glaze of arms. Montresor said that on the shield was "...[a] hugh human foot d'or, in a field of azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are embedded in the heel." The motto stated: "Nemo me impune lacessit [No 1 assails me with impunity]." Montresor and Fortunato had now reached the "...inmost recesses of the catacombs." The niter was hanging "...like moss upon the vaults." They were "...below the river'due south bed. The drops of moisture trickle[d] amidst the bones." Montresor said, "Come nosotros will go dorsum ere it is too belatedly. Your cough--" But Fortunato replied, "It is nothing...let united states go on. But first, another draft of the Medoc." Montresor opened another bottle of vino (De Grave) in the aforementioned style as earlier, and handed information technology to Fortunato. "He emptied it at a breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed and threw the bottle upward [while making a gesture that Montresor] did not understand." Fortunato repeated the motion, and when he saw that Montresor nevertheless did non empathise, he said, " Then yous are not of the brotherhood....Yous are not of the masons [the Freemasons, a secret fraternal order; also, bricklayers]." Nevertheless, Montresor insisted that he was. Fortunato asked for a sign of some sort to show that Montresor really was a mason. Montresor reached beneath the folds of his cloak and produced a trowel (the tool that would later seal Fortunato'south fate). "Y'all jest," Fortunato exclaimed. "But let united states of america go along to the Amontillado." "At the most remote finish of the catacomb there appeared another less spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains....Three sides of this interior crypt were yet ornamented in this manner." However, the bones had been removed from the fourth wall, and scattered outside the catacomb. By removing the bones, an interior recess "...in depth most iv feet, in width iii, in pinnacle six or vii...." had been created. Montresor told Fortunato to proceed within, since "herein [was] the Amontillado." Fortunato, who was extremely intoxicated at this point, did equally he was instructed to practise, merely to realize that he had reached the extremity of the niche. In a moment, Montresor had chained him to the granite. "In its surface were ii fe staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a brusk chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links nigh [Fortunato'south] waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it." Fortunato was taken by surprise, and was much too intoxicated to resist. Fortunato called out, "The Amontillado!" "True," [Montresor] replied; "the Amontillado." As Montresor spoke these words, he continued with the last function of his plan of revenge. From beneath the scattered bones, he uncovered "...a quantity of building rock and mortar. With these materials and with the assist of [his] trowel. [Montresor] began vigorously to wall upwardly the entrance of the niche." Fortunato's intoxication was beginning to wear off, and "...a low moaning cry [came] from the depth of the recess." Montresor connected his work even though he could hear Fortunato struggling with the chains. When the wall had reached chest level, Montresor using his torch, peeked within the niche. "A succession of loud and shrill screams, [suddenly flare-up forth] from the throat of the chained [Fortunato]." This initially shocked Montresor; simply realizing that Fortunato could not exist heard, he began to reecho, and finally surpassed the shrieks of Fortunato with those of his own until Fortunato was silent one time more. Information technology was midnight,and the task was nearly complete. Just as Montresor was inserting the final stone, a depression express joy could be heard from the interior of the niche. Information technology was followed by a somewhat sad voice, which said, "Ha! ha! ha!--he! he!--a very good joke indeed--an fantabulous jest. We will accept many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo--he! he! he!--over our vino--he! he! he!" Montresor echoed Fortunato's laughter. Fortunato reminded Montresor that it was getting late, and that they would exist missed. "Permit us be gone," Fortunato said. "Yes, " [Montresor] said, "let us be gone." Fortunato cried out, "For the love of God, Montresor!" And he replied, "for the dearest of God!" And then all was quiet. Montresor called out Fortunato's name, but there was no reply. Again using the torch, Montresor tried to come across within of the niche. "There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells." Montresor grew ill at middle due to the dampness of the catacombs. He hurried to finish his chore. The last stone was put and plastered into place. Against the new masonry, Montresor stacked the old bones. "For half of [a] century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!" (May he rest in peace!) Setting
The story begins effectually dusk, 1 evening during the carnival season (similar to the Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans) in an unnamed European city. The location quickly changes from the lighthearted activites associated with such a festival to the damp, dark catacombs under Montressor's palazzo which helps to constitute the sinister temper of the story. Characters
Although several characters are mentioned in this story, the true focus lies upon Montresor, the diabolical narrator of this tale of horror, who pledges revenge upon Fortunato for an insult. When the two run across during the carnival flavour, at that place is a warm greeting with excessive shaking of hands which Montresor attributes to the fact that Fortunato had been drinking. Montresor also appears to be "happy" to see Fortunato since he is planning to murder him. Fortunato's clown or jester's costume appears to be appropriate non only for the funfair season but also for the fact that Montresor intends to brand a "fool" out of him. Point of View
Poe writes this story from the perspective of Montresor who vows revenge against Fortunato in an effort to support his time-honored family motto: "Nemo me impune lacessit" or "No one assails me with impunity." (No one tin set on me without being punished .) Poe does not intend for the reader to sympathise with Montresor because he has been wronged by Fortunato, simply rather to judge him. Telling the story from Montresor'southward indicate of view, intensifies the upshot of moral daze and horror. Once more, the reader is invited (as was the example in "The Tell-Tale Centre") to delve into the inner workings of a sinister heed. Way and Interpretation
Poe's story is a case of premeditated murder. The reader becomes quickly aware of the fact that Montresor is not a reliable narrator, and that he has a tendency to concord grudges and exaggerate terribly, as he refers to the "grand injuries" that he has suffered at the hands of Fortunato. "...[B]ut when [Fortunato] ventured upon insult, [Montresor could stand no more, and] vowed revenge." Montresor tries to convince the reader that his intentions are honorable in an effort to uphold his family unit motto. "Nemo me impune lacessit" is as well the national motto of Scotland. Kenneth Silverman, in his book Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance, makes reference to the fact that it is not an accident or similarity that Poe chooses this particular motto. It is one that would remind Poe of another Scotsman, John Allan, his foster father. Allan, "much resembled Fortunato in being a man 'rich, respected, admired, beloved,' interested in wines, and a member of the Masons." Silverman continues by proverb, that even the Allan name can exist seen every bit an anagram in Amontillado. (Silverman 317) Stuart and Susan Levine, editors of The Short Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe: An Annotated Edition, practise not view Poe'south story as just a clever tale of revenge, just instead, run across it every bit an anti-aristocratic commentary. "Resentment against aristocratic 'priviledge' of all kinds reached a pinnacle in Jacksonian and mail-Jacksonian America....Poe's tale is related to innumerable articles in American magazines of the period about the scandalous goings-on of continental nobility." (Levine 454, 455) "The Cask of Amontillado" is a carefully crafted story so that every detail contributes to "a certain unique or single issue." Irony, both dramatic and verbal, plays an important role in this process. Dramatic irony (the reader perceives something that a character in the story does not) occurs when the reader becomes painfully aware of what will become of Fortunato even though the character continues his descent into the catacombs in pursuit of the Amontillado. Poe further adds to this issue by calling the character Fortunato (who is anything but fortunate), and dressing him in a clown or a fool'due south costume since Montresor intends to make a fool of him as office of his dark plan. At that place are numerous examples of verbal irony (character says 1 matter and means something else) within Montresor'due south words. Montresor expresses concern about Fortunato's health, and several times he suggests that they should turn dorsum for fright that Fortunato'southward cough volition worsen as a result of the cold and dampness of the catacombs. One of the nearly memorable lines of the story is given by Montresor in response to Fortunato saying, "I will non dice of a cough." Montresor says, "Truthful--true...." Other examples can be seen when Montresor toasts Fortunato's long life as well equally when he says that he is a mason, but not in the sense that Fortunato means. "In footstep requiescat!" ("Residual in peace!") is the final irony of a heavily ironic tale. "In pace" also refers to a very secure monastic prison. By the end of Poe's story, Montresor has gotten his revenge against unsuspecting Fortunato, whose gustation for wine has led him to his own decease. Once again we are reminded of the coat of arms and the Montresor family motto. The insignia is symbolic of Montresor'due south evil character, who like the snake intends to get revenge. Theme
"The Cask of Amontillado" is a powerful tale of revenge. Montresor, the sinister narrator of this tale, pledges revenge upon Fortunato for an insult. Montresor intends to seek vengeance in back up of his family motto: "Nemo me impune lacessit."("No one assails me with impunity.") On the coat of artillery, which bears this motto, appears " [a] huge human pes d'or, in a field of azure; the foot crushes a snake rampant whose fangs are embedded in the heel." It is important for Montresor to have his victim know what is happening to him. Montresor will derive pleasure from the fact that "...as Fortunato slowly dies, the thought of his rejected opportunities of escape will sting him with unbearable regret, and as he sobers with terror, the final blow will come from the realization that his craving for the wine has led him to his doom." (Quinn 500) In construction, in that location can be no doubt, that both Montresor's plan of revenge and Poe'southward story are carefully crafted to create the desired effect. Martha Womack
Related Information
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- Poe Perplex on Cask of Amontillado
- Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
- Review of "the Dark Eye"
- And He is Trapped Behind the Wall Forever
Qrisse's Edgar Allan Poe Pages
Works Cited
- Adventures in Reading: Pegasus Edition. Chicago: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1989.
- Levine, Stuart and Susan, editors. The Brusque Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe: An Annotated Edition. Chicago: University of Illinois Printing, 1990.
- Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1941.
- Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991.
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