In the story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, the main theme is revenge. Montresor was insulted by Fortunato, we are never told what the insult was, but it was serious enough that Montresor vowed to enact revenge. People want and take revenge every day, and Poe decided to portray that in one of the darkest ways possible, murder. The perfect revenge must be performed flawlessly, without getting caught, having no regret, and the victim knowing why revenge is being taken. In the story “The Cask of Amontillado” Montresor does not execute perfect revenge. Throughout the story, and especially at the end, Montresor tries to convince himself that he is getting the revenge he wants. He wishes to restore his honor that was hurt from Fortunato’s insults, but instead he ended up making his life a guilty one. This is shown by the narration of the story. Montresor is telling the events leading to the murder of Fortunato, and the murder itself, in a regretful tone. Before Montresor placed the final stone in the …show more content…
His coat of arms is a heel stepping on a poisonous snake, killing it, as the serpent sinks its fangs into the heel injecting its poison. The snakes in its last attempt at fighting back bites the heel, killing the heel with its venom. The coat of arms represents mutual destruction. The foot and serpent are locked together in an embrace of death. While Fortunato was still killed by Montresor, Fortunato still injected Montresor with his venomous words in his last moments of life like the snake did to the heel. “A huge foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.”(Poe, 185). It is the same allegory represented in the coat of arms, they are locked together in a death embrace, one dying at the moment depicted, the other injected with a venom that would slowly kill them throughout their life from guilt and
Montresor does not want Fortunato to die from anything other than his own plan of slow death by asphyxiation. Symbolism in "The Cask of Amontillado" This story by Poe has numerous examples of symbolism. For example, the manner in which Fortunato is dressed is ironic for a man with his societal prominence.
When reading any of Edgar Allen Poe’s works, the reader can almost expect a reoccurring theme that focuses on the questionable sanity of the narrator and the overwhelming presence of death that drives the story to its resolve. The two stories being compared are no exception to this theme as both are built upon the thought driven narrative of a seemingly mad man with a fervor for revenge. In both stories the reader is told of the main character, “The Cask of Amontillado” gives us Montresor and “The Tell-Tale Heart” is simply the narrator of the story, who seek out a character to murder for vague reasons not fully explained to the reader in a way that builds a picture of the way their mind works. As both dictate how and why they plan to commit their crimes, the inner monologue that is provided by a first person narrative paints a picture of the unstable emotional state and irrational thought process that gives the reader insight to how unreliable their account of the story actually is. This unreliable narrative leaves the story open to interpretation on whether or not the act of murder was committed righteously, or simply just the misguided actions of two insane characters.
Have you ever met someone so clever, determined, and cruel to leave a man to die over an insult? Montresor is the perfect example of these character traits. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor uses all of these character traits to get revenge on Fortunado for insulting his family name. Montresor’s clever planning, determination for revenge, and cruel murder are the perfect combination for his unequaled revenge.
When they arrive at the Montresor estate, Montresor leads Fortunato down the stairs into the catacombs. Down here is where the Amontillado Fortunato is going to taste and where the revenge of Montresor is going to take place. As he get closer and closer, the narrator opens up more and more to how he is going to kill his "friend". It sound like it is a premeditated murder. Montresor seems so inconspicuous that he acts like he cares about Fortunato which is still a part of his plan.
Poe's, The Cask of Amontillado is a story about fear and revenge. The story begins with Montressor's vow of revenge, foreshadowing future actions. "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult vowed revenge..." Montressor had to be sure not to raise suspicion of what he was going to do Fortunato. Montressor knew that Fortunato had a weakness that he could use towards his advantage.
He describes Fortunato as a “rich, respected, admired, beloved; happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter” (252). Montresor takes insult at the fact that Fortunato seems to look upon the fact that he is not a freemason with disdain. And when Fortunato explains that he has forgotten the Montresor’s family coat of arms, Montresor takes insult. This explains that Montresor is indeed jealous of Fortunato, which is likely the true reason as to why he kills him.
In The Cask of Amontillado, the theme of revenge is established at the start of the story, when the narrator states that he suffered irreversible insult by his associate, Fortunato, thus he vowed to avenge this action. This is evident in the following statement in the opening paragraph of the story, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (Poe 7). Therefore, it is apparent to the reader from the onset of the story that revenge is a major driving force for Montresor for him to dreadfully murder his acquaintance,...
...for the setting of the story, but more importantly serves as a symbol of Fortunato's foolishness. He is the only one who does not know of Montresor's plans, and for that reason Montresor is able to make a fool out of him. The last symbol is the mentioning of the bells. If the reader has read other works of Poe it is obvious that the bells relate to premature burial. This is how the story ends, with the ringing of the bells.
There's a great deal of symbolism through out the story given: through the culprit's (Montressor) family crest;"A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel." a 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). The nam...
Irony is also used throughout this tale. The use of revenge in this story shows irony. Montressor avenges himself by fooling Fortunato into literally walking into his own grave. Fortunato pursues the "cask" which ends up being his own casket. Montressor even asks Fortunato repeatedly whether he would like to turn back.
Poe creates a beautiful, suspenseful, and ominous narrative of revenge through these elements. From the beginning of the short story, he creates suspicion regarding trustworthiness of the narrator through the deliberate ambiguity regarding the motive of the murder and outfitting Montresor in black. Poe is using the Gothic elements of an unreliable narrator and darkness to warn readers that there is a hidden darkness residing inside Montresor. Moreover, the connection of Montresor to the serpent brings not only the Gothic component of evil, but also suggests a connection to the devil; also, Poe does not merely use a serpent, but a fanged serpent in reference to Montresor, which means that the serpent is venomous. Using the venomous serpent to portray Montresor in the coat of arms suggests that Montresor’s strike against Fortunato will be a deadly one. Without the use of Gothic elements to create a dark and suspenseful narrative, this story of revenge might be mistaken for a tale of justice. Removal of the Gothic elements in “the Cask of Amontillado,” would greatly reduce the quality of the work and possibly change the interpretation of the short story. In sum, without using elements of the Gothic, a tale of revenge could not be created because it would lack the darkness needed to craft a quality story of
Montresor in "The Cask of Amontillado" is similar to the narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" in that his obsession with consuming the soul of Fortunato influences his every action. However, it is with Fortunato himself that he is obsessed. He feeds off of Fortunato's pain, unlike the narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" who's obsession is with destroying a menacing inanimate object. Montresor's entire conspiracy is focused around making Fortunato suffer, and for him to know just who is causing this suffering. This is why he goes to such lengths to put together this intricate strategy. It could have been so much easier to kill Fortunato in some easier, quicker way. Instead, he dedicates himself to torturing Fortunato. He creates a plan that leads Fortunato into the depths of the catacombs beneath his home, and kills him in an excruciating manner.
For instance, Montresor’s family crest is a serpent biting into an ankle treading upon it. The emblem is symbolic of Montresor’s response to being bitten by Fortunato’s foolish pride. The snake on the crest and the family’s motto, “No one wounds me with immunity,” both address Montresor’s seemingly inherited nature to retaliate. Another instance of symbolism in the story, is the reference to the secret society, the Freemasons. As a sign to prove his fellowship, Montresor pulls out a trowel to show his brotherhood. Ironically, this is the same trowel that will seal Fortunato’s tomb. The final major symbol in “The Cask of Amontillado,” is the Amontillado wine. The way the wine is created is through the deprivation of oxygen, the same way Fortunato is killed. The thought put into the murder portrays Montresor as a genius, but also shows the regard he has for his victim. Montresor sees his victim like a cheap bottle of sherry instead of the fine Amontillado that is revered and mature. Taking it upon himself, Montresor decides to mature Fortunato and views it as a masterpiece. The death of Fortunato is Montresor’s art (Lewis
The theme of revenge in “The Cask of Amontillado” is the driving force for the entire short story. The main character, Montresor, vows to take revenge against the other main character, Fortunato, because of an “insult” that Fortunato has apparently made against Montresor (Baraban). This is evident in the opening line of the short story when the narrator Montresor states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge (Poe 1612). This opening line makes it obvious that the insult is what directly led to Montresor’s insatiable desire for revenge, but there are also some underlying factors that could have indirectly led to this revenge as well.
Edgar Allan Poe is known for his murderous stories. All of them are psychoanalyses of his life. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor struggles with his ego and superego just as Poe did throughout his life. The story starts off with the murderer telling what he did with satisfaction. The murderer’s name is Montresor, and he has a brilliant, devious plan to murder Fortunato. He tells his plan step by step of how he commits this dexterous murder. How far will someone go to seek revenge?