DQ # 6 – “The Cask of Amontillado”

His superego is telling him all the things that could go wrong, but his ego is telling Montresor to go through with getting revenge by murdering Fortunato. Kevin J. Hayes states in his book The Annotated Poe, that the motivation for Montresor to murder Fortunato was Poe’s own desire to get revenge on a former friend, Thomas Dunn English (Hayes 351). Montresor, like Edgar Allan Poe, felt like he has been wronged and needed to punish that person. Fortunato shows up wearing a motley, similar to a joker’s attire. Scott Peoples says in the book “Social and psychological Disorder in the Works of Edgar Allan Poe” that his belief is that Montresor is committing this murder out of an act of jealousy.

The short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe tells the story of Montresor seeking revenge on Fortunato. Montresor does not specify what is exactly said that makes him commit premeditated murder. He mentions that it was an insult that turned him towards revenge the moment he heard it. He becomes obsessed with punishing Fortunato. Poe uses elements of horror to illustrate Montresor’s obsession for revenge leading to the death.

In his short story, The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allen Poe produces a macabre tale about pride, revenge, and deception. The haunting tale is narrated by the vengeful Montresor who seeks to redress the wrong doing of his peer, Fortunato. He allows his pride to overtake his humanity and consequently lures Fortunato to his murderous death. His plan, “I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes it redresser.

Macbeth's downfall is himself, he becomes hubristical, thinking he can defy fate. He becomes brutal and but is tormented by his actions. Macbeth is caught up in a vicious circle he cannot control, he murders Duncan and to stop himself feeling guilty for that murder he starts to plan the next but that leaves him feeling guilty and so the cycle goes on. Macbeth is tormented by his strong sub conscience that cause his hallucinations and 'terrible dreams'. On the one hand readers can almost feel sorry for the tormented Macbeth but then his callous, calculating side is revealed and it is hard to believe he is human.

Both stories use the elements of death, darkness, horror, coldness, dampness, fear, obscurity, and mystery to get the point and theme across. Obsession is shown in “The Tell Tale Heart” by the obsession with the eye even after the narrator killed the old man. Obsession is shown in “The Cask of Amontillado” with Montresor’s obsession with getting back at Fortunato. Another way obsession is shown is in way Montresor’s holds a grudge on Fortunato just because he insulted him once. Everything Edgar Allan Poe has written in these short stories was put there for a reason.

The Cask of Amontillado is centered entirely upon revenge and vengeance. This conflict between the narrator and Fortunato explores his past decision to kill a man based on perceived injustices. Poe uses this conflict to explore the difference between Fortunato and Montresor’s character flaws which led to the major conflict, while simultaneously studying how obsession can control the mind. By studying these downfalls , the story darkly shifts from the carnival celebration to death in the catacombs. The story descends to madness much like how the mind does when it deals with strong fixations.

They both chase after their desire; however, they have different motivations: their motivation of wanting to kill. Macbeth was very devious; therefore, he wanted to murder to lift up his position in society. He is eventually ruined by his evil deeds. Macbeth later goes crazy because he is fighting against greed and guilt, which are totally different emotions. Macbeth 's avarice leads him to predetermine more and more terrible gluttonies.

(Hamlet 5.2.369-372) In retrospect, the concept of revenge in “Hamlet” is quite the eye-opener for those in the dark of what revenge can and will do to one's self and those around him. It is plain to see the agonizing and degenerate condition that it brings upon the body and soul. Moreover, can the disease revenge inflicts rest easily upon the mind? I think not. By no effort can a man avoid the pain and suffering associated with engaging in a personal vendetta.

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”, a short story about internal conflict and obsession, showcases the tortured soul due to a guilty conscience. The story opens with an unnamed narrator describing a man deranged and plagued with a guilty conscience for a murderous act. This man, the narrator, suffers from paranoia, and the reason for his crime is solely in his disturbed mind. He becomes fixated on the victim’s (the old man’s) eye, and his conscience forces him to demonize the eye. Finally, the reader is taken on a journey through the planning and execution of a murder at the hands of the narrator.

The major characteristics of the narrator and main character, Montresor, are anger, hatred, and revenge. In the story, he is angry with Fortunato because he believes that Fortunato has wronged and insulted him many times by saying, “thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could…he ventured upon insult…” (Poe). In addition, Montresor’s hatred for Fortunato goes so far that he believes he must kill Fortunato. He mentions this in the story as, “[y]ou, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat” (Poe). He seems to say that his soul is made of hatred and goes on to say he must give Fortunato the utmost punishment: death.