Edgar Allan Poe

In some literary works, some words used do not have stable references. This makes audience make assumptions about the way language has been used to represent reality. Poe, in “The Cask of Amontillado”, uses some contradicting terms and events in his literary work. The contradiction in his work has to be exposed in order to understand the meaning below the surface. This technique of exposing the hidden meaning of a literary work is called theory of deconstruction. The lens of deconstruction theory is used to understand “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe was born in in 1809, in Boston. His father was called David Poe while the mother was Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins. He lost his parents before he was three, and he had to move to Virginia to live with a wealthy tradesman called John Allan. John took Poe as one of his sons. Poe went to private school and conflicts occurred between him and his guardians when he decided to pursue literary works. He attended university of Virginia, but his dropped after the first year. He had gambling debts and his guardians refused to settle the debts. He joined the army and became sergeant major. He later quit the army. He wrote many literary works. He wrote many poems when he was in West point. His life became miserable when he became a heavy drinker and smoker. He went through many problems in his live that helped him write many poems. His nature of being a heavy drinker is even realized in “The Cask of Amontillado”. His literary talent would not have been that interesting if were not the way his behavior and character influenced his writing. His love for alcohol helped him incorporating the abuse of alcohol in his work. A clear evidenced in “The Cask of Amontillado”, where he...

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...gh in life. He has also used the title of the story to relate to processes that take place in the story. The title relates to the revenge process that Montresor is planning. Montresor revenge can be used to show how Poe is feeling about his life challenges. He wishes to revenge, but the only place he can that is through his writing. However, deconstruction can be used in this story to show the way Poe expressed his life challenges.

Works Cited

Delaney, Bill. "Poe's the Cask of Amontillado." The Explicator. 64.1 (2005): 33-35. Print.

Lewis, Michael J. "Refining a Fortunato Amontillado." The Explicator. 69.4 (2011): 179-183. Print.

Poe, Edgar A. The Cask of Amontillado. Charlottesville, Va: University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center, 1993. Internet resource.

Stott, St G. J. "Poe's the Cask of Amontillado." The Explicator. 62.2 (2005): 85-88. Print.