Revenge is a topic most people are familiar with or can relate too. It’s the theme in many movies and TV shows people watch today. Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, is a captivating story about a man getting revenge on another man for the multitude of insults and injuries he faced. The story takes place sometime during the 1800s in Italy during the carnival season which is great time to carry out a plot for revenge without the other person even realizing what is about to happen. Poe constructs a story where the main character transforms from a protagonist to an antagonist in his pursuit for revenge on another character. In the beginning of the story, the main character, Montresor, can be viewed as the protagonist. …show more content…
Montresor has utterly transformed from a protagonist to an antagonist. When they reach the end of the vaults Montresor says, “I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it” (Poe 182). Montresor successfully tricked Fortunato into following him deep underground in his vaults where he chained him to the granite and started building a wall in front of him. He had a well thought out evil plan for his revenge on Fortunato which was to ultimately bury him alive. He is no longer viewed as a protagonist because of his elaborate plan for revenge which ended in Fortunato’s death. Montresor says as he is finishing up building the wall, “My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so. I hastened to make an end of my labour” (Poe 184). Montresor does not even feel one ounce of guilt for what he just did to Fortunato. He can be viewed as an extremely heartless, awful man which makes him an antagonist. Fortunato switches to the protagonist at the end of the story, considering, whatever he did to Montresor could not have been that awful to make it necessary for him to be killed. Montresor is a very twisted character, since he had a pre-meditated plan for revenge on Fortunato and did not feel guilty for killing him which all mark his transformation into an
Revenge is the opportunity to retaliate or gain satisfaction for a real or perceived slight ("revenge"). In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor, the narrator, is out for revenge. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato and thinks he has developed the perfect plan for “revenge with impunity” (Baym). Montresor never tells the reader why he feels Fortunato deserves punishment. He only says that Fortunato causes him “a thousand injuries”until “[venturing] upon insult” (Baym ?). As a result, Montresor plans to bury Fortunato alive.
renovating a palazzo his men found the bones of a human. When I got to
In Edger Allen Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado the narrator, Montresor, seeks revenge against his friend Fortunato who he claims had cause him many injuries. The story takes place during carnival time and many are celebrating even Fortunato who was dressed as a clown and wore a colorful hat with bells. Fortunato had been drinking which made him even less aware of any sort of plot against him. Montresor lures him into his wine vaults and easily chains him to a wall deep inside a small crypt. Fortunato is too drunk to even comprehend what is happening or even resist. Finally Montresor builds a stone wall confining Fortunato inside to die. In the story we can distinguish many notable characteristics of Montresor. He may be perceived as heatless or even bit psychotic. We can learn about his personality through his motives and actions as the story progresses.
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.
These imperfections cause him to murder his former friend Fortunato, because “when he ventured upon insult, [Montresor] vowed revenge” (212). Montresor goes to severe measures in order to maintain his pride, demonstrating that he is arrogant, cruel, and a generally imperfect person. However, while Montresor appears cold and cruel on the outside, after he killed Fortunato “[his] heart grew sick” (216). Although Montresor perceives his emotional response as a physical reaction to the dampness of the catacombs, the reader sees it for what it truly is: a sign of remorse.The reader can discern that Montresor’s pride and cruelty are battling against his conscience, and that his flaws catalyze his actions. Observing Montresor’s faults instead of speculating he is comprehensively inhumane conceives him to be a profound and deep
The author writes how in the beginning of the story, Montresor had reacted from all the hurt he had gone through. It states, “A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (174). This shows how Montresor is stating how he will create a plan that will make up for the actions that Fortunato himself had done. This would make them even, as Montresor’s plan wouldn't fail. Not to mention, Montresor clearly states that he is seeking revenge in the beginning of the story when he states, “but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge… At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled --but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk” (173). This explains the thought in Montresor’s head of why he wanted to kill Fortunato for Fortunato had hurt him. As a cause of the insults, Montresor would leave Fortunato in the catacombs to die. Last but not least, Montresor has very unusual statements. For example, the last sentence of the story states what Montresor said as he placed the last stone in the wall. He said, “In pace requiescat!” (179). This translates to In peace he rests. Someone looking to hurt another would probably not wish that they would live happily after death, so it is unusual that Montresor wishes that Fortunato rests in
Fortunato “takes possession” of Montresor’s arm, for which he suffers (716) in order to carry out his plan. Poe’s use of possession and suffer give the impression that Montresor is being afflicted again by Fortunato. Once Montresor reveals this meeting at this evening is no coincidence by divulging he made sure none of his attendants would be home. By giving the direct orders to be home. Poe shows us that Montresor was not respected or feared by his servants’ actions. The servants’ leaving after being given a direct order to stay does give credence to the fact that Montresor must be very methodical and unyielding to his schedule. Only once Fortunato to the catacombs does he betray his own premise. Montresor refers to Fortunato as his “poor friend” (716). At this point Poe has depicted this instigator of a “thousand injuries” as a drunken jester that can barely catch his breath at this point in the story. Now Montresor is showing some sympathy towards him. At this point the transition is complete. Where the two men stopped at the entrance to Fortunato’s tomb, this is the moment that leaves no doubt that Montresor is the villain and Fortunato is the
In his article “On Memory Forgetting, and Complicity in “the Cask of Amontillado”” Raymond DiSanza suggests that an act of wrongdoing is always at the heart of good horror stories. (194) DiSanza’s article on “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe describes Poe’s writing in a way I didn’t think of myself. DiSanza finds Poe’s language in this story to “taste like amontillado: smooth, slightly sweet, and appropriately chilled”. (DiSanza 195) Throughout his article he mostly talks about what possibly could have been Montresor’s motive to kill Fortunato? And why did Montresor wait fifty years to tell the story?
An important element in any story is setting. Authors use setting to convey certain feelings brought on by the character’s surroundings. It also subliminally serves to illustrate the character’s intentions. In “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allen Poe uses the dark, imposing setting to do just that, communicate the underlying theme of the story, being death, revenge and deception.
The perfect revenge is an action so many scorned have attempted and what so many more have lusted after. Apt punishment for the offender, success without being discovered and fulfillment without regret are all elements for satisfactory vengeance. All were present in "The Cask of Amontillado." However, despite Montresor's actions seeming to be perfect, he does not fulfill the criteria for flawless revenge. Poe doesn't quite allow readers to feel convinced of his main character's peace of mind. Subtle indications are strewn throughout the story that suggest otherwise. Though Montresor intended to cleanse his honor of Fortunato's insults, it may very well be that he only succeeded in creating, for himself, a guilty conscience, forever depriving himself of the sweetness of revenge.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated literary authors of all time, known for writing very suspenseful, dramatic short stories and a poet; is considered as being a part of the American Romantic Movement, and a lesser known opinion is he is regarded as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Most recognized for his mystery and macabre, a journey into the dark, ghastly stories of death, deception and revenge is what makes up his reputation. The short story under analysis is a part of his latter works; “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story of revenge takes readers into the mind of the murderer.
In Edgar Allen Poe’s story, “Cask of Amontidallo”, Poe uses irony to show that revenge is not always as satisfying as humans want it to be. Poe uses elements, such as, the characters’ dress, the coat of arms to hint towards the ironic end. In the story Montresor, our protagonist, laments the many wrongs committed against him by Fortunato, the careless victim of Montresor. The action of the story occurs on fat Tuesday of Carnival in Italy. This is why both Montresor, and Fortunato are in bizarre costumes. This was also Montressors excuse to give the staff the day off as Jamil Mustafa said, “Montressor had given his servants ‘explicit orders to not stir from the house’ during Carnival.” This ensured no witnesses would be there to see Montressor.
Poe presents the narrators of "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado" as devious, obsessed characters. Both are overpowered by the need to consume the life of their victim. Though they use different strategies to carry out the murders in different ways, obsession is the driving force in both. It is this obsession that inspires them to design cunning strategies and carry out the executions.
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is a horror story about revenge and murder that occurred half a century ago. Through the haunting confession of the narrator, Montresor, the reader is able to feel what Fortunato had endured half a century ago. In this tale of revenge and murder the dark, damp, and bone-filled catacombs provide a contrast to life during the “madness of the carnival” (553).
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is a frightening and entertaining short story about the severe consequences that result from persistent mockery and an unforgiving heart. Poe’s excellent use of Gothicism within the story sets the perfect tone for a dark and sinister plot of murder to unfold. “The Cask of Amontillado” simply overflows with various themes and other literary elements that result from Poe’s Gothic style of writing. Of these various themes, one that tends to dominant the story as a whole is the theme of revenge, which Poe supports with his sophisticated use of direct and indirect factors, irony, and symbolism.