From the onset, an author lets the readers know which characters are important. This is the norm in any literary medium, including novels, plays, poems, and short stories. Other characters in works of literature are given a considerably less face time compared to the main character. In long works of literature such as novels and plays, minor characters take up a substantial space of the literary medium. However, in short, literary works such as poems and short stories, the main characters end up taking most of the space with minor characters contending with very little coverage. In short stories, the author mostly focuses on the protagonist’s details. Therefore, only very few and relevant details about the non-protagonist characters are supplied to the readers. Nevertheless, those few details and subtle, indirect hints often help the reader to infer some helpful insights and understandings about the non-protagonist characters in a short story. This paper defends this notion using details about the character of Fortunato in Edgar Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.”
The main character in “The Cask of Amontillado” is Montresor with Fortunato being a minor character in the short story. Also, Montresor is the story’s narrator, and a lot of details about his character are revealed in the story. On the other hand, the readers only learn about Fortunato’s character by gathering few and scanty details about him through his actions, words, and Montresor, the story’s narrator. At the beginning of the story, it is revealed that Fortunato is the victim of Montessori’s revenge plan. However, Montresor, the narrator does not reveal much about his prey, including the details about how Fortunato insulted him. After learning that Fortunato is the victim, the readers can sympathize and relate with his character. The fact that Fortunato’s accuser does not back his accusations against him makes the readers suspicious.
I t is also possible to know that Fortunato is addicted to wine. Montresor’s revenge plan is modeled around Fortunato’s wine addiction. Montresor is almost certain that Fortunato cannot resist the temptation of wine. On the other hand, Fortunato falls into Montresor’s trap quite easily. Even when Fortunato starts to cough, and Montresor offers him the chance to back off from his quest, he does not give up on the chance of tasting good wine. Fortunato is already drunk by the time he and Montresor get to the catacombs. Fortunato’s addiction seems to be his main undoing and eventually leads to his defeat.
Even though the short story does not dwell on Fortunato’s character, readers can decipher that he is insensitive. First, it does not look like he realizes that he hurt Fortunato. Second, when Montresor comes to carry out his revenge on him (Fortunato), he does not notice that Montresor is angry with him. Fortunato’s insensitivity also makes him a poor judge of character. Halfway through his execution, he still thinks that Montresor is playing a joke on him.
Another Fortunato’s trait that can be deduced from the few details in the short story is his greed and pride. When Montresor offers the wine tasting chance to someone else, Fortunato opposes this idea vehemently. Moreover, it is revealed that Fortunato is naïve. Fortunato follows Montresor sheepishly without considering the suspicious environment they are going past when going to fetch the wine. This naivety ends up being Fortunato’s main undoing.
Edgar Allan Poe is perceived as one of the greatest authors and poets of all time. His works have elicited the need for analysis by various scholars and parties from the field of literature. His short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, portrays various stylistic approaches, thus necessitating an analysis to evaluate the writing style.
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a story involving horror due to Montresor’s vengeful motive upon Fortunato. Poe’s work on this piece of literature has been considered as one of the world’s perfect short stories. The narrative meets the qualities of a classic short story as theorized by Poe since it can be read in a single sitting. This paper will analyze the stylistic devices that Poe applies in the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”.
Summary
The story’s narrator, Montresor, opens up his revengeful motive towards Fortunato, his acquaintance, by claiming that he insulted him irreparably (Poe 1200). Montresor seeks to use Fortunato’s liking for wine in a bid to carry out his revenge in a way that curtails the risks of being identified. Montresor brings the idea of using Luchesi to taste Amontillado, but Fortunato suggests that he is not good enough for the task and regards him as a competitor as well.
The two proceed towards Montresor’s burial vaults, which are exposed and filled with nitre. The nitre causes Fortunato to cough, and thus takes the wine to counter the effects even after being told by Montresor to go home. The two continue exploring the vaults that contain body remains of Montresor’s family members.
Fortunato tries to see if Montresor is a true mason by making a hand movement, but the latter does not recognize and he justifies himself by showing him a trowel implying a stonemason (Poe 1202). Montresor tells an intoxicated Fortunato to access a small recess through a wall made of bones to get the Amontillado before trapping him. Fortunato starts squalling as the walls go up.
The alcohol levels in his system drop as he starts moaning helplessly and later laughs at Montresor, who is not in the mood for jokes, as he continues piling the layers of the wall. Fortunato stops conversing with Montresor after making the final plea, “For the love of God, Montresor” (Poe 1204), but the latter continues to call his name twice.
Montresor positions the final brick and plasters the walls before reassembling the bones on the fourth wall. Montresor says that the bones have not been disturbed for fifty years, and he makes a conclusion in Latin that translates to “May he rest in peace” (Poe 1205).
Analysis
Poe’s short story depicts a simple plot that portrays various aspects of his style in a compact way. Therefore, the analysis will explore the title, the use of irony, and other aspects writing and stylistic devices that Poe applies.
The Title
The title, “The Cask of Amontillado”, sounds mysterious and it tends to elicit fright. “Amontillado” simply refers to an alcoholic beverage that is linked to sherry. The title seems to conceal the story’s subject since moat people are not familiar with the various types of liquor unless one is a wine connoisseur.
On the other hand, “Casks” are used for the storage of alcoholic beverages. Montresor communicates that Fortunato possesses a “pipe of what passes for Amontillado” (Poe 1201). In this light, the “pipe” implies the “cask”, which could mean a “casket”. Poe uses the title to conceal and reveal the horrific nature of the story artistically as depicted by Fortunato’s ambitions of finding the Cask of Amontillado only to discover his death casket.
Additionally, Amontillado has different meanings to Montresor and Fortunato. To Fortunato, Amontillado represents pleasance and delectation, while Montresor uses it for the pursuit of his vengeful mission.
The use of irony
Poe uses three types of irony in the story as a literary tool that facilitates the readers’ understanding of the friendship that exists between Montresor and Fortunato. He uses situational, dramatic, and verbal irony throughout the story to make it intriguing to the audience.
In verbal irony, the speaker uses parables to imply the opposite meaning of what is being said. For instance, the name “Fortunato” implies good fortune, but it seems to be the contrary in this story. Fortunato turns out to be unfortunate as he is eventually trapped and killed by the revengeful Montresor.
Verbal irony is also depicted as Montresor leads Fortunato to the vaults. Montresor pretends to be caring about Fortunato’s health by noting, “We will go back; your health is precious…You are a man to be missed. For me, it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible” (Poe 1203).
Montresor’s intentions are the opposite since he intends to destroy Fortunato’s health by killing him. Fortunato proceeds deeper towards the vault as his coughs persist, but Montresor tells him that they will go back before it gets late and that his cough is nothing to worry about at the time. Going deep into the vaults means that Fortunato would meet his dark fate, which is signified by Amontillado.
Fortunato’s source of pleasure turns out to be his painful ending as Montresor revenges on him. Poe also uses dramatic irony in the story whereby he reveals some things to the audience, which are unknown to the characters. Fortunato’s dress code appears ironical as it depicts his eagerness to taste the rare alcoholic beverage. He posits, “The man wore motley.
He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells” (Poe 1202). In this regard, Fortunato’s dressing mode symbolizes a fool that can be easily tricked into his death. Fortunato also says, “I will not die of a cough” (Poe 1202). Montresor affirming, “The cold is merely nothing” (Poe 1202). The readers know what is looming for Fortunato, but he is not aware of what may happen to him according to his enemy’s plans.
Fortunato toasts bodies that had been buried in the catacombs without realizing his impending death (Poe 1203). In situational irony, the opposite of the anticipated outcomes occurs. Poe utilizes this type of irony during the night of the carnival. He posits, “I had told them that I should not return until the morning and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house.
These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one, and all, as soon as my back was turned” (Poe 1203). This assertion implies that the Montresor wants his servants not to leave without him, which ensures that they would do the contrary. Another instance of situational irony is whereby the non-existent cask containing the Amontillado turns out to be the connoisseur’s casket.
Fortunato ultimately discovers his coffin instead of the rare wine that he anticipates. Montresor commits a premeditated murder of Fortunato, which is not punished legally after fifty years (Poe 1205). Therefore, it is ironical that Fortunato has been resting in peace as Montresor lives freely with impunity.
The plot
A good story should entail aspects of an initial condition, the conflict, complication, climax, suspense, and the conclusion. Poe initiates the story by depicting the painful history between Montresor and Fortunato. Montresor claims, “Fortunato had hurt me in other ways a thousand times, and I had suffered in quiet” (Poe 1200) implying that there were personal differences that existed between them.
Fortunato also insults Montresor, thus causing him to vow for revenge. This section provides a good basis for the story’s initial situation. The conflict aspect of the story is comes out when Montresor posits, “I must punish him with impunity” (Poe 1201). This statement translates into his vengeful strategies that depict the conflict in the story.
The story is not complicated and it might only confuse the reader on the aspects of Amontillado and Luchesi. The climax of the story stands out when Fortunato is chained in the catacomb as Montresor starts erecting the walls that would act as Fortunato’s casket.
The suspense is created where Montresor positions and plasters the bricks for the tomb. The denouement of the story happens when Montresor places the final brick thereby ending the suspense that calls for the conclusion by writing, “In pace requiescat!” (Poe 1205).
The Tone
Montresor describes various events elegantly, which intrigues the reader. For instance, Montresor describes the bones and human remains in a tone that does not evoke fear. He says, “We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux [torches – pronounced “flam-bow”] rather glow than flame” (Poe 1204).
The Setting
The story adopts a horrific and gothic setting. The setting of the story proceeds from freedom to confinement as Montresor kills Fortunato by confining him in a casket. The carnival aims at creating happiness and celebrating freedom, but it turns out to be the opposite for Fortunato.
The dusk hours imply that something horrific is imminent as manifested by Montresor’s trap. The season is considered as a period of “supreme madness” (Poe 1203), and thus it evokes a feeling of uncertainty. However, the actual setting of the story is not specified, but events are perceived to take place in the European setting since the names of the characters like Fortunato and Luchesi have a European origin. Amontillado is a wine of Spanish origin whereas Montresor’s coat of arms originates from Scotland.
Conclusion
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a perfect short story that depicts Poe’s stylistic features of his works. The title creates a concealed horrific topic that requires the readers’ interpretation of the “Cask” and “Amontillado”. Poe uses symbolism, irony, suspense, and horror to give the story a creative element as the setting flows from freedom to confinement.
The plot used is simple as it initiates the issue between Montresor and Fortunato before proceeding to build up the conflict that climaxes at Montresor’s catacombs. Therefore, Poe depicts his exceptional writing skills in authoring the short story, thus making him one of the greatest writers and poets of all the time.
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar. “The Cask of Amontillado.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Eds. Nina Baym et al. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. 1200-1205. Print.
Montresor starts the story of “The Cask of Amontillado” by indicating that his friend irreparably offended him and seeks vengeance. He plans to revenge in a calculated way without putting himself at risk with the law. Edgar Allan Poe is famous for using theatrical imagery in the gothic type. The gothic type of literature has an array of conventions.
These include the suggestions of horror, supernatural, and mysterious, alien settings such as fortress as well as the collapsing buildings. The story utilizes graphical language and imagery in the development of a sense of deceptive and persuasive nature and circumstances in the expansion of the symbolic approach of sustaining a condition of suspense.
Analysis and explanation of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’
The imagery selected by Poe in The Cask of Amontillado is critical in furthering the plot of the narrative. The suspense created by the author remains until the end of the story. The cause of the intense abhorrence harbored by Montresor towards Fortunato remains anonymous throughout the story. The narrator does not reveal why he hated Fortunato so much to the extent of leading him to his death.
The lacking information helps the author to add tension. It makes the reader to create acquaintance with the language used by Montresor as he craftily leads Fortunato to his demise. In addition to the creation of a closer concentration to the graphical wording, the author also utilizes imagery to develop a sense of the looming doom. There are two providers of the looming doom and tension.
The prefiguring and satire take root through the composition of the whole narrative. The elements are highlighted by the author through imagery that creates a sense of situation that is engulfed with the overpowering fear for the reader. The narrative heavily depends on expressive wording and imagery to attain a sense of mood that matches the narrative’s sinister plot.
The extensive utilization of sinister imagery is fundamentally successful in creating a dark mood. The author has used color imagery as a central pivot point to question the motives by Montresor. By covering the face with a black silk camouflage, Montresor is not a depiction of the blind fairness but rather the Gothic reverse of prejudiced revenge. On the contrary, Fortunato dresses in the mixed color attire of the court fool.
He is duped plainly and disastrously by Montresor’s camouflaged intentions. The color design in the narrative is the representation of the satire of Fortunato’s fatal sentence. He countenances the comprehension that even the festive period can be gravely serious.
The author selects the festival setting for its desertion of social order. Typically, the festive season signifies pleasant social interaction. However, Montresor alter its joyous abandon and turn the festive mood on its head. The repetitive references to the bones that line the crypt foretell the narrative’s plunge into the criminal world. The two characters’ underground journey is imagery for the journey to hell.
Since the festive mood in the world of the living does not happen as Montresor would wants, he decides to take the celebration mood below the earth within the sphere of the deceased and the satanic. The author further develops suspense through foreshadowing. During the conversation between the two characters, Fortunato states that he shall not die of a cough. In reply to this, Montresor concurs.
It is an indication that he already knows that Fortunato will actually die of thirst and hunger in the vaults. The description of the family insignia is also the foretelling of the upcoming events. The emblem characterizes a human foot squashing a stubborn snake. The foot imagery is a representation of Montresor. The snake symbolizes Fortunato.
Despite Fortunato having Montresor with injurious affront, he will eventually squash him. The talk about Masons also foretells Fortunato’s death. He dares Montresor’s assertion that he is a member of the Masonic order. Montresor responds menacingly with a visible retort. This is apparently depicted when he claims that he is a mason by removing his trowel.
In fact, he meant that he is factually a stonemason. By saying this, he implied that he builds objects out of rocks and mortar. In this context, the imagery is that he will construct Fortunato’s crypt. The closing moments of the talk between the two characters intensify the horror. It proposes that Fortunato will have in the end and paradoxically some kind of advantage and control over Montresor.
From Fortunato’s statement, “For the love of God, Montresor!” he meant that Montresor has finally managed to take Fortunato to the vault of hopelessness and misery. The imagery is pointed to by his incantation of a God that abandoned him long ago. The words are Fortunato’s last expressions in life. The bizarre distress exhibited by Montresor in rejoinder to the words proposes that he requires Fortunato further than he is ready to confess.
Conclusion
The narrative extensively uses imagery to make a variety of communication with the reader. The author uses graphical imagery to create a sense of intrigue to capture the attention of the reader throughout the narrative. By using imagery, the author creates suspense through foreshadowing. The narrative effectively uses Gothic literature to create a sense of fear that accompanies the death of Fortunato.
In the short story Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe portrays a dark story of horrid and calculated revenge. Poe is known to be a master of using words and literary elements to create the necessary environment necessary for the story and deriving emotional reactions from the reader. In this story, Poe manipulates point of view and setting as contributing factors to establishing an eerie and unreliable tone and perspective that drive forward the concept of the plot.
The story utilizes a first-person point of view when the narrator named Montresor relates the story. The plot is told from the first person as the pronoun “I” is used and the story is told in the past tense. However, unlike most literary works where the story is told in the past tense and the narrator is objective, therefore reliable – Poe makes the narrator in The Cask of Amontillado intentionally unreliable. Montresor retells the events in a sadistic, manipulative, and somewhat sarcastic tone, which creates dramatic irony. “I would make him pay, yes; but I would act only with the greatest care…the wrong would not be made right unless Fortunato knew that he was paying and knew who was forcing him to pay” (Poe 68). The unreliability of the narrator is shown by this as he attempts to justify a sadistic act as well as showing evidence of psychological inconsistencies.
The setting largely matches the tone of the narrator, described as eerie and dark (Poe 70). The way that Poe characterizes the setting changes as the story progresses, particularly the deeper that the characters descend into the catacombs. At first, it was a deep place under the palace, cool and dark. However, as they go further, the setting is visualized as grim, extremely constrained, and the air barely breathable. The descriptions of small details such as bones spread out on the ground foreshadow the grim end for Fortunato (Poe 71).
Despite being often overlooked, point of view and setting can contribute greatly to the perception of the reader in the tone of the story. Poe highlights the use of the first person in an unreliable narrator to emphasize their dark psychological state which is contributed to the eerie, almost metaphorical descriptions of the setting which contributes to the horrendousness of this story of murderous revenge.
Edgar Allan Poe is famous for his prowess in gothic-themed literature. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Poe brings out the dark side of the story by employing intense symbolism and irony throughout the story. The readers find the short story interesting amidst the juxtaposition that is brought out by the heavy use of symbolic elements in the story. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, the main character Montresor is seeking revenge amidst the gothic atmosphere that is created by Poe. Montresor is a noble Italian who has resolved to exact revenge against Fortunato, a haughty character who unknowingly walks to his death. Through the short story, it becomes clear that the main character’s diabolical aims are subject to manipulation by various symbolic elements that are strategically laid out by the author. Nevertheless, the main character’s quest for revenge remains unexplained by the author although it dominates the events of the whole story.
The only hint about the main character’s unbridled quest for revenge comes when he claims that Fortunato is responsible for his “thousand injuries” (Poe 611). In Poe’s story, the main character sets out to exact his plan of revenge by burying Fortunato when he is still alive. Consequently, revenge becomes the central theme in Poe’s story. When Montresor is seeking revenge against Fortunato by leading him to his grave, the irony of the whole exercise is highlighted by various elements. Poe uses heavy symbolism to intimate the theme of revenge to the readers. The use of these symbolic elements is also responsible for the horror and gothic motifs in the short story. This essay explores various symbols of irony that are used by Poe to symbolize the complexity of the situation surrounding Montresor’s quest for salvation through revenge. These symbols include names of characters, pieces of attires, catacombs, carnival, and the title of the essay, and they all relate to the main theme of revenge in the story.
Character names as symbols
In “The Cask of Amontillado”, the names of characters bear meanings that contrast the personalities of those who bear them. Furthermore, the names symbolize the main character’s reason for seeking revenge against Fortunato. Although the author of the story does not reveal straightforwardly the reasons behind Montresor’s quest for revenge, the name of his victim (Fortunato) symbolizes the good fortune of the targeted character. The play on the name is meant to inform the readers that Montresor is irked by Fortunato’s good fortunes. Consequently, Montresor seeks to repress the fortunes that are attributed to Fortunato by burying him alive. One scholar claims that through his revenge “Montresor reveals his internal quarrel with fortune itself” (Clendenning 15).
It is also possible that Montresor desires and despises wealth at the same time. In the short story, Fortunato is the recipient of respect and fear as a result of his good fortune. The name Fortunato is a symbol of the genesis of Montresor’s plan for revenge. The name also represents the inner conflict that is the root cause of the main character’s drive for revenge. Montresor reveals that ‘Fortunato’ either in the past or in the present is responsible for the latter’s thousand injuries. The fact that Fortunato’s status is making him feared among men is the trigger for Montresor’s revenge plan. The love of money being the ‘beginning of all evils’ becomes an underlying motif in Montresor’s plan to exact on Fortunato, whom good fortunes appear to have rattled his aggressor. Therefore, “Montresor needs to repress Fortunato as a defense mechanism to protect his soul from damnation” (Cooney 195). There is also an element of irony that is carried by the name ‘Fortunato’ because what happens to this character does not represent any aspect of good fortune. The readers are given the chance to experience the symbolic irony that is carried by the victim’s name.
Montresor’s name is also subject to some aspects of symbolic juxtaposition between revenge and its justification. When translated, the name Montresor, which is French in origin “combines the words montrer (to show) and sort (fate)” (Sweet 11). Consequently, Montresor’s position as a shower of fate appears to justify his revenge plan. For instance, Montresor is living up to his expectations when he plans to bury the pompous Fortunato alive. Furthermore, how Montresor carries out his plan indicates that there is nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to his actions. Poe writes that Fortunato does not receive any “utterance to a threat” in his interactions with Montresor including the incidence when he is led to his grave (Poe 612).
This situation signifies that revenge is connected to the fate that befalls Fortunato. On the other hand, both the aggressor and his victim are fulfilling their fate (Baraban 48). For example, when Montresor carries out his revenge plan he is part of a bigger plan. Throughout the story, there is the possibility of Montresor and Fortunato being two faces of the same coin. The other possible translation of Montresor is French ‘mon Tresor’, which translates to ‘my treasure’ (Sweet 12). The author could be using this symbolic name to reveal that Montresor is another dimension of Fortunato. Therefore, Montresor seeks to protect his treasured personality by getting rid of his fortunate side. According to the narrator, salvation is only possible when vanity is substituted for real substance.
Attires as symbols
Another symbol that is used in “The Cask of Amontillado” is Fortunato’s attire. The attire is a symbol of Fortunato’s unknown stature as a sacrificial victim. Although Fortunato holds a respectable position in society, his attire does not reflect this position. It is hard to explain how a respected member of the society ends up wearing “a tight-fitting parts-striped dress and his head [is] surmounted by the conical cap and bells” (Poe 614). The attire is reflective of Fortunato’s indulgence in the carnival season. The attire is also symbolic of the sacrificial element that applies to Montresor’s revenge. The bell crown reminds readers of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore when he was being crucified. Therefore, the symbolic elements introduce a new dimension to the ordeal that Fortunato goes through.
For instance, Montresor’s motivation to carry out revenge against Fortunato is inexplicable to most readers. Consequently, Fortunato’s ordeal introduces a new dimension to an engagement that is accompanied by the environment of a carnival. The dress is the ultimate symbol of the ceremonious nature of Fortunato’s predicament. By carrying out his revenge plan against Fortunato, Montresor “attempts to squelch the aspect of his psyche that relishes stature and power” (Baraban 49). On the other hand, Fortunato’s stature exerts pressure on Montresor’s soul. The salvation that motivates Montresor’s plan of revenge becomes clear through the ceremonial attire that is worn by Fortunato. It also becomes clear that Montresor’s role as the seeker of revenge is more complex than what the readers expect. Fortunato’s dress also accentuates Montresor’s plan to be absolved through his revenge.
The carnival
The symbolism of the main characters’ attire extends to Montresor’s priest-like dress. Montresor’s priest-like dress is similar to the costumes that were worn by clergy during funeral ceremonies. Montresor intends to perform a funeral-like activity by burying Fortunato alive. Revenge is not an activity that randomly falls on Montresor’s lap. However, revenge is a ritual that Fortunato is qualified to perform. The symbolism of Montresor’s ceremonial attire is also highlighted by the irony of his refusal to pardon Fortunato or by offering him the chance to repent. On the other hand, it is clear that Montresor considers Fortunato to be ‘dead’ and burying him is a final right that has to be performed dutifully.
The carnival symbolizes a period of carefree attitude that is one of the motives behind Montresor’s plan of revenge. Montresor uses the carnival setting to carry out his revenge plan against a drunk and unsuspecting Fortunato. Through the mood of the carnival, Montresor can lure his victim into his well-laid plans of revenge. On the other hand, Montresor can delve into the carnival spirit by doing what he terms as a carefree and liberating act of burying Fortunato alive. Carnivals are synonymous with indulgencies of both the human spirit and desire. The indulgencies of Montresor provide him with a setting that offers him the freedom to carry out the ultimate act of revenge against Fortunato. The sentiments of the aggressor are that he “must not only punish but punish with impunity” (Poe 612). The carnival atmosphere is a time when levels of indulgence are often higher than normal. Consequently, Montresor’s plan for revenge fits perfectly within the carnival spirit.
Catacombs
The catacombs are another prominent symbol in “The Cask of Amontillado” and they intimate us to the inner state of Montresor’s mind. Fortunato is lured into the catacombs that are ‘lined with human remains’ with the promise that he will be able to drink the wine that is contained in the cask of Amontillado. According to one literature scholar, the catacombs are a symbol of Montresor’s state of mind (Cooney 195). Consequently, the dark and deathly nature of the catacombs suggests that Montresor is in a state of mind that can only yield death and horror. On the other hand, the aggressor is only replicating his inner state of mind through his quest for revenge. According to Poe, the catacombs are family-owned. Therefore, Montresor’s state of mind might indicate that his mental problem is inter-generational. The fact that the real reason behind Montresor’s quest for revenge is not revealed explicitly might have to do with the fact that it runs back to a few generations.
The cask of Amontillado is in itself a symbol of the unresolved issues that apply to Montresor’s plan to seek salvation through revenge. In the story, Montresor is narrating the events that occurred fifty years ago through a process that resembles a confession. Thereby, the confession exercise includes the words “you, who so well know the nature of my soul” (Poe 611). The fact that Montresor’s exercise is a confession should mean that he is guilty of something. However, he starts by acknowledging that he is by no means burdened by the things he did fifty years ago. The conflicting nature of Montresor’s actions is symbolized by the cask whose contents have remained unexamined for a long period. It is also clear that “an element of Montresor’s conscience knows that Fortunato’s burial is an evil deed and that is why he ends his confession with ‘in pace requiescat’, thereby suggesting that he needs forgiveness for a certain crime” (Clendenning 13). Furthermore, it is unlikely that Montresor receives any pardon for his underlying sins without an admission of guilt. The cask symbolizes Montresor’s need to hold on to contents that can neither be absolved nor be justified.
Conclusion
Symbols are heavily used in “The Cask of Amontillado” with the view of conveying the grim and complex nature of Montresor’s quest for revenge. The symbols also carry a substantial element of irony as they serve to develop the theme of revenge in the story. Fortunato’s good fortunes are unfortunately overshadowed by the fact that he ends up being buried alive. Montresor’s name symbolizes a person who delivers fate, hence his engagement in the devious revenge plan. Other prominent symbols in the story include the carnival that mimics Montresor’s spirit, the dressing styles of the main characters, and the catacombs that inform the readers about the narrator’s state of mind. All these symbols develop the theme of revenge and its connection to the narrator’s obsessive need for salvation.
Works Cited
Baraban, Elena. “The Motive for Murder in” The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe.” Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature 1.2 (2004): 47-62. Print.
Clendenning, John. “Anything Goes: Comic Aspects in’The Cask of Amontillado’.” American Humor 4.2 (2013): 13-26. Print.
Cooney, James. “” The Cask of Amontillado”: Some Further Ironies.” Studies in Short Fiction 11.2 (1974): 195. Print.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Cask of Amontillado.” Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Thomas Arp and Greg Johnson. Boston: Thompson/Wadsworth, 2006. 611-616. Print.
Sweet, Charles. “Retapping Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado”.” Poe Studies‐Old Series 8.1 (2005): 10-12. Print.
Edgar Ellan Poe’s skillfulness in creating characters that strike the reader with their horrific perception of the world around and abilities to turn this world into the dark place where there is no way out is the keystone of his The Cask of Amontillado ‘s success. Originally published in November 1846, in Godey’s Lady’s Book this story is regarded now as a classic tale of revenge pierced with subtle irony that the author implements at different levels.
Discussion
Along with other techniques like the use of action, dialogues and symbolism irony plays crucial role in the story that can be called one of the richest aesthetic achievements of the author. Poe resorts to various types of irony throughout the story. The three types that can be singled out are: verbal irony, when what is said differs from what is implied, situational irony which occurs when there is a difference between what happens and what is expected to happen and dramatic irony which emerges when the reader perceives something that the character of the story fails to feel or understand.
The use of irony starts with the choice of name for one of the main characters. Giving Fortunato a name that resembles the word fortunate is the first author’s hint that something awful was going to happen and the character knew nothing about it. The thing is that though Fortunato was a man of a good reputation and wealth still, he could not be called fortunate as he was destined to pay with his life for some injury that he caused Montresor. From the first lines of the story we see what “fortunate” Fortunato can’t see: he treats Montresor as his friend whereas the latter is going to kill him. “It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe 340) – these lines are intended for readers only and not for poor Fortunato who step-by-step approached his death being completely in the dark. The knowledge by the narrator displayed to the reader but not to the character is the basic approach that Poe uses in creating dramatic irony.
The setting of the story presents an example of situational irony. The action takes place during the Venice Carnival. Naturally, carnival is regarded as a time of joy and happiness for everyone. But as the story goes on it clears out that carnival is a place for revenge and death. As the atmosphere of gaiety during the carnival changes to the horror from the catacombs beneath Montresor’s palazzo the reader ascertains that the carnival was a prelude created by the author to admit the drastic difference between the life that the carnival symbolized and the death that the catacombs witnessed.
Moreover, the author dresses Fortunato in a cap and bells that means that he is a clown that is expected to make fool of others. Instead, the character is made fool of himself. Fortunato’s so-called friend dressed in a black-colored cloak, his face covered with a black mask, does not give him any hint of fooling but, in the long run, Fortunato becomes a victim of the most malignant deception that costs him his life.
There are numerous examples of verbal irony in the short story under analysis. The scene wherein the heraldic emblem of Montresor’s family is discussed is one of them. The narrator believes that he is upholding his family motto, that is, “Nemo me impune lacessit”, or “no one dare attack me with impunity” (Poe 55). When Fortunato asks the narrator about his arms he replies without hesitation: “A huge human foot d’or, in a field of azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are embedded in the heel.” (Poe 55). Fortunato seems to like the arms and the motto: “Good!” he said.” (Poe 55). Thus he appears to be blind to Montresor’s menacing irony and remains in a state of ignorance up to the end of the story.
As far as the problem of heraldic emblem is concerned Harold Bloom in his The Tales of Poe (1987) states that it represents all the irony of life that Fortunato cannot comprehend. But, the researcher claims, that the problem is far deeper and can be understood in a twofold way as there are two possible ways of reading the irony of the emblem: Montresor’s and Poe’s one.
In the first case, the narrator identifies himself with the golden foot, ponderously triumphing over the lashing serpent. When Montresor tells Fortunato about it he thinks of the golden legitimacy of his vengeance, a just and absolute revenge for the thousands of injuries he has silently suffered from. He expects to squash Fortunato into the ground and he really seals him in stone (Bloom 56).
According to Poe’s reading, Bloom suggests, Montresor is not identified so easily with the foot. The snake appears to be a more obvious choice. Mystery, sneakiness, serpentine subtlety – these are the themes the story mostly focuses on. And the huge, golden boot fits very well the Fortunato that Montresor depicts to the reader – large, powerful, and very clumsy. The larger story offers that the emblem should be read as follows: a giant has blindly stepped on a snake (Bloom 56).
Coming back to the verbal irony another bright example of it occurs when Fortunato insists that he will not die of his cough when Montresor keeps on inquiring about his health: “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough ” to what Montresor replies: “True-true…” (Poe 342) Later, the narrator toasts to Fortunato’s long life having planned in detail his revenge and taking it to effect.
In general, the way Montresor treats his enemy presents a large amount of ironic elements. The narrator clearly sees that Fortunato suffers from a severe cold but still admits that he looks great: “How remarkably well you are looking to-day!” (Poe 340) At the beginning of their intercourse the narrator behaves so naturally that one could never think that one person is going to kill another. But as their conversation proceeds Montresor begins a psychological manipulation of his enemy. Praising Fortunato’s knowledge in the subject of wines Montresor implies that this knowledge would be extremely helpful as he has to ascertain the type of wine he had bought. Meanwhile he says that he realizes Fortunato has another business, therefore, he chooses to ask for help Fortunato’s competitor Luchresi. This is where Fortunato’s pride wins: he wants to prove that he is the best connoisseur of wine thus signing one’s own death sentence.
Fortunato starts on a journey towards his death and numerous ostensible attempts of the narrator to stop this journey do not lead to his retreat, as this is pride that he is moved by. It seems that the narrator remains ironic during all his communication with Fortunato, his irony seizes only when he realizes that his enemy is silent. At the end of the story Montresor’s irony grows into sarcasm: “In pace requiescat!” (Poe 345) The words are sarcastic as the murderer cannot possibly pray for his victim.
Several cases of irony use considered we conclude that the author resorted to it to create a desired effect. To be more exact, the author strived to render the atmosphere of deception of reality and ironical elements helped him in this. Montresor deceives his victim and the author follows him in this deception so that the reader does not know for sure up to the end of the story what will happen. Even though the reader is given many of the author’s hints and direct indications of the murder that was to happen he or she is constantly kept in suspense. Verbal, situational and dramatic irony of The Cask of Amontillado contributes to this feeling of not knowing what to expect next. As well as Montresor manipulates his victim, Poe manipulates the thoughts of the reader through the use of irony. The reader cannot resist this manipulation and reads the story up to the end remaining in the dark as Fortunato did.
Conclusion
Thus, in combination with other devices like point of view and symbolism the author manages to create the work which strikes one with its mysteries and uncertainties. The more questions the reader asks the more answers appear. And as long as this dialogue exists as long the The Cask of Amontillado remains immortal.
Works Cited
Anderson, Carl L. Poe in Northlight: The Scandanavian Response to His Life and Work. Durham, NC: Duke Unversity Press, 1973.
Benton, Richard P. “Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’: Its Cultural and Historical Backgrounds.” Poe Studies/Dark Romanticism 29 (1996): 19-26.
Bloom, Harold, ed. The Tales of Poe. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
Cervo, Nathan.”Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’” Explicator 51 (1993): 155-156.
Flannery, Silas. “The Cask of Amontillado.” The Review of Contemporary Fiction 23.2 (2003): 103.
Harris, Kathryn Montgomery. “Ironic Revenge in Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’” Studies in Short Fiction 6 (1969): 333-336.
“Irony.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. Sixth Ed. 2007.
Magistrale, Tony. Student Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.
Poe, Edgar Allan. Thirty-Two Stories. Ed. Stuart Levine and Susan F. Levine. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2000.
In his short stories, Edgar Allan Poe always strived to portray the darker side of human soul: its fears, passions, desires, misconceptions and so forth. These motifs are traceable in many of his works. In particular, we may analyze such novellas as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Fall of the House of Usher. They are reminiscent to each other not only in terms of themes, but also in terms literary devices, narration mode, and imagery. One may suggest that they exemplify the so-called Gothic style, but horror elements are used only to bring out the major ideas. These stories are believed to one of the most prominent examples of the authors and in some degree, they throw light on his own personality and his most intimate feelings.
While discussing the peculiarities of Poes style, we need to pay special attention to the form of narration. For instance, in such novellas as The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado, readers look though the eyes of the murderers. The writer intends to gives most deep insights into the inner world of a person, who cannot perceive reality in an adequate way, the story teller says “The disease had sharpened my senses… I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth” (Poe, 1110).
Poe shows that that the desire to kill can distorts his perception. As for The Cask of Amontillado, we can say that Montresor also lives in the realm of his illusion. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that both narrators cannot identify the reason why they want to commit murder. They are overwhelmed by the remorse of conscience: Montresor acknowledges “My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so” (Poe, 1097), but he refuses to believe that it is due to the atrocity he has done. In these stories, the author demonstrates the corruption of heart and soul. Naturally, we cannot argue that these works are autobiographical and occasionally, it seems that the author deliberately places himself in the position of such people.
Such theme as the corruption of persons soul is explored in the story The Fall of the House of Usher. First, we may mention that Roderick Usher also suffers “from morbid acuteness of the senses” (Poe, 1099). Everything displeases him, and he is extremely disinclined to speak with others. He is ill with some malady, which does not have any logical explanation. The feeling of moral and physical decay dominates the story.
At the very beginning, Poe depicts the gloominess of Ushers house, which bears striking resemblance to a tomb, and its owner is buried in it. The author eloquently proves that a man can bury his soul alive, and this is the characteristic feature of Roderick Usher and Montresor. The tragedy is that they do not realize this fact. Certainly they have some misgivings but they try to rejects them in every possible way. While reading these stories, one cannot get rid of the idea that Poe once lived through similar experience.
Furthermore, these stories have the elements of a Gothic novel, because in all of them, Poe creates the atmosphere of bleakness and despondency. The action takes place mostly in the darkness, but this is not physical darkness but spiritual one. Ironically, none of the characters is willing to come out of this state. Of course, each of them understands something is wrong but they do not do anything to change this situation. To conclude, these works of Edgar Allan Poe must not be viewed as only as mere Gothic stories, because they demonstrate how a person can intentionally suppress or destroy the most precious part of his being, his soul.
Bibliography
Ann Charters. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1991.
One of the reasons why the story The Cask of Amontillado (Edgar Allan Poe) and the poem My Last Duchess (Robert Browning) are being commonly referred to, as such that represent a particularly high value, is that the narrative perspective chosen by the authors to highlight the discursive significance of the contained themes and motifs, does add to the perceptual plausibility of the concerned storylines.
In its turn, this can be explained by the fact that, while reflecting upon the motif of murder, Poe and Browning succeeded in convincing readers that it was specifically the very psychological constitution of both protagonists (Alfonso Ferrara and Montresor), which naturally predetermined their behavioral maliciousness. In my paper, I will explore the validity of this suggestion at length.
After having been introduced to the characters of Montresor (The Cask of Amontillado) and Alfonso Ferrara (My Last Duchess), we inevitably conclude that they seem to interact with the surrounding reality similarly. One of the reasons for this is that these characters’ foremost psychological trait appears to be their traditional-mindedness.
This is exactly the reason why Montresor decides to take a revenge on the character of Fortunato, whose very appearance presupposes his psychological incompatibility with the notion of tradition: “He had on a tightfitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells” (Poe 3). Apparently, Fortunato was dressed as a jester.
Yet, as historians are being well aware of, jesters have always been known for their reputation of ‘violators of tradition’. Therefore, the Mortresor’s deep-seated hatred of his ‘friend’ Fortunato can be well discussed in terms of ‘intellectual advancement’ vs. ‘tradition.
It is specifically the fact that the story’s protagonist unconsciously perceived Fortunato, as being much more intellectually superior then himself, that prompted Montresor to become obsessed with the thought of revenge.
Essentially the same thesis applies to the character of Alfonso in My Last Duchess. Being the traditionally-minded ‘man of stature’, Alfonso believed that in their relationships with husbands, wives must remain thoroughly submissive.
This is exactly the reason why, while proceeding with his monologue, Alfonso expresses its ill-concealed annoyance with his wife’s flirtatiousness:
She had a heart… how shall I say?… too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere (Browning 22-34).
Apparently, Alfonso could not stand a thought that, being made of flesh and blood; it was perfectly natural for his wife to feel flirtatious at times.
Thus, it can be well assumed that it is specifically the hypertrophied sense of a ‘traditional propriety’, which defined the essence of Montresor and Alfonso’s existential modes. In its turn, this created an objective precondition for them to be individuals who strived to adjust the de facto reality around them to be consistent with the ideological provisions of their ‘overvalued idea’.
Consequently, this was causing Montresor and Alfonso to adopt an active stance, while denying the legitimacy of the idea that one’s life represents the greatest value of all. Therefore, there is nothing utterly surprising about the fact that, while elaborating upon their unholy deeds, both characters would do it in a strongly cynical manner.
This is exactly the reason why the Montresor and Alfonso’s use of irony/sarcasm emanates the spirit of Freudian ‘uncanny’ – while sounding ironic, both characters reveal that, even though appearing as humans on the outside, they are in fact bloodthirsty monsters on the inside.
For example, there is a memorable scene in The Cask of Amontillado, where Montresor tries to talk Fortunato out of his decision to climb down the cellar, in search of Amontillado: “We will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed” (6).
What is especially chilling about the above-mentioned sarcastic statement, on the part of Montresor, is that; while appearing to be merely concerned with the protagonist’s wish not to allow his ‘friend’ to become ill, it actually reflects the sheer measure of the main character’s commitment to take a revenge on Fortunato.
Apparently, it was not only that Montresor wanted to ‘savor’ the approaching demise of Fortunato, but he also strived to make sure that his ‘friend’ does not reconsider its decision to venture down the cellar (the application of the so-called ‘reverse psychology’ method).
Browning’s deployment of the rhetorical device of sarcasm/irony in the poem also serves the purpose of enlightening readers about the fact that, despite being a socially prominent individual, it was in Alfonso’s very nature to treat people in terms of a soulless commodity. For example, even though Alfonso does not explicitly state that he murdered his wife, the following excerpt leaves no doubts that this was the actual case:
Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive (43-47).
Alfonso could have well admitted to killing his wife in plainer terms. This, however, would have deprived his character of a perceptual genuineness, as a hypocritical moralist, capable of simultaneously expounding on the subject of decency, on the one hand, and acting as a thoroughly immoral psychopath, on the other.
Nevertheless, it would be inappropriate to suggest that the specifics of both literary works’ narrative perspectives are solely concerned with the Browning and Poe’s intention to expose the mental inadequateness of Alfonso and Montresor, but also with their desire to provide readers with a preliminary clue, as to what should be considered this inadequateness’s actual root.
The validity of this suggestion can be shown in regards to another memorable scene in The Cask of Amontillado. In this scene, after having chained Fortunato to the wall, and after having listened to his screams for a while, Motresor begins to scream in return: “A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back… I reproached the wall.
I replied to the yells of him who clamored. I reechoed – I aided – I surpassed them in volume and in strength” (9). Apparently, Poe was well aware of the fact that religious individuals, strongly affiliated with ‘traditional values’, are psychologically inclined towards deriving an emotional pleasure out of savoring the intensity of a particular emotion – regardless of whether this emotion happened to be positive or negative.
This is the reason why in Latin American countries, thousands of people request to be crucified, during the course of Catholic religious celebrations – by doing it, they derive a pleasure out of savoring their own sensation of pain. While exposed to the spectacle, the crowds of spectators savor the physical pain of these religious fanatics with essentially the same degree of intensity (Butler 274).
In a similar manner, by screaming even louder than Fortunato, Monresor sadistically enjoyed the pain of his ‘friend’. After all, it does not represent much of a secret to psychologists that sadism and masochism usually go hand in hand, with the notion of masochism being nothing but euphemistically sounding synonym to the notion of a monotheistic religiosity.
This explains why, before placing the last stone in the immurement-wall, Montreser exclaimed: “For the love of God!” (10) – after having experienced a sadistic/semi-religious ecstasy, while exposed to Fortunato’s pain, Montresor was able to convince himself that what he had done was indeed godly.
The particulars of the deployed narrative perspective in My Last Duchess, also appear to serve the function of providing readers with an in-depth insight into the actual causes of Alfonso’s behavioral abnormality. The legitimacy of this suggestion can be explored in relation to the manner, in which Browning’s poem ends:
At starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll go
Together down, Sir! Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me (53-57).
What this statement implies, is that throughout the course of his life, Alfonso never ceased experiencing the acute lack of an emotional empathy towards the people, with which he used to socialize. The reason for this is apparent – in Alfonso’s mind, there is no qualitative difference between the painting of his former wife, on the one hand, and the statue of Neptune, on the other.
This is because he is able to swiftly switch the focus of his cognitive attention from one to another with ease. As of today, however, one’s inability to experience the sensation of empathy to his or her close relatives is often being looked upon, as the proof of the concerned individual’s mental illness. For example, it is by observing the lack of such empathy in young children that psychologists are able to come up with a preliminary diagnosis of autism (Tager-Flusberg 312).
Thus, it will not be much of an exaggeration to suggest, even though the Browning’s poem and Poe’s novel were written before the very concept of psychology came into being, the themes and motifs, contained in these literary masterpieces, do correlate with what happened to be the recent breakthroughs in the field this particular science.
As such, these literary works can be deemed truly enlightening – after having been exposed to them, readers do become more knowledgeable of the fact that there is indeed a good rationale in thinking about one’s strong adherence to the provisions of a conventional morality, as such that extrapolates the concerned individual’s mental abnormality.
As it was implied in the Introduction, the literary appeal of Poe’s novel and Browning’s poem cannot be thought of in terms of a ‘thing in itself’. It is namely due to both literary masterpieces’ discursive progressiveness, reflected by the authors’ awareness of what account for the innermost predicaments of people’s behavior, that The Cask of Amontillado and My Last Duchess continue to be valued by readers.
Apparently, after having read them, people are able to increase the extent of their existential fitness, as their exposure to the earlier discussed literary works naturally increases the measure of their awareness of what are the behaviorally observable manifestations of one’s mental inadequateness. I believe that this conclusion fully correlates with the paper’s initial thesis.
Works Cited
Butler, Matthew. “Mexican Nicodemus: The Apostleship of Refugio Padilla, Cristero, on the Islas Marías.” Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos 25.2 (2009): 271-306. Print.
Tager-Flusberg, Helen. “Evaluating the Theory-of-Mind Hypothesis of Autism.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 16.6 (2007): 311-315. Print.
“The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Cask of the Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe are good examples of gothic fiction. A gothic tale is a horror kind of a story that portrays a fight flanked by motive and fallacy or light and darkness.
In summary, the main goal of any gothic story is to arouse fear in the reader or viewer of the story. Their setting is imaginary in an old, scary, and absurd environment that probably has never existed. As the narration progresses, fear arises in the reader or viewer, and finally, something horrific happens. “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Cask of the Amontillado” share all of the features above, as well as the main themes that exist in Edgar Allan Poe’s writing. The similarities between the two stories outweigh their differences.
The Fall of the House of Usher: Summary
The story commences with the narrator’s visit to the house of Usher, the one where his childhood friend, Roderick Usher, lives. The narrator receives an invitation via a letter to visit him since he has been ill for a while and needs the narrator’s help.
When he arrives, he notices a scary look of the setting and the lake around the house that gives an equally frightening image. The narrator notices change in Roderick’s appearance, probably due to his failing health. He also learns that his twin sister, Madeline Usher, one of the “The Fall of the House of Usher” main characters, is also very ill with a terminal disease. He also notices paintings on the walls and an improvised guitar.
In attempt to cheer up his friend, the narrator starts reading the writings on the paintings aloud, but he realizes that they do not cheer him up and so he tries listening to the recordings in the guitar when he hears him humming some word like “the haunted palace” (Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher” 4). He does not understand all these.
Later, Roderick informs the narrator of his sister’s death and his plans to first place her in the family vault for two weeks before her final burial. The narrator helps him to put her in the coffin and take her to the trunk. The days that follow are full of fear and agitation for both, for no apparent reasons. At the end of one week since the death of Madeline, the narrator is so disturbed at night until he wakes up and dresses. Soon, Roderick knocks on the narrator’s room, also so scared.
They open the window, but the storm is so strong that it almost sways Roderick. To comfort him, the narrator starts to read a “romance story, The Mad Trist” to Roderick. He keenly listens until it gets to the part that “Ethelred, the hero breaks into the dwelling of a hermit by driving his spiked war club through the door. The sound of the cracking, splintering wood reverberates through the forest” (Cummings 6). At the same time, the narrator hears a similar voice far in the house.
He reads on how Ethelred kills the dragon, and he hears a wild scream again in the mansion. As the narrator continues how Ethelred “walks up to the shield but before he can reach for it, it falls” (Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher” 14), he hears a similar sound in the mansion.
Soon, the door flies open, with Madeline standing there with her burial garments filled with blood. She falls on his brother, and they both fall down dead. The narrator runs away out of the mansion, but a red moonlight on the house makes him turn behind and look, then he sees the house sinking and the lake around it covering it completely.
The setting of the story is on an autumn day in the evening, in the olden days. The first sight of the mansion is horrific view itself, Cummings says, “The place is a forbidding mansion in a forlorn countryside” (7). The house is enclosed by a fungus, and surrounded by a little lake, tarn.
The fact that the house is covered by fungus shows desperation, hopelessness, and terror. The small lake that looks like a moat makes the house look isolated and mysterious. One small bridge connecting to the mansion over the tarn adds even more fear, especially should someone think of escaping.
The narrator, who is a friend to the master of the house, faces terrifying experiences during his visit. The master, Roderick Usher, experiences a miserable depression portrayed by odd conduct. Madeline Usher, the twin sister to Roderick, also experiences a weird illness, which leads to her death.
Surprisingly, she rises from her coffin, does many strange things culminating in the killing of her own brother. The physicians are also very important characters in the story, as Roderick depicts it, they intend to unbury his sister should he bury him outside, because they want to research on her disease since it is a unique one (McAleer 34).
The Cask of Amontillado: Main Themes
The story starts in an evening in a yearly festivity in an Italian town. The people are jubilant with celebrations, but one of the characters, Montresor, is quite unlike others. He remembers the night when he murdered his friend Fortunato because of an unspecified insult. In a flashback, he entices his friend with some wine, which he calls Amontillado from Spain, which he further reports he is not sure of the quality (Rust 18). We see that “The Cask of Amontillado” plot is built in reverse order.
Fortunato agrees to go with him to taste the wine. On arrival at Montresor’s place, they walk deeper into the vaults where he keeps the wine. As they walk in the tombs, Fortunato coughs severally, and Montresor pretends to be so much concerned of his health that he suggests that they should go back, but Fortunato insists on going on saying that the cough is a small thing and will not kill him (Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” 23).
Montresor first gives him a brand called Medoc and then DeGrave. Fortunato becomes joyous of drunkenness and looks forward to Amontillado, where Montresor chains him on the walls of the vault and buries him alive. It is now fifty years since the narrator buried his friend.
In summary, the setting of The Cask of Amontillado is in an evening in an Italian city filled with jubilation and celebration during an annual festival. The characters in the story are mainly two, Montresor and Fortunato. Montresor seeks revenge for whatever Fortunato had done to him, including the last recent insult. He thus decides to bury him alive in a horrifying manner.
“The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Cask of the Amontillado”: Similarity and Differences
They two stories have some traits in common. Both are horrific and full of terrifying symbolism, and the setting is in the olden days, many years ago. In addition, the two are in first-person narration, only that the narrator in The Fall of the House of Usher is unnamed, while in The Cask of Amontillado he is named Montresor.
The “House of Usher”’s setting, as well of the one in the second story, is during dusk, though the set-up of the two areas differs. The House of Usher is in a weird place in the countryside, but the Cask of Amontillado is in the city. Another difference is in the environment of the stories; The Fall of the House of Usher is in a gloomy setting while The Cask of Amontillado is a jubilant setting.
In the two stories, there are incidences of people buried alive, but Madeline, in the first story, rises and goes forth to carry out her revenge mission while Fortunato in the second story still lies within the walls of the vault. The two stories portray revenge, where Madeline kills his brother for burying her alive while Montresor buries Fortunato alive in revenge for the many wrongs he has done to him, including the insult.
The main difference between the stories is probably the way how their plots are built. In The Fall of the House of Usher, we see the linear plot, while in The Cask of Amontillado, the plot is reversed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the similarities between the two stories by Edgar Allan Poe outweigh the differences. The characters and the setting of the stories evoke horror in the audience, with sudden deaths underlining the scenes.
Works Cited
McAleer, John. “Poe and Gothic Elements.” Emerson Society Quarterly 27.2 (1962): 34.
Edgar Allan Poe is famous for his horrific and short stories, and The Cask of Amontillado and The Black Cat appear to be illustrative examples of his creativity. Both stories include the scenes of terrible murders committed by the main characters. The author intentionally uses the first-person point of view in order to reveal their thoughts and highlighting the dread of the happening. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to prove that they are pure evil, and they should be morally responsible for their deeds.
Definition of Evil
First of all, it is essential to start the analysis by defining the word ‘evil’. In general, this word implies the opposites to morality and kindness. This term is broad, and it may involve a range of behavioral patterns, which include harming people. It is also synonymous with wickedness and egoism to some extent. It should be highlighted that wicked people tend to avoid reflections on their deeds and harm to other people, and they are focused on their evil plans and their realization.
The Cask of Amontillado: Montresor
The Cask of Amontillado has two main characters, who are Fortunato and Montresor, and the latter appears to be evil in this story. In general, the whole composition is devoted to the communication process between these two characters. Montresor is willing to kill Fortunato, who had wronged him a great number of times, and he manages to do it. He uses Fortunato’s knowledge and love to wine in order to realize his murder plan. Montresor benefits from the drunk condition of the character and, in fact, buries him alive. In this regard, the wine symbolizes the fact that the crime was committed in a vault.
Therefore, in this story, Montresor appears to be pure evil. He plans the crime for the entire narration and creates appropriate conditions. After realizing his intention, he shows no sign of feeling guilty. The author makes Montresor the narrator of the whole story in order to highlight the horror of his actions. His thoughts do not include reflections on morals and empathy to his victim. Moreover, the character makes use of the trustful attitude of his victim to him. He describes: “I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado”, 13). Consequently, Montresor is the illustration of pure evil, who lacks moral qualities and is capable of performing any crime on his way.
The Black Cat: The Narrator
The main character of The Black Cat stays unnamed throughout the story, though the sequence of events is narrated by him. In the beginning, he cut the eye of his cat, who was his friend. Unlike the case described above, the character comprehended his cruelty and felt guilty initially. Telling the story from the first person is helpful to trace his thoughts: “But this feeling soon gave place to irritation. And then came, as if to my final and irrevocable overthrow, the spirit of perverseness” (“Summary and Analysis “The Black Cat” 10). However, the man did not stop and killed his wife, who attempted to save the second cat from her husband’s fury.
It was an accident, though the man was unable to resist his anger and irritation, which caused the death of his dearest person. He thought: “The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body…” (Poe, “The Black Cat”, 18). The narrator did not find the courage to confess in his action when the police were investigating the case. The narrator overcomes the morals and causes harm to others, who surround him, without an ability to control, which makes him pure evil.
Another feature, which should be discussed in the analyses of The Black Cat implies the figure of animals. There are debates on the meaning of the cats in the story and what they symbolize. Considering the fact that they are black, they may regard a figure of a murdered slave, and this example reveals the evil of landlords in the past. According to the article “Pluto in The Black Cat”, “since Poe was writing before the abolition of slavery in the US, it’s likely that slavery was on his mind” (3). Another theory implies a figure of an animal symbolizing a child, which makes the story even more horrible and reveals the wickedness of the narrator.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both the evil characters should be morally responsible for their deeds. They have done significant harm to others, which led to death. In case they did not comprehend the dread of their actions, they would be highly likely to continue to do this, causing even more negative consequences for people. For this reason, it is crucial for the narrators of the stories to understand their mistakes.