The Cask of Amontillado, a short story by Edgar Allen Poe, revolves around the idea of how revenge can corrupt us and talks about sin and atonement. Revenge is basically reflected all over the story as Montresor reminisces about defeating Fortunato.
What’s the theme of this short story?
This story, beautifully written by Edgar Allen Poe is an account of revenge where the narrator Montresor chases to fulfill his revenge by defeating Fortunato.
How is betrayal depicted in the story?
The narrator in the story betrays his own friend. He plans to kill him in the wake to avenge his insult. But The Cask of Amontillado is also about trust because no betrayal can be done if there is no trust to start with in the first place.
What message does The Cask of Amontillado give us?
Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Cask of Amontillado describes a man Montressor who burns with vengeance to kill his friend Fortunato over an insult. He lures Fortunato with an evergreen smile on his face and buries him alive and feels satisfied in the end.
How does the setting of The Cask of Amontillado contribute to the main theme?
Poe has created such a setting of his story which underlies the theme very well, the revenge and betrayal of it all. The tone is dark and vengeful as it describes the gloomy unexpected vaults beneath Montressor’s home.
Describe the theme of a story?
Every story has a theme. It is an underlying message that is opaquely present throughout the narrative. The idea that the author had in mind when he started writing the story basically becomes the theme, be it a novel, short story, play, etc.
This idea is naturally present but the author develops it into a theme of his creation.
Can revenge pass for a theme?
Revenge has been the theme of many famous plays over the years. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is based on revenge that provokes blind rage. The principle of an eye for an eye is quite appealing, but in the end, doesn’t work out well in reality.
What is a theme statement?
A few sentences that define the theme of the piece of art or literature is called a theme statement. Although it is not the same as the plot or the main idea of a story, it just gives a headstart for the readers on what awaits them.
Who is Montresor narrating to?
Montresor is the narrator in the story The Cask of Amontillado but he doesn’t narrate to anyone specifically. Although there are some lines that tell us that the listener is probably a priest. For instance, he says, “You, who so well know the nature of my soul” which indicates a person of spiritual influence.
Who is Luchesi in the story?
Luchesi in Poe’s story is Fortunato’s nemesis in wine connoisseury. Montresor uses his name to provoke Fortunato’s ego so that he sees the end of his plan of burying Fortunato alive.
What is the meaning of the name Montresor?
Montresor is a French name that means my treasure. Poe has used this name symbolically as Montresor possesses his treasure of indefinite revenge. Even his family motto, “Nemo me impune lacessit“, which he so proudly told Fortunato means that nobody harms me without being punished.
How does Fortunato die in The Cask of Amontillado?
Montresor, filled with vengeance up to the brim, lures Fortunato to his shady vaults by telling him that he has a cask of rare Amontillado wine that he knows Fortunato will never refuse to taste. He then takes him to the end of his dark vaults and buries him alive.
Probably Fortunato then died of starvation or asphyxiation or starvation behind the wall that Montresor erected.
Why does Montresor have to narrate his crime?
Edgar Allen Poe did not clear this bit in his story but the Carnival that he talks about happens a night before the first day of Lent.
Also, Montresor calls his family home a palazzo, so it can be constituted that the setting is in Italy and so Montresor being Catholic, is confessing his sins to a Catholic priest.
What happens to Montresor at the end of the story?
In the end, Montresor is free as he ends his narrative with “Rest in Peace” while Fortunato remains buried behind that wall for over half a century in Montresors catacomb.
What role does Luchesi play in The Cask of Amontillado?
Luchesi is the name that brings out the ego of Fortunato as he is his rival. Fortunato contempts him in front of Montresor for being a terrible wine expert. Montresor, knowing Fortunato’s weakness full well, uses Luchesi’s name many times to drive Fortunato towards his end blindly and smugly.
Montresor bought a keg of Amontillado and says that Luchesi has assured him that it is real, so this piques Fortunato’s interest.
How can you describe Montresor’s personality?
Montresor is a man that can go to any ends for his revenge. He is deceitful, double-faced, and obsessive. He couldn’t let go of an insult that his friend weighed upon him, probably even unintentionally; and retaliated by burying his friend alive.
For Montresor a single insult by Fortunato was more than a “thousand injuries” he has suffered calmly and enough to kill his own friend.
Is there any irony in Edgar Allen Poe’s story?
Poe is a very intuitive author. He has used situational as well as verbal irony in this story. Verbal irony refers to when a narrator does the opposite of what he says or tells while situational irony is when an incident does not go as the characters or the readers expected it to.
What symbolism is rooted in the Cask of Amontillado?
The Amontillado, the rich and precious wine, symbolizes the cause of Fortunato’s unexpected death. Also, the crest shows a heal smashing a serpent’s head as the serpent sinks its fangs into the heel, which is quite symbolic of Fortunato’s fate in the story.
Does Montresor’s confession smell of guilt?
We can find some lines that show guilt in Montresor’s deeds. While he narrates, he still remembers his heart growing sick at the sight of those damp catacombs, but it is mainly because he feels strange guilt for the man before him that he plans leave there to rot in that dampness.
Why does Montresor so fixated on revenge?
The narrator of The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor, is hell-bent on avenging the insult that his dear friend Fortunato has caused him. The nature of this insult has never been made clear, but it was enough for Montresor to take Fortunato’s life.
He tricks his friends into going into the damp vaults behind Montresor’s mansion and leaves him there buried alive.
Describe Fortunato’s personality in the story.
As the narrator Montresor tells us, Fortunato is a noble man who has wronged him thousands of times, and then insulted him rashly. Fortunato is powerful and an extremely good wine connoisseur who is respected widely.
What does the Cask of Amontillado depict about the feeling of revenge?
Initially, we can see Montresor expressing his own thoughts about revenge as he says,” I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself as such to him who has done the wrong.” Thus setting the tone of the story.