In one of Edgar Allan Poe’s best-known tales of horror, “The Cask of Amontillado,” he suggests that pride can be a very dangerous thing. The story begins with Montressor’s vow of revenge, foreshadowing the future actions. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when ventured upon insult vowed revenge…” (Poe 1297).
Through the use of foreshadowing, irony, and symbolism, Poe presents the inner motive drama of two men. One who will stop at nothing to get the revenge that he considers himself and his family worthy of, and another who’s pride will ultimately be the fall of his own death. Fortunato falls prey to Montressor’s plans because he is so proud of his connoisseurship of wine, and it is for the sake of his own pride that Montressor takes revenge on Fortunato. In this essay, I will show how Poe uses the theme of pride and many other literary techniques such as foreshadowing, irony, and symbolism, in order to create such a horrific and suspenseful masterpiece.
In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe uses foreshadowing in a most grim and dark way. The motto of the Montressor’s family is, “ Nemo me impune lacessit” (Poe 1299), which means, “No one wounds me with impunity.” This was what Montressor lived by and vowed to avenge his families’ blow by Fortunato, even though the reader never really finds out what the insult was. Then, when Fortunato says, “I shall not die of a cough” (Poe 1298), Montressor replies, “True-true” (Poe 1298).
The Essay on Coat Of Arms Montressor Fortunato Cask
The short story " The Cask of Amontillado," by Edgar Allen Poe, contains various symbolisms in it. I will discuss the tight-fitting dress and conical cap (134), the silk mask and roquelaure (135) and Montressor's family coat of arms (136); furthermore, the symbolism of the cask of wine. I will try to show how I interpret these symbolisms as I see them. Poe uses Fortunato's clothing as a symbol "he ...
Instead, Montressor knows that Fortunato will disappear from the face of the earth with his vengeful scheme that will swallow Fortunato up, and have him die of starvation and dehydration. Fortunato is a proud man and does not think that his death will be due to something petty and cold. Rather, he believes that his life will end as a result of some courageous act and he will die a noble death. However, Montressor can only laugh at this thought because he knows that Fortunato’s death will be far from noble and his pride will soon be shattered when he is caught in the depths of the catacomb.
Poe does not intend for the reader to be sympathetic with Montressor because Fortunato has wronged him, but rather to judge him. Another, instance of foreshadowing comes with the trowel scene. At one point in their journey, Fortunato makes a movement that is a secret sign of the masons, an exclusive, fraternity-like organization. Montressor does not recognize this hand signal, but he claims that he is a “mason” (Poe 1299).
When Fortunato asks for proof, Montressor shows Fortunato his trowel. Montressor implies here that he is a stonesman and, that he will be building things out of stones and mortar such as Fortunato’s grave. According to Roger Platizky, “The threat of being buried alive is both psychological fear and historical reality that Edgar Allan Poe capitalizes on, ambiguously in his famous short story, ‘The Cask of Amontillado’”(Platizky 206).
Irony is also widely used through out Poe’s tale. In fact, the use of revenge in this story shows a lot of irony. Irony first appears in Fortunato’s name once we are made aware that he is going to be killed, but the irony continues present during all the short story as something to call the reader’s attention to what is about to occur. Montressor avenges himself by fooling Fortunato into literally walking himself into his own grave. Fortunato pursues the “cask” which ends up being his own casket. Montressor even asks Fortunato repeatedly whether he would like to turn back. Fortunato refuses to leave the catacomb until he proves his point that he is truly a connoisseur of wine and that knows more about the wine than Luchesi. He will not allow his pride to be hurt even if it means getting ill or even the chance of catching pneumonia.
The Research paper on Edgar Allan Poe Life Death Stories
Every story that was conceived from the mind of Edgar Allan Poe contained a part of himself on each page. This left the reader with a better understanding of Poe's life. Through his stories and pomes Poe displayed his greatest achievements and his worst disappointments. In this research paper I will reveal facts about Poe's life and define hidden meanings throughout his works. Edgar Allan Poe was ...
With Montressor’s trap, he takes Fortunato by complete surprise and makes Fortunato’s death ironic. Fortunato is the one eager to get to the end of the catacombs. Irony, is also found in Montressor’s statement to his friend that they should return because Fortunato’s “health is precious” (Poe 1298).
This bit of the conversation is ironic because Montressor does not really want to protect Fortunato’s health but indeed kill him. According to Richard Benton, “Poe’s irony draws on contemporary belief that nitrogen was the universal component of life in describing the niter-crusted vaults of Fortunato’s resting place” (Benton 183).
The short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” also contains a good deal of symbolism. First of all, the black silk mask and “roquelaire” (Poe 1298), or cape, which Montressor puts on right before entering into the catacomb, it represents the devil or death. They represent and tell the reader what Montressor has actually planned. His “getting even” is evil and will mean death to Fortunato, who’s name meaning fortunate, does not ring true for him. The coat of arms of Montressor’s family is perhaps the best example of symbolism and foreshadowing in the whole story. Montressor’s description of it’s “ A huge human foot d’or, in a field of azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel” (Poe 1299).
In this image, the foot is symbolic of Montressor and the serpent of Fortunato. Montressor is very proud but he feels that Fortunato was wrong and that Fortunato insulted both him and his family, or so we are led to believe. Montressor says, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (Poe 1297).
Although Fortunato has hurt Montressor, the coat of arms suggests that Montressor will ultimately destroy him. It is Montressor’s duty and obligation to make right the wrongs done to his family even if it means to kill. Poe uses the image of the coat of arms to drive home his message of the dangers of pride and extend it to cover his family pride. According to John Gruesser:
The Essay on Introduction To Literature Montresor Fortunato Poe
Edgar Allan Poe's, "The Cask of Amontillado," is an interesting short stories. Poe falls into the literary period known as the Romantic Movement in the United States. The period is known as Nineteenth Century American Romanticism -- - a period which extols the remote and faraway, the never-never land of ghouls and goblins. The stories of revenge were intensely romantic. Clanking chains, castles, ...
“Several critics have pointed to Montressor’s irrational behavior just before he walls to Fortunato, to the ambiguity of the Montressor coat of arms, and to indications that the narrator suffers from a guilty conscience, to support their contention that Montressor does not satisfy the criteria for the perfect act of revenge than he enumerates at the start of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado” (Gruesser 129).
The cask of the wine is yet another important example of the symbolism in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.” During the carnival season, the narrator, Montressor, approaches Fortunato, telling him that he has Amontillado (a pale, dry wine, a light Spanish sherry).
He tells Fortunato that since he was not around, a man named Luchesi tasted his Amontillado. Fortunato is apparently competitive with Luchresi and claims that this man could not “tell Amontillado from Sherry” (Poe 1297).
Fortunato is anxious to taste the wine and determine for Montressor whether it is Amontillado or not. It is Fortunato, in his attempt to boost his pride and show off his wine-tasting abilities, which insists that they enter into Montressor’s catacombs. The cask of the wine also shows as the warning to the reader, advising the reader to be on the look out for possible danger or difficulty of gifts from those in which you have done wrong to. The more unbelievable it is, the more it should not be believed. Amontillado should have been very hard to find wine, and even harder to find during carnival season.
The dangers of pride are addressed in the “The Cask of Amontillado,” a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. In this story, Poe uses the moderate of foreshadowing, irony, and symbolism to relate his message in a creative and original way. Poe reminds the reader that pride can lead them to unthinkable things that they would never otherwise consider doing, such as killing in order to get revenge on someone who has hurt their pride. Their pride can also cause them to be naïve and blind to things around us, leading us to dangerous situations and, in the most severe cases, leading them to their own deaths. By the end of Poe’s story, Montressor has gotten his revenge against Fortunato; he didn’t live up unsuspecting to his namesake in this story and his pride ultimately drove him to his own death. Once again the reader is reminded through the coat of arms and the Montressor family motto. In Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montressor’s evil character, who like the serpent intends to and gets revenge.
The Essay on Cask Of Amontillado Stories Poe Life
In Edgar Allan Poe's works, there are many similarities between them and his life. There are plenty similarities to find when only focusing on two of his stories, The Tell Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado. When paying close attention, it is easy to notice the similarities and differences between Poe's life and his stories... The first topic to be discussed will be the similarities between ...
