An Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado'

0ANALYSIS OF “THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO”
Analysis of “The Cask of Amontillado”
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1ANALYSIS OF “THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO”
Introduction
“The Cask of Amontillado” is one of the representative work of Edgar Allan Poe which
was first published in 1846 November’s issue of one of the most popular periodical of the time in
America- Godey’s Lady’s Book. It is in keeping with the previous writings which dealt with the
Poe’s obsession with murder by strangling or suffocating in an enclosed place.
Discussion
The story revolves around two family friend Montresor and Fortunato who have been
together since the time they can recall but we see the narrator in the beginning that he has been
planning since the time he has been insulted by Fortunato on the basis of his family business of
freemasonry (Arikan). In the end, we see him luring his friend into a tunnel underground of his
own house and burying him alive without any remorse and without leaving any evidence of the
crime.
Setting of the Story
The tittle and the ending of the story is one of the most prominent feature which is
foreshadowing the character’s fate from the very beginning of the narration. We hear Montresor
in the very first line that- “Fortunato has hurt me a thousand times and I have suffered in quietly”
(Poe, pp.72); we as a reader who is aware of Poe’s writing technique seems to understand the
suffocation of the character from the first line that he has been keeping things to himself and
plotting to have his revenge. The revenge however, seems to be based on complex feeling that he
Montresor has developed where he is unable to recall or reiterate to the reader even one
particular incident. Another thing that we see foreshadowing the narrative is the instability on the
part of Montresor psychological condition, he says that he has been planning for the revenge but
his criminal ideology comes out in his words- “I must not suffer as a result of taking my

2ANALYSIS OF “THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO”
revenge” (Poe, pp.72). The wrong done by Fortunato remains in the dark with only mention of
the fact that Montresor has learnt from somewhere that he has laughed at his proud name.
Pride of Montresor serves as the situational irony where he claims to be hurt by the fact
his proud family names have been laughed upon by his friend. The situation becomes dark
humored for he calls Fortunato his friend and yet never bothers to clarify of confront him to get
to know if he has even done something like or not. On the other hand, Fortunato who becomes
the victim of Montresor’s pride cannot be washed off completely of this flaw as well (Poe). It
was not just the pride on the part of Montresor that led to the doom but his also because it was
his pride that paved the path towards his fate. Even when he was not in his senses completely he
could not let go of his pride and was unable to control himself of jealousy that his friend would
call someone to be a better judge of liquor when very clearly it should be him. Montresor neither
had to use any force or any elaborate and complex planning to get him under his spell, all he did
was take Luchresi’s name in front of him to instigate him to actually force him to go wine tasting
at that time of the night (Poe).
We see the cunningness of Montresor which serves as a symbolism of death where his
wit creeps up to Fortunato’s neck without him realizing. He shows to be genuinely concerned
about his health gaining closeness and trust and moreover displaying the criminally equipped to
be able to get his target. When Fortunato asks him to take him to the cask of Amontillado, he
refuses or feigns to refuse to take him on account of the fact he was already drunk and that it will
affect his health to go into cold and dark cellar at that point of time (Akbar and Rawa). The use
of language shows how he conceals his real motive and veil it under his concern-“No, my friend,
no. I can see that you are not well. And the vaults are cold and wet” (Poe, pp. 69).

3ANALYSIS OF “THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO”
The verbal irony in the story steps down where the situational irony takes precedence.
When we as the reader see Fortunato following Montresor into the harrowing cellar filled with
bones lying on the floor among the bottles of liquor sends a chilling sensation where he is shown
to be offering him wine twice by breaking the neck of the bottle by striking it on the wall
(Saxton). The irony of the situation worsen when Fortunato is seen to raising the toast for the
dead around them but not being able to the grave he was walking in and letting the love of his
life- wine being the reason of his death (Min). He toasts to the dead in the most casual way as if
he has always been drinking in the atmosphere where he is surrounded by bones of the dead- “I
drink tot the dead who lie sleeping around us” (Poe, pp. 70).
The dark humored narrator is shown to be narrating the story of his half a century later
where he claims that no one has touched the wall of bone he has erected since then. The last
conversation shows the completion of the crime with Montresor maintaining his role of the
friend who brought him done when he places the last brick in place while saying –“For the love
of God!” (Poe, pp.72).
Conclusion
The setting of the story is directly reflecting of the image of the tittle and the then on-
going obsession of Poe’s of death by suffocation of dying in an enclosed space. The cask and the
cellar is directly symbolic of the fate of Fortunato being confined within four walls as a
consequence. The names of the character is also telling of the reversal of the fate which will
befall later in the narrative. The motive of revenge seems to be lost in the vendetta which
revolves around the satiation of the fact that Montresor was able to bring back Fortunato to his
position in the society where he was below the feet of the great and proud family of Montresor.

4ANALYSIS OF “THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO”
Works-Cited
Akbar, Nadia Ali, and Rawa Jawad Khadim. "Irony in The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan
Poe and “A Good Man is Hard to Find by Mary Flannery O'Connor." Basic Education
College Magazine For Educational and Humanities Sciences 33 (2017): 567-578.
Arikan, Arda. "Doing stylistic analysis: some fundamental techniques." 15. ULUSLARARASI
DEYİŞBİLİM SEMPOZYUMU (2015): 126.
Jandaghi, Hatameh Sadat, and Esmaeil Zohdi. "Symbolism in Edgar Allan Poe’s Selected Short
Stories." Theory and Practice in Language Studies 8.3 (2018): 314-319.
Min, Y. U. "The Ironic Double of Sin and Revenge: Concept of Revenge in Edgar Allen Poe and
Nathanial Hawthorne." Studies in Literature and Language 18.2 (2019): 55-60.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The cask of Amontillado. The Creative Company, 2008.
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Cask of Amontillado." Americanenglish.state.gov. N.p., 2019. Web. 22
Dec. 2019.
Saxton, Audrey. "The Devil’s in the Details." Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism, Vol.
10: Iss. 10.1 (2017): 137.
Saxton, Audrey. "The Devil’s in the Details: A Characterization of Montresor in Poe’s “The
Cask of Amontillado”." Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism 10.1 (2017): 16.
Smolyar, V. "The analysis of the mood in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of
Amontillado”." Трансформація мовного образу сучасного фахівця: матеріали
Міжнародної науково-практичної студентської конференції для студентів
немовних спеціальностей: Житомир, 15 квітня 2015 р. (2015): 160-162.