The Cask
of Amontillado
To begin with we want to
define the word, Amontillado, it is a very specific type of Spanish wine, a
variety of sherry.
Edgar Allan Poe narrates a dark story,
tells a story of revenge, a secret murder, he reveals the horrors of the pure
evilness. This terror story is led by two main characters: Montresor and
Fortunato. The former is the narrator and the murderer, the latter one is the
victim.
Montresor tells the story
of the day that he took his revenge on Fortunato, a fellow nobleman, to an
unspecified person who knows him very well. Angry over some unspecified insult,
he plots to murder his friend during a Carnival
when the man is drunk, dizzy, and wearing a jester's
motley.
He baits Fortunato by
telling him he has obtained what he believes to be a pipe
of a rare vintage of Amontillado. He claims he wants his friend's expert opinion on the
subject. Fortunato goes with Montresor to the wine cellars of the latter's palazzo,
where they wander in the catacombs. Montresor offers wine (first Medoc,
then De Grave) to Fortunato. At one point, Fortunato makes an
elaborate, grotesque gesture with an upraised wine bottle. When Montresor
appears not to recognize the gesture, Fortunato asks, "You are not of the masons?" Montresor says he is, and when Fortunato,
disbelieving, requests a sign, Montresor displays a towel he had been hiding.
Montresor warns Fortunato,
who has a bad cough, of the damp, and suggests they go back; Fortunato insists
on continuing, claiming that "[he] shall not die of a cough." During
their walk, Montresor mentions his family coat of arms: a golden foot in a blue background crushing a snake
whose fangs are embedded in the foot's heel, with the motto Nemo me
impune lacessit
("No one insults me with impunity"). When they come to a niche, Montresor tells his victim that the Amontillado is
within. Fortunato enters and, drunk and unsuspecting, does not resist as
Montresor quickly chains him to the wall. Montresor then declares that, since
Fortunato won't go back, he must "positively leave [him]".
Montresor walls up the
niche, entombing his friend alive. At first, Fortunato, who sobers up faster
than Montresor anticipated he would, shakes the chains, trying to escape.
Fortunato then screams for help, but Montresor mocks his cries, knowing nobody
can hear them. Fortunato laughs weakly and tries to pretend that he is the
subject of a joke and that people will be waiting for him (including the Lady
Fortunato). As the murderer finishes the topmost row of stones, Fortunato
wails, "For the love of God, Montresor!" Montresor replies,
"Yes, for the love of God!" He listens for a reply but hears only the
jester's bells ringing. Before placing the last stone, he drops a burning torch
through the gap. He claims that he feels sick at heart, but dismisses this
reaction as an effect of the dampness of the catacombs.
In the last few sentences,
Montresor reveals that in the 50 years since that night, he has never been
caught, and Fortunato's body still hangs from its chains in the niche where he
left it. The murderer concludes: Requiescat In Pace!
("May he rest in peace!").
Poe achieves what is known in
literature as the unit of intentional effect using irony, like Fortunato’s
name, which suggests good luck or fortune; however it is ironic because at the
end of the story he dies. Another key aspect is the end of the story, although
Montresor wanted to take revenge, his desire was not fulfilled because
Fortunato never realized Montresor’s revenge. He thought it was a joke and he
laugh at Montresor.
