the cask of amontillado mood essay

Poe's Stories

Edgar allan poe, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

A Summary and Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Cask of Amontillado’ is one of Poe’s shorter classic tales. It was first published in 1846 in a women’s magazine named Godey’s Lady’s Book , a hugely popular magazine in the US in the mid-nineteenth century. (The magazine had published one of Poe’s earliest stories, ‘The Visionary’, twelve years earlier.)

‘The Cask of Amontillado’ is one of Poe’s ‘revenge stories’, and the way he depicts the avenger’s psychological state is worthy of closer analysis.

Plot summary

First, a quick summary of the plot of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’, which is our way of saying ‘those who wish to avoid spoilers please look away now’. The story is narrated by the murderer, Montresor, who takes revenge on a fellow Italian nobleman, Fortunato, during the carnival season.

Fortunato, drunk and dressed in motley, boasts that he can tell an amontillado from other sherry, and so Montresor lures his rival down into Montresor’s family catacombs, saying that he has some amontillado for Fortunato to taste. Fortunato finds the descent difficult, thanks to the nitre in the catacombs, which exacerbate his bad chest.

Montresor plays on Fortunato’s inherent sense of pride in his knowledge of wines, by telling him that, if Fortunato cannot make the journey into the catacombs, they can turn back and Montresor can give the wine to Luchresi, another nobleman, instead.

Of course, this only makes Fortunato even more determined to be the one to taste the amontillado, and so they two of them keep going. When they arrive down in the catacombs, Montresor having plied his enemy with Medoc wine, he chains his drunken rival to the wall and then proceeds to wall him up inside the family vault, burying the man alive.

Fortunato at first believes it to be a jest, but then realises that he has been left here to die. Fifty years later, Montresor says that the body of Fortunato is still there in the vault.

Why does Montresor want revenge on Fortunato? This is where we see Poe’s genius (a contentious issue – W. B. Yeats thought his writing ‘vulgar’ and T. S. Eliot, whilst praising the plots and ideas of Poe’s stories, thought the execution of them careless) can be seen most clearly in ‘The Cask of Amontillado’.

For Montresor has every reason to confide to us – via his close friend, the addressee of his narrative, who is our stand-in in the story – his reason for wishing to kill Fortunato. But instead of getting a clear motive from him, we are instead given a series of possible reasons, none of which quite rings true.

It may be that Poe learned this idea from Shakespeare’s Othello , where the villainous Iago’s reasons for wishing to destroy Othello’s life are unclear, not because Iago offers us no plausible reasons for wishing to cause trouble, but because he offers us several , the effect of which is that they all cancel each other out, to an extent.

This is made clear in the opening words of the story:

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled – but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk.

Immediately, we are given an insight into the motive for the crime, but there is a sense that Montresor  wants  his crime – which he almost views as a work of art – to be acknowledged and even appreciated, in a strange way, by the victim. In other words, as Montresor explains, he wants Fortunato to know who has killed him (and why), but he wants to make sure nobody else finds out:

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 felt as such to him who has done the wrong.

That opening sentence is like a literal enactment of the familiar phrase, ‘to add insult to injury’. This provides a key clue to the motivation – shaky and vague as it is – of Montresor. His revenge is not motivated primarily by any tangible harm that Fortunato has done him, so much as a sense of resentment, a way Fortunato has of making Montresor feel inferior.

There are several clues offered by Poe in the story which suggest this as a plausible analysis of Montresor’s character and motivation. First of all, there is Fortunato’s name, suggesting fortune (wealth) but also being fortunate (luck), two qualities which don’t tend to enamour people to you, even though one’s possession of one or both of them hasn’t necessarily harmed anyone else. As F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby , put it: ‘Nothing is as obnoxious as other people’s luck.’

Although ‘Montresor’, the narrator’s name, suggests literally a ‘mountain of treasure’, the fortunate Fortunato still has the edge: as we know from such stories as Lawrence’s ‘The Rocking-Horse Winner’ , money is worth little without luck, for luck is how one acquires more money (though hard work doesn’t go amiss, of course). Another clue comes when Montresor fails to interpret a gesture made by Fortunato:

He laughed and threw the bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand.

I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movement – a grotesque one.

‘You do not comprehend?’ he said.

This taut, clipped conversation continues, as Poe deftly outlines the underlying reasons for the animosity that exists between the two men. In short, Montresor fails to understand the significance of the gesture Fortunato performs, leading Fortunato to suspect that Montresor is not a mason. Montresor insists he is, but Fortunato is having none of it:

‘You? Impossible! A mason?’

Fortunato asks Montresor for a sign that he really is a freemason:

‘It is this,’ I answered, producing from beneath the folds of my roquelaire a trowel.

‘You jest,’ he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. ‘But let us proceed to the Amontillado.’

This moment suggests a further underlying reason for Montresor’s desire for revenge: Fortunato insults him by belittling him and reminding him that he is not part of the same ‘club’ as Fortunato.

It may be that Montresor – his name perhaps suggesting acquired wealth rather than first-rank nobility like Fortunato (who has inherited his wealth and name by being ‘fortunate’ enough to be born into the right aristocratic family) – is not quite of the same pedigree as Fortunato, and so has had none of the advantages and benefits that Fortunato has enjoyed.

Poe makes his point by some subterranean wordplay on mason : Fortunato refers to the freemasons, that secret elite society known for its mutual favours and coded signs, gestures, and rituals, but Montresor’s trowel suggests the stonemasons, those artisans and labourers who are not aristocrats but possess great manual skill.

This pun is confirmed later in the story by Montresor’s reference to the ‘mason-work’ when he is walling his hapless rival up inside the catacombs.

‘The Cask of Amontillado’ can be productively linked – via comparative analysis – with a number of other Poe stories. Its murderous narrator links the story to ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ and ‘ The Black Cat ’; its focus on revenge and the misuse of alcohol links it to ‘Hop-Frog’; the alcohol motif is also seen in ‘The Black Cat’, while the use of jester’s motley also suggests a link with Poe’s other great revenge tale, ‘Hop-Frog’, where the title character is a jester in the employ of a corrupt king.

The live burial motif is also found in Poe’s story ‘ The Premature Burial ’ and ‘ The Fall of the House of Usher ’.

Discover more from Interesting Literature

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

Type your email…

10 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’”

There is something very odd about this story – the title emphasises the ‘amontillado’ which the murderer uses as bait for his victim, and the victim dreamily repeates the word as if it refers to something very unusual and precious. But unless there is something special about this cask – and no one suggests that there is, it could just as easily be the kind of wine you can buy in Sainsbury’s – and I frequently do, to use in cooking. And there is the dismissal of the man who ‘cannot tell Amontillado from sherry’ – but actually of course Amontillado is sherry. And it’s not an ‘Italian wine’ but Spanish. Did Poe know all this? is he implying that the two are not the aristocrats they seem and claim to be, but a pair of drunken louts? or did he use the name because it sounded exotic, without knowing what it was…

I think he used the whole ‘Amontillado is sherry’ thing as a joke. Fortunato and Montresor are an awful lot alike, after all. Even there names mean the same thing.

This is one of my favorite Poe stories and a fantastic analysis!

Thank you! It’s one of my favourites too – and there are plenty of fine stories to choose from :)

Nobody likes a clever dick, do they?

Sent from my iPad

Iago–yes, that is very clear intertextuality. I’ll bring that in with my Othello unit with my seniors.

Reblogged this on Greek Canadian Literature .

• Pingback: A Summary and Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ – worldtraveller70
• Pingback: Μια περίληψη και ανάλυση του Edgar Allan Poe για «το βαρέλι του αμοντιλάδο» – worldtraveller70

Interesting analysis. Revenge can not resolve conflict

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, everything you need to know about the cask of amontillado.

Advanced Placement (AP) , General Education

As you prepare for the AP Literature exam, one of the things you’ll have to do is become an expert in a few literary works that you can use on the composition portion of the exam. We recommend that you choose four to five notable works with different genres and themes to make sure you can write an amazing student choice essay.

(Actually...practicing analyzing literature will help you on the whole exam, not just the written portion, so it’s a win-win situation!)

But just because these works have to be “notable” with “literary merit” doesn’t mean they need to be boring, too! That’s why we’re talking about Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” as a good choice for your AP exam. Not only is it widely recognized as an excellent piece of literature, it’s got a little of everything: horror! Suspense! A surprise twist! And as an added bonus...it’s short.

To bring you up to speed, we’ll start with “The Cask of Amontillado” summary, then we’ll jump into character and thematic analyses. By the time you finish this article, you’ll be able to write fearlessly about “The Cask of Amontillado” on your AP exam.

A photograph of Edgar Allan Poe.

Historical Background: Who Was Edgar Allen Poe?

Critics consider Edgar Allan Poe  to be the father of the detective story (thanks to “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” which predates the Sherlock Holmes stories by more than 50 years!) and a pioneer of the American short story.

But despite his literary success, Edgar Allan Poe’s life was marked by tragedy. Orphaned just a year after his birth in 1809, Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan (who weren’t blood relatives). Frances Allan and Poe fought often, usually over money, and Poe would flirt with poverty throughout his life...especially after he was cut out of John Allan’s will.

Poe tried to go to college but couldn’t pay for it, so he dropped out. This was a blessing in disguise, since it kicked off Poe’s writing career. Fueled by both his passion and the death of his older brother, Poe moved back to Baltimore to become a full-time writer. There, he married his cousin—Virginia Clemm—who was just 13 at the time of the marriage. (Poe was 26!)

By all accounts, the couple was happy until Virginia’s death thirteen years later. Poe would never recover from her death and would pass away two years later, shortly after turning 40 years old.

Poe’s life might have been short, but his writing has lived on. Although Poe was a poet, literary critic, essayist, short story writer, and novelist, he is most well-known today for his grisly stories of terror and the macabre. Most of Poe’s works fall into the Gothic genre , which is characterized by a sense of terror, doubt, and the uncanny . The genre was incredibly popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Poe’s writing would make him one of the best-known writers of Gothic horror.

The Cask of Amontillado Background

“The Cask of Amontillado” is one of Poe’s most famous short stories, and it was originally published in 1846 in Godey’s Lady Book, the most popular periodical in the United States at that time.

Though scholars aren’t 100 percent sure what inspired Poe’s short story, many believe it’s based on a story he heard while stationed at Fort Independence in Massachusetts in 1827. At that time, Fort Independence had a statue of Lieutenant Robert Massie, who had been killed in a sword duel following a card game, on the premises. As legend has it, after Massie’s death, other soldiers took revenge on his murderer by getting him drunk and permanently sealing him in a vault...alive.  

A more popular theory is that Poe wrote “The Cask of Amontillado” in response to his personal rival, Thomas Dunn English , who had written a scathing critique of one of Poe’s novels. “The Cask of Amontillado” skewers elements from English’s novel, 1844, including making references to the same secret societies and subterranean vaults featured in English’s work.

Others believe that “The Cask of Amontillado” was inspired not by a person, but by a widespread fear of being buried alive. Because medicine was in its infancy, sometimes coma victims were assumed to be dead and were buried accordingly, only to awake in their coffins days later. People started inventing easy-open coffins, burial vaults with windows, and even coffins with breathing tubes attached to save people who were prematurely buried. And of course, the fear of being buried alive—only to die in your own coffin—is echoed in the plot of “The Cask of Amontillado.”

Regardless of what inspired Poe to write “The Cask of Amontillado,” the fact remains that this short story remains one of his most famous and enduring works of Gothic terror.

The Cask of Amontillado Summary

Now that you know a little bit about the background of Poe’s short story, let’s take a look at the plot of the text. ( You can find a free, legal copy of “The Cask of Amontillado” online by clicking here. )

The Story Begins

Poe’s short story actually takes place in two time periods . The bulk of the events occur on the night of Carnaval , which is a Western Christian celebration that takes place before Lent. Carnival is a celebration of excess—of food, drink, and fun—before the restriction of the Lenten season sets in before Easter. (In the United States, the Carnival season is better known as Mardi Gras .)

But the story is told in retrospect by the narrator, Montresor, fifty years after the event to an unknown listener (only referred to as “you” in the story). That means that there are actually two different time frames happening in “The Cask of Amontillado.”

Setting the Trap

Readers learn that Montresor is planning to take revenge on his one-time friend, Fortunato. Readers never learn exactly what Fortunato has done to Montresor to push him over the edge, only that Montresor feels he is the victim of a “thousand injuries” and one unnamed “insult” he must avenge. Readers also learn that Montresor has hidden his rage in order to convince Fortunato that they are still friends—which is all part of his plan.

On the night of Carnival, Montresor puts his plan into action. He knows that Fortunato considers himself a wine connoisseur, so Montresor isn’t surprised that Fortunato is already drunk when he finds him in the middle of the Carnival celebration.

Montresor tells him about a pipe, or about 130 gallons, of Amontillado he bought. (>Amontillado is a fine sherry wine.) But now that he has the wine, Montresor is afraid that he was duped. He tells Fortunato that he was on his way to find Luchresi—another wine connoisseur—to help him determine the wine’s authenticity.

Entering the Vaults

Montresor’s ploy works. Montresor knows that Fortunato is full of himself, and the idea that someone could judge the Amontillado pricks his ego. As a result, Fortunato insists on checking the Amontillado himself.

Montresor half-heartedly tries to dissuade Fortunato, telling him that going into the catacombs , or underground vaults where generations of the Montresor family are buried, will worsen Fortunato’s head cold. Fortunato waves off Montresor’s concerns, saying that he “shall not die of a cough,” and he follows him into the vaults to taste the Amontillado anyway.

As the men venture further into the dark, underground passageways, Montresor makes sure that Fortunato keeps drinking. Fortunato asks about the Montresor family’s coat of arms, and Montresor tells him that their family motto is “ Nemo me impune lacessit,” or “no one attacks me with impunity.” Fortunato is so drunk that he misses the warning in Montresor’s words, and instead asks whether Montresor is a member of the masons , a fraternity with an elite membership. Montresor says yes and holds up a mason’s trowel, implying that he’s a literal mason instead.

Fortunato thinks Montresor is joking, and by the time they arrive at the niche where Montresor says he’s stored the Amontillado, he’s too drunk to notice that there’s no wine inside. He doesn’t even resist as Montresor chains him to the wall.

The End of Fortunato

Montresor then reveals the bricks and mortar he has stored in the vault, and he begins to wall up the opening to the niche...with Fortunato chained inside. The process is a long one, and Montresor describes Fortunato’s fearful cries and attempts to pull free from the chains. But Montresor is determined, and he throws a lit torch into the niche with Fortunato before he finishes walling him in alive.

By this point, Fortunato is panicked. He’s screaming for help, but the pair are so far underground that there’s no one to hear him. He tries to appeal to Montresor’s logic, saying that he’ll be missed by “Lady Fortunato and the rest.” Montresor is unmoved, finishes sealing up the vault, and leaves Fortunato there to die.

Montresor finishes his story by telling the listener that there Fortunato’s bones remain, fifty years later.

m ninha/Flickr

“The Cask of Amontillado” Character Analysis

Read on for an in-depth analysis of the major characters in “The Cask of Amontillado.”

Fortunato’s name means “the fortunate one” in Italian, which is ironic given that he ends up bricked within the Montresor catacombs and left to die. This is just one example of the dramatic irony that permeates the short story.

Dramatic irony is when the reader knows something that one or more of the characters don’t know. In this case, readers know what Montresor plans to do, but Fortunato remains ignorant. This creates tension in the short story. As a reader, you want to yell at Fortunato to run away, but you can’t. The thrill of “The Cask of Amontillado” comes from knowing exactly what will happen and being powerless to stop it.

Other than the fact that he seems to have wronged Montresor somehow, readers learn very little about Fortunato directly. Everything we know about his character we have to infer from Montresor’s descriptions of Fortunato and his actions.

For example, we know Fortunato thinks he and Montresor are friends, and they likely were at one point. But we also know that Fortunato is “rich, respected, admired, beloved,” and happy, according to Montresor, at least. But he also seems to be egotistical and self-indulgent; he drinks to excess, has no qualms talking badly about other people (like Luchresi), and thinks he’s the best wine connoisseur around.

Ultimately, whether or not Fortunato’s character flaws are enough to warrant Fortunato’s fate is up for readers to decide.

Montresor is the main character of “The Cask of Amontillado,” and the story is told in first person from his perspective. Like Fortunato, readers know very little about Montresor’s backstory outside of what they can infer from the text. For example, Poe implies that Montresor seems to come from money—he lives in a palazzo, which is basically an Italian palace, which has its own crypt.

But Montresor’s actions tell readers even more about his characte r. First, he’s driven by revenge. He doesn’t take insults lightly, and he’s able to nurse a grudge to an extreme degree. He’s also witty—he makes double entendres about Fortunato’s death that the latter never catches—and knows how to plan ahead, too.

But most importantly, he lacks remorse . At the end of the story, Montresor ends with an exclamation, “ In pace requiescat, ” which means “rest in peace.” Montresor is proud of what he’s done...and even prouder that he hasn’t been caught. As a result, his final wish for Fortunato comes across as sarcastic rather than sincere.

All of this together makes readers question Montresor’s role in the story. At the beginning, he seems like he’s the protagonist : he’s a man who’s been terribly wronged looking for revenge. But by the end of the story, it’s not clear whether Montresor is the story’s hero...or its villain.  

Luchresi never appears in the story, but he plays a vital role in Montresor’s plan. Luchresi is clearly one of Fortunato’s rivals, if not in reality, then at least when it comes to his expertise in wine.

Montresor plays this rivalry to his advantage. He keeps mentioning Luchresi’s name to motivate Fortunato and keep him interested in the Amontillado, especially since he’s drunk and his attention keeps wavering. (Keep in mind that Luchresi is an innocent bystander in all of this—Montresor is just borrowing his name and reputation.) Poe uses the mention of Luchresi’s name to remind Fortunato—and the readers—what’s happening.

Unnamed Listener

Like we mentioned earlier, “The Cask of Amontillado” is a story told in retrospect. An older Montresor is speaking to an unnamed listener, recounting how he killed Fortunato in revenge.

Readers know nothing about the listener, only that he’s Montresor’s audience in telling the story. But from an analysis standpoint, the listener is important. It reminds us that Montresor is telling this story to someone else, and in doing so, trying to communicate his personal perspective. It makes readers question whether Montresor is telling the whole truth, too. Was Fortunato really as bad as Montresor says he was, for example? Because the story is told from Montresor’s perspective—and likely with an agenda in mind—readers are left wondering if Montresor’s account is totally accurate.

Brandon Heyer /Flickr

The 3 Key The Cask of Amontillado Themes

“The Cask of Amontillado" is considered one of Poe’s best short stories, and with good reason: it melds tension, horror, and surprise together masterfully. But what are the messages of Poe’s story? Let’s look at three of major themes of “The Cask of Amontillado” below.

The Unreliability of Perception

Think of a time that you did something you knew your parents would punish you for. When you explained the situation to your parents, how did you do it? More than likely, you tried to downplay your actions (without lying!) to make the consequences a little less severe.

This is a good example of how perspective matters. For your parents, what you did is a serious offense. But if you could just offer a different perspective on things, maybe you won’t be grounded for quite so long!

In “The Cask of Amontillado,” readers are presented with Montresor’s perspective of the story. He tells readers he’s been wronged—for what, he doesn’t say—and paints an unflattering picture of Fortunato. Even though Montresor says he’s rich and well liked, Fortunato’s actions make him seem like a stuck-up, overindulgent idiot.

But is that accurate? Because we only get Montresor’s side of the story, it’s hard to know. It’s up to the reader to decide how reliable, or trustworthy, Montresor is as a narrator. Do we believe him and his argument that killing Fortunato was the only way to have his revenge? Or is Montresor just a cold-blooded killer?

By making the readers ask these questions, Poe draws attention to the idea that people’s individual perspectives on a situation aren’t necessarily 100 percent accurate.

The Danger of Pride

Although Montresor is responsible for Fortunato’s death, the latter has a hand in sealing his own coffin, too.

Even though he’s drunk and sick, the mention of Luchresi’s name triggers Fortunato’s massive ego. The idea that anyone could be better than him—especially Luchresi, who can’t “tell Amontillado from sherry”—drives him to follow Montresor into the catacombs. Despite wanting to kill Fortunato, Montresor gives his victim many chances to turn back. Montresor cites Fortunato’s cough, saying that it might be best to ask for Luchresi’s help instead.

But each time, Fortunato says he wants to push forward because he cannot stand Luchresi getting credit for determining whether the Amontillado is authentic. It’s his pride that makes him want to beat Luchresi, but in the end, it’s his pride that makes him lose.

The Power of Revenge

Perhaps the scariest aspect of “The Cask of Amontillado” is how far Montresor goes for revenge. In many ways, what Fortunato has done to warrant Montresor’s wrath is immaterial; Poe is more interested in how revenge drives a man to extremes.

In this case, it’s clear that Fortunato’s perceived wrongs have dominated Montresor’s thoughts and actions. His plan to kill Fortunato is highly premeditated: he’s clearly put a lot of thought into how he will do it, right down to making sure he has bricks and mortar handy to entomb Fortunato alive.

This is not a spur-of-the-moment, in-the-heat-of-passion action . No, Montresor has thought long and hard about his plan.

Given this, Poe shows readers how powerful the need for revenge can be. N ot only can it drive people to extremes, it can warp their sense of reason, too. After all, short of murder, what insult could Fortunato have delivered to warrant such a gruesome death? Could it be that Montresor’s desire for vengeance, rather than Fortunato's actions, are what allows Montresor to justify murder?

Ultimately, because the whole story is written from Montresor’s perspective, Poe doesn’t give readers any clear answers. But in doing so, Poe also shows how the truth is often obscured by people’s perceptions and motivations.

It’s great that you’re preparing for the composition part of the AP Literature exam, but don’t forget that there’s a multiple choice section, too . Get the skinny on the multiple choice section—and how to ace it!—here.

One of the best ways to practice for any exam is to take practice tests. Did you know that there are practice exams for AP tests, too? Here’s a list of practice tests for the AP Literature exam that you can take to help you study smarter.

Now that you’re well on your way to taking an AP English exam, why not try your hand at some other AP tests? Here’s a comprehensive list of all the AP classes and tests you can take to help earn credit for college.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

Student and Parent Forum

Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com , allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe Essay

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.

Poe, Edgar A. The Cask of Amontillado. 1847, Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, February 25). “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-cask-of-amontillado-by-edgar-allan-poe/

"“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe." IvyPanda , 25 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/the-cask-of-amontillado-by-edgar-allan-poe/.

IvyPanda . (2022) '“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe'. 25 February.

IvyPanda . 2022. "“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe." February 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-cask-of-amontillado-by-edgar-allan-poe/.

1. IvyPanda . "“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe." February 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-cask-of-amontillado-by-edgar-allan-poe/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe." February 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-cask-of-amontillado-by-edgar-allan-poe/.

• Edgar Poe and “The Cask of Amontillado”
• The Cask of Amontillado
• Edgar Poe's “The Cask of Amontillado” Literature Analysis
• Irony in "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe
• Epilogue to “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe
• Imagery Use in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe
• Symbolic Elements in Poe's “Cask of Amontillado”
• The Single Effect in Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado
• Discussion of “The Cask of Amontillado”
• Dark Humor in The Cask of Amontillado Essay
• Connie’s Character in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates
• The Making of a Hero: Jefferson in A Lesson Before Dying. Ernest J. Gaines
• Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
• “The Most Dangerous Job” by Schlosser
• Terrorism and Trauma in American Literature

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Edgar Allan Poe — Cask Of Amontillado Essay

Cask of Amontillado Essay

• Categories: Edgar Allan Poe Revenge

About this sample

Words: 1066 |

Published: Mar 5, 2024

Words: 1066 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof Ernest (PhD)

Verified writer

• Expert in: Literature Government & Politics

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 878 words

4 pages / 1800 words

1 pages / 615 words

4.5 pages / 1980 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Edgar Allan Poe

The Tell Tale Heart, written by Edgar Allan Poe, is a classic tale of suspense and horror. One of the key elements that makes this story so compelling is the effective use of symbolism throughout. In this essay, I will explore [...]

"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe is a classic tale of psychological horror that delves into the complexities of the human mind. One central idea within this chilling narrative is the theme of guilt and its [...]

In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado," the character Montresor meticulously plans and executes the murder of his acquaintance Fortunato. This act of revenge is carried out with calculated precision and [...]

In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado," the character Montresor commits a heinous act by luring Fortunato into the catacombs and ultimately burying him alive. Many readers may wonder why Montresor would go to [...]

“The Raven”, is a poem written by Edgar Allen Poe that was published on January 29, 1845. With this publication Poe was immensely praised for his work, even though, for many years, he had already been established as a journalist [...]

Edgar Allan Poe was an American short-story writer and critic who is best known for his fantastical horror stories and genre-founding detective stories. Poe considered himself primarily a poet. Although in most of his works his [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free