Review of “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe: Halloween Countdown

Plot:

Montresor tells the reader that he had borne the injuries from his friend Fortunato as best he could, but when Fortunato insulted him, he vowed revenge. He kept up the pretense of friendship until he could exact his revenge—and he would do so with impunity.

Fortunato’s weak point was his belief in his connoisseurship of wine. Montresor accidentally runs into him during the carnival. Fortunato is dressed as a jester—or fool— in a hat with bells that jingle.

Oh, the irony.

Montresor tells him he’s happy to meet him. He’s come into a bottle of what proports to be Amontillado, but he has doubts.

Fortunato is only too happy to sort it out for him.

“My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive you have an engagement. Luchesi—”

“I have no engagement;—come.”

Oh, but Fortunato has a cold, and the vaults are damp—

“Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado! You have been imposed upon. And as for Luchesi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado.”

So they go, Montresor protesting and Fortunato insisting all the way.

Thoughts:

What terrible insult Fortunato offered Montresor, the reader is never told. It must have been a doozy. The strength of the story is how Montresor reels his prey in, all the while pretending to object.

Fortunato could turn back at several places, but he refuses. He wants to try this wine. He wants to offer his opinion to his friend. Maybe it is the real thing? Then he’ll have the chance to drink some fine wine. If it is not, then he can display his superior knowledge.

Poe creates an eerie atmosphere in the “vaults,” the catacombs or burial place for Montresor’s large family. Its coolness would provide a practical reason to store wine despite its lack of ambiance. They see bones. They also see white “nitre” (potassium nitrate)* along the walls. Oh, dear, is it irritating Fortunato’s cough? Perhaps we should turn back…?

Nah. Let’s keep going.

As with many Poe stories, everything leads up to the ending. Even the motto on the Montresor family crest reads (in Latin, thank you very much), “No one harms with impunity,” and a picture of a snake biting a heel only to get stepped on.

This short story is often read in schools in the United States, possibly because of its brevity and its psychology. Montresor plays Fortunato like a fiddle.





*A mineral that can leech from water into bricks or other building materials if water moves behind them.



Bio: Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) was the son of two actors. After his father deserted the family and his mother died of tuberculosis, two-year-old Edgar was taken in by the wealthy Allan family. He briefly studied at the University of Virginia and West Point. His most well-known works include “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” The last is sometimes cited as the first detective story. The work that made him a household name in his day was the poem “The Raven.”

The circumstances of his death are still unclear. He was found in a tavern, appearing drunk, wearing someone else’s clothes, and died some days later in Washington University Hospital. According to the Poe Museum, twenty-six different theories regarding the cause of his demise have been published. Poe was a known tippler and, while alcohol poisoning is a perennial favorite cause of death, other plausible causes are as disparate as rabies and cooping, a 19^th-century form of voter fraud.


This story can be read here:

This story can be listened to here: (14:27)


Title: “The Cask of Amontillado”
Author: Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
First Published: Godey’s Magazine and Lady’s Book, November 1846
Length: short story
Series: Fortunato