He presents himself with only limited information about his motivations, and his ambition to finish off his master piece and careful manipulation of Fortunato indicates the care with which he has planned his execution. However, we again have a classic case of Poe's unreliable narrator, whose guilt and occasional irrationality prevents him from presenting himself truthfully to the reader. However, we can see that Montresor shows a particularly black sense of humor, with which he amuses both himself and the horrified reader as he leads Fortunato into his trap. He informs the audience of his intentions before he begins the story of his encounter with Fortunato, and Poe employs both verbal and dramatic irony to convey the darkness of the story. A very good example of black humor can be found at the very beginning of the story itself: Montresor’s had "vowed revenge" against Fortunato, but he decided to mask his real feelings by outwardly appearing friendly towards him.
Library Research Assignment: Irony in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado Thesis: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado is the story of a thrilling murder that is filled with intricate ironies that emphasize the actions that take place and forces the reader to think about the real motives behind these happenings. The irony in the story provides the plot with numerous complex layers. Finally, the reader is forced to rethink the point of the story and the success of Montresor’s revenge. Annotated Bibliography: First Article: 1) MLA: May, Charles E. "The Cask Of Amontillado." Magill’S Survey Of American Literature, Revised Edition (2006): 1-2.
People such as Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King are all tributes to the original horror story writer, Edgar Allen Poe. Poe's haunting linguistic descriptions, unnerving parallelism between his life and his works, and alarming yet purposeful exploration of symbolism and situations draws the reader into a state of pity and sorrow while at the same times leaving them with a feeling of
False assumptions and lack of proof have led to horrific death of the innocent. The craving for revenge has always been a strong motive. In the short story “Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe exposes the reader to the dark emotions of revenge through his use of diction, imagery, and plot in the story. Edgar Allan Poe used diction to present the reader with a broader view of revenge and clues on why Montresor wanted his revenge against Fortunato. Poe uses a grand choice of diction throughout the entire story, but there are some main points that need to be observed with a closer perspective to perhaps reveal and understand a deeper meaning.
The Cask of Amontillado vs. A Rose for Emily Revenge is a very intricate action. It suggests that someone has been deeply wronged. It also asks a question: What is it that drives a person to vengeance? When comparing “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, an interesting theme is shared by the two stories. Both authors use enticing writing styles and literary devices to unfold tales of premeditated murder.
How does the author want the reader to feel while reading "The Cask of Amontillado”? Poe wants to feel the unreliableness of Montresor and wants to create the gothic and spooky thrill of stories like his. What techniques does the author use to help you visualize the place, the people, and the events that are taking place within the story? Imagery was used throughout the story to describe the catacombs so that you can picture how dreary and a terrifying place it must be. As well as when Montresor describes Fortunato especially with “the wine twinkling in his eyes”.
Insanity could be defined as “the state of being mentally ill; madness”, thus it is no surprise that writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and D. H. Lawrence beauteously integrated aspects of insanity into their stories in order to chisel the perfect piece of gothic literature, simultaneously luring the reader in to a world carved by madness and drowned in an eerie atmosphere. Portraying one as insane is a powerful gothic literary device that has been used throughout the era of the gothic, notably in Matthew Lewis' “The Monk” and Horace Walpole’s “The Castle of Otranto”. One way in which writers complement and enhance the insanity of their sadistic characters is through the psychological and mental torture that is often inflicted upon the victims
Poe Essay Many tragedies in Edgar Allan Poe’s life left him lovesick and depressed, and compelled him to write about tales of beauty, love, and loss. In two of his short stories, The Tell Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado, Poe demonstrates his depression with murder, revenge, and madness through his writing. The theme of The Tell Tale Heart might be guilt or madness, also containing the theme of a corpse interred in a house. In The Cask of Amontillado, the narrator’s theme was about his ability to carry out a chilling plot of revenge against his offender. While the Poe stories are different in several ways, the similarities of the text are greater.
We become aware of this character trait when Fortunato insults him, Montresor has had enough. For example, he says, “The thousands of injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge (727). Montresor has now thought of a plan to seek revenged. He then goes to tell us how he would do all of this. He goes to say, “At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settle – but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk” (727).
Montresor vows revenge from one man who ill-treated him, while the Misfit takes his revenge out on anyone whom he crosses paths with, like the Bailey family, whose double standards and indifference towards others he feels are liable for the problems in the world. Fortunato is Montresor’s one and only victim. Montresor is determined to get back at Fortunato after all the agony he had to undergo from him without feeling regretful or having legal consequences: “I must not only punish but punish with impunity” (375). After Montresor leads Fortunato into his family’s vaults, he executes his plan and that was to kill Fortunato. In contrast, the Bailey family is probably one of many people that the Misfit crosses paths with after escaping from jail in Florida.