Cask Of Amontillado

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BETRAYAL AND REVENGE

Diana Valdez
English 1102
Mr. Roper
24 Jul 2008

Outline

I. Setting A. Mediterranean B. Carnival Season

II. Characters A. Montresor B. Fortunato

III. Reason for Revenge A. Insults from Fortunato

IV. Conclusion A. Forunato is Buried Alive

Betrayal and Revenge

The cask of Amontillado is set during the carnival season in an anonymous city somewhere in the Mediterranean region of Europe. The story recounts the last meeting between two aristocratic gentlemen, the narrator Montresor and the wine connoisseur Fortunato. Themes of betrayal and revenge clearly inform “The Cask of Amontillado,” but the persuasive irony of Montresor’s narration complicates attempts to understand his motives and other conflicts at the heart of the tale. At the same time, layers of irony also contribute to the story’s tone of horror. Because of Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is told by a first person narrator, a man named Montresor, we cannot be sure that what the narrator tells us is true. There are some things in the story, however that we can accept the fact that there is a character(even though we never see him) named Luchesi, because the narrator mentions him and the other character in the story --Fortunato--also talks about him. But how sure can we be that Fortunato is the sort of man that the narrator says Fortunato is? (189) Being that Fortunato is drunk he remains blissfully ignorant of Montresor’s true intentions for most of the story. “It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued , as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.” (182). The unusual word “immolation” tells us a good

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