ETI 306 — Literary
Translation II
“The Cask of Amontillado”
by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
 American short-story writer, essayist, and poet
 He was born on January 19, 1809 to actors David and
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Eliza Poe.
He and his brother and sister were orphaned shortly
before Poe’s second birthday, and were each taken in
by different families.
He is rumored to have died from the bite of a rabid dog,
but he probably passed away as a result of drug and
alcohol related complications.
He was a heavy drinker, and also addicted to the drug
laudanum (blue parts of opium)
A truly brilliant, visionary, and influential writer, Poe
basically invented the genre of mystery or detective
fiction as well as science fiction
The Cask of Amontillado (1846)
 Setting: an unnamed Italian city in an unspecified
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year (during the 18th century?) / a vast underground
catacomb
Characters: Montresor, the narrator, who is a cold
and ruthless killer; Fortunato, who is the victim of
Montresor; Luchesi, who is more of a plot device than
a real character, helping drive the action.
Point of view: first person
Themes: dark and mysterious recesses of the
human psyche; deadly revenge
Tone: creepy, elegant, and funny
Style: ironic
Plot summary
 The narrator begins by telling the reader that Fortunato has insulted
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him and that he must get his revenge.
He meets Fortunato, who is all dressed up in jester clothes for a
carnival celebration and is already very drunk.
The narrator mentions he’s found a barrel of a rare sherry wine
called Amontillado. Fortunato expresses eager interest in verifying
the wine’s authenticity.
So he and the narrator go to the underground graveyard, or
“catacomb,” of the Montresor family, where the narrator apparently
keeps his wine. The narrator leads Fortunato deeper and deeper
into the catacomb, getting him drunker and drunker along the way.
Fortunato keeps coughing, and the narrator constantly suggests that
Fortunato is too sick to be down among the damp crypts, and
should go back. Fortunato just keeps talking about the Amontillado.
Plot summary
(cont’d)
 Eventually, Fortunato walks into a man-sized hole that’s part of the
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wall of a really nasty crypt. The narrator chains Fortunato to the
wall, then begins to close Fortunato in the hole by filling in the
opening with bricks.
When he has one brick left, he psychologically tortures Fortunato
until he begs for mercy – and we finally learn the narrator’s name:
Fortunato calls him “Montresor.”
After Fortunato cries out Montresor’s name, he doesn’t have any
more lines. But just before Montresor puts in the last brick,
Fortunato jingles his bells.
Then Montresor finishes the job and leaves him there to die.
At the very end, Montresor tells us that the whole affair happened
fifty years ago, and nobody has found out.
Literary Devices
 Symbolism: The Montresor family’s coat of arms--on
a shield, there is a picture of a giant gold “human
foot” in “a field azure”; the foot is crushing a wild and
crazy “serpent” whose fangs are buried in the foot’s
heel. Could Fortunato be that snake who bit
Montresor, and Montresor’s big gold foot is coming
crashing down on him as a result?
Irony: Poe uses irony in a humorous way a few
times: the way Fortunatois dressed as a clown is
ironic because he is being virtually made a fool of by
following Montresor into the catacombs; also, when
Fortunato says “I will not die of a cough,” Montresor
responds “True-true,” showing a perverse sense of
humor in the irony of Montresor's response
Mystery or detective?
 The subject matter of the story is a murder, but it is
not a detective tale; there is no investigation of
Montresor's crime and the criminal himself explains
how he committed the murder.
 The mystery in the story is Montresor's motive (a
thousand injuries?) for murder and without a
detective in the story, it is up to the reader to solve
the mystery.
 An important question in the story is to whom
Montresor is confessing this tale. (In the beginning of
the story, the narrator says, "Surely, you..." ).
“You?”
 The "you" being addressed might be a priest. (The story takes
place in Italy, the center of Catholicism and at the end,
Montresor says that it has been fifty years since the murder).
This would mean that he is very old and dying, on his death bed.
 Also, there are two sentences at the end that are italicized: “For
the love of God, Montresor!” and, “In pace requiescat.” These
sentences could be said by Fortunato and Montresor
respectively, or by the priest. For the second sentence, if
Montresor is saying it, then he is expressing the lack of remorse
for his murder. However, it could be the priest saying it, in which
case, it would mean that Montresor had just died.