“The Cask of Amontillado” by
Edgar Allan Poe
A little background on Poe
• First his father abandoned the family and
then his mother dies when he is only 2.
• He was taken in by a well-to-do (read “had
money”) couple but never adopted.
• He was close to his foster mother but not his
foster father who saw him as an ungrateful
punk.
• Upon entering college, he developed a
gambling problem (as well as a drinking one)
that developed into a large debt that he could
not pay. He quit school.
• After a very short try at the military Poe
decided to just write. Something that never
really brought him much money or fame.
• During the beginning of his writing years, Poe
married his 13 year-old cousin. He was 26.
This developed into rumors as they never had
children.
• Her death 11 years later sent him into a
downward spiral of drinking and depression
from which he would never recover many
would say.
• Rumors went wild when he died on 9/28/1849,
but DNA now confirms that he died of Rabies.
• The man whose life ended in the gutter is
today hailed as a literary genius, the master
of horror and inventor of detective fiction.
• He has influenced many writers such as Sir
Author Conan Doyle, Alfred Hitchcock, and
Stephen King.
Random Facts About Poe
• Edgar Allen Poe had a real fear of being buried
alive.
• Poe developed characters whose sanity was
questionable and most of his stories deal with
death, murder, and even cannibalism!
• His poem “The Raven” is his most acclaimed
work.
• The Baltimore Ravens football team is named
after Poe's poem The Raven, which he wrote in
Baltimore.
“The Cask of Amontillado”
“…but when he ventured upon insult,
I vowed revenge”
“The Cask of Amontillado” is the
narrator’s account of his ability to
carry out a chilling plot of revenge
against his offender.
• The time and place (otherwise known as
setting) contribute to the macabre
(gruesome and horrifying; dealing with
death) setting of this story and add
suspense as Montressor seeks revenge
on Fortunato.
• In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar
Allan Poe creates an unforgettable
mood of suspense and horror using
many devices such as sensory details
and imagery used to convey the setting.
What is Carnival?
• The story starts during the “supreme
madness” of Carnival (a secular holiday that
evolved from the Christian observance
known as Lent. Here in the USA we call it
Mardi Gras.)
• This is a time of excess and indulgence for
many. Bingeing upon food and alcohol is
common and partying in the streets and
masquerading are enjoyed.
• The combination of alcohol and
costumes creates an atmosphere
where people tend to let down their
inhibitions.
• In such a riotous atmosphere, it is easy
to see how a crime could go unnoticed.
“Cask of Amontillado”
vocab.
Palazzo
– a large,
imposing
building (as a
museum or place
of residence) esp.
in Italy
MASONS
Two definitions:
A member of the
fraternity of
Freemasons, a worldwide
fraternal organization
OR
One whose occupation is
to build with stone or
brick; also, one who
prepares stone for
building purposes.
Symbol for the Freemasons
THE FAMILY
ARMS
“A huge foot d’or, in a
field azure; the foot
crushes a serpent
rampant whose fangs
are imbedded in the
heal.”
FAMILY MOTTO
“Nemo me impune lacessit” Translation:
“No one provokes me with
impunity” /A more colloquial translation into English would be “No one attacks me
and gets away with it.”
In “Cask . . .“
The narrator plans for his revenge
to take place in the catacombs
beneath his estate.
What are catacombs?
Catacombs: Cities of the Dead
Paris Catacombs
• It lies far beneath the city
• In it, there are the bones
of 5 to 6 million people.
• Starting from the late
18th century, lacking in
space to put corpses,
bodies of people who
could not afford proper
burials were moved from
the overflowing
cemeteries and dumped
there.
Paris Catacombs
• The bones are piled
around in heaps that
line the walls. Some of
the bones are in
gigantic stacks.
• Some bones are
fashioned into
macabre
configurations: A
cross made from
femurs
Catacombs & the Wealthy
• It was not unusual
for wealthy to have
catacombs under
their estates
• They could place
the remains of
their own family
members here
Visiting the Catacombs
• It is possible for
one to take a tour
of the catacombs
today.
• First, you walk
down a long
tunnel. . .
• And then you see. .
.
The narrator of “The Cask of
Amontillado” carries out his
revenge within the
catacombs beneath his
palazzo.
• In “The Cask. . .” Montressor lures
Fortunato to his catacombs to sample
rare amontillado, a type of wine.
• Wine was often stored in catacombs
because it does well in places where
the temperature stays a constant cool
year round.
• Herein, where wine bottles
intermingle with the bones of the
dead, the narrator carries out his plan
for revenge.
• To add to the macabre setting (and
some irony), Carnival– a time of
merriment– is occurring just outside
Montressor’s home.
Questions for the Reader. . .
• Do you think anyone celebrating
outside will be able to hear anything
occurring in Montressor’s catacombs?
• Would you ever dare go to someone’s
personal catacombs?
Literary Terms
Questions
IRONY
The result of a contrast
between appearance or
expectation and reality
*Hiding what is actually the case
to achieve special, artistic effects
Verbal Irony
• Words are
used to
suggest
opposite of
what is
meant
• ExampleSomeone
says, “Don’t
be nervous;
it’s only the
most
important test
of your life.”
Dramatic Irony
• What appears
to be true to a
character is
not what the
reader or
audience
knows to be
true
• Example-A boy
tells his mother he
is late because he
was at a friend’s
house. The
audience knows
that the mother
talked to friend’s
mother and knows
son was not there.
Situational Irony
• An event
occurs that
goes against
expectations
that have
been built up
• Example-A
story has a
mouse
chasing a cat
• Expectations
are a cat
chasing a
mouse
“Cask of Amontillado”
Irony Example
• “’I drink to the buried that repose
around us,” says Fortunato. “And I to
your long life,” Montresor replies.”
• Montresor is not really drinking to
Fortunato’s long life; he is playing on
the fact that he will soon kill
Fortunato.
• What type of irony is this?
Irony Practice
• Find three more examples of irony
from “The Cask of Amontillado.”
• Create a 4-columned chart that has the
following information:
•
•
•
•
Quote
Paraphrase
Explanation of how quote shows irony
Label type of irony (verbal, dramatic, or
situational)