Montresor
Character Analysis-Montresor (if that's his real name), our narrator, is Mr. Sinister. He's the guy you don't want to meet
in an underground graveyard, or anywhere else. He's a cold and ruthless killer. He not only enjoys killing, but also thinks
it's necessary.As the narrator, he's telling the story fifty years after it happened. This raises a whole host of complicated
questions. We'll cover the main ones in a moment under "Bragging of Confessing," but first, let's look at some other
aspects of his character.
Unreliable Narrator-Any critic will tell you that Montresor is "a classic example of an unreliable narrator." And this is
probably true: if he's capable of plastering Fortunato into a vault, we can't trust him. lf he's lying, and he didn't kill
Fortunato, then we still can't trust him. Unless, that is, Montresor's unreliability reveals truths about human nature.
We talk about Poe's "secret writing" in "What's Up With the Title." We can assume that everything we read about in
"The Cask" is code for something deeper, including Montresor. ln fact, we think he's less a flesh and blood character
than a literary mechanism, meant to provoke emotional responses to reveal our own characters, and ultimately, if we
are brave, to give us a more profound understanding of what it means to be human.So, if Poe's technique works, and
Montresor makes us understand ourselves and other people better, then maybe we con trust Montresor - as loathsome
as
that sounds.
Unsympathetic Character-ln addition to beinB the classic unreliable narrator, on the surface, Montresor is a classically
unsympathetic character. A sympathetic character isn't necessarily character we feel sympathy for; a sympathetic
character is simply a character we can relate to, at least on some level.We don't deny that Montresor is totally alien and
practically unknowable to the reader in many ways. But we also think that pretending we can't relate to Montresor of o//
defeats one main purpose of the story. For example, like Montresor, we all have vengeful urges - though, luckily, few of
us ever follow them as far as murder.
Perhaps more importantly, we identify with Montresor because he's still o/iye. He got away with what he did without
getting into trouble. We all have a skeleton (or skeletons) in our closets, even if it's only that library book we forgot to
return. Regardless, the Ionger our tawdry secrets remain undetected, the longer we can tell ourselves we've gotten
away with them. Montresor is an exaggerated, over-the-top figure. He's the embodiment of the sneaky, vengeful part of
human beings. By examining these qualities in his extreme personality, we can better analyze some of the less pleasant
aspects of our own. lf we pretend we can't relate to Montresor ot o//, we miss this opportunity for self-reflection.
Confessing or Bragging-This is another area where we can totally identify with Montresor. Critics have been arguing for
a hundred years over whether Montresor is confessing his sins or bragging about his crimes. We say it's probably a bit of
both.And this is something we can all relate to. Sometimes we get away with something that other people think is wrong
but that we don't think is wrong. Other times, we know what we did is wrong, and we wish somebody would find out so
we can somehow try to make things right.ln both cases, we would love to tell somebody. When we brag, we want
somebody to pat us on the back. When we confess, we want forgiveness; we want to be free of the burden of our
secrets. And sometimes, we may not even know whether we are bragging or confessing until after we tell. 5o, whether
you think Montresor is confessing, bragging, or some combination of the two, you can relate to his desire to tell what
he's done, after all of this time.
Fortunato
Character Analysis-At first glance, Fortunato seems easier to identify with than Montresor. lt's much simpler to relate to
the victim than to the victimizer. But, in some ways, he seems even more foreign to the reader than Montresor. part of
this is because Montresor is telling us the story, and he doesn't give us much information on his prey.
As you surely noticed, Montresor doesn't
tell us how Fortunato hurt him, nor how he insulted him. So we can't really say
whether Fortunato's punishment fits his crime.lf we get hung up on trying to figure out if Fortunato deserved to die that
way, we might miss out on one of the stoq/s big8est riddles: just what are Fortunato's weak points? Montresor gives us
his opinion - Fortunato's a little too conceited about his knowledge of wine - but that's not his only fatal
flaw.
Th€ Cask of Amontillado Theme of Foolishness and Folly
In "The Cask of Amontillado" foolishness and folly can cost you your life. The story amplifies human foolishness and folly
to extremes so hideous and cruel they become vices. "The Cask" only has two characters. By the end of the story, their
combined silliness culminates in tragedy and pain for them both. The tragedy is what makes us think more profoundly
about their foolish ways - in the hopes that we can avoid ending up, even in some metaphorical way, like them.
fhe Cask of Amontillado Theme ot Betayal
Betrayal drives the action in "The Cask of Amontillado." One character's betrayal sets off a hideous chain of retribution,
enacted below ground in a mass grave. Behind all this revenge and death, the story is about trust. Without trust there
can be no betrayal. The story has much to do wlth the lengths human being will go to feel better when they feel
betrayed - and the tragedy that comes when those lengths hit murderous extremes.
The cask of Amontillado Theme of Drugs and Alcohol
The only literal drug we see in "The Cask of Amontillado" is wine. But there are many other drugs circulating between
the lines. "Drugs," in this story, can be anything the characters want badly enough to do awful or foolish things for. The
story's author, Edgar Allan Poe, struggled with drugs and alcohol. His struggle is carefully woven into this complicated
narrative, which can be read as a gruesome allegory for addiction.
The Cask of Amontillado Theme of Mortality
"The Cask of Amontillado" has a frightening fixation on death, corpses, and bones. Edgar Allan Poe's last short story,
written only a few years before his death, is a precise and compact expression of anxieties concerning mortality. But
don't worry
-
Poe injects plenty of humor into all the doom and gloom. And in the end, we all feel a little happier
to be
alive.
fhe cask of Amontallado Theme of Freedom and Confinement
The contrast between freedom and confinement is extreme in "The Cask of Amontillado." For one character to be free,
another must die. Most of the story takes place in a vast and incredibly foul smelling catacomb, or underground
graveyard. Dead bodies (or at least bones) abound. Freedom becomes less and less of a possibility as the characters
move into smaller and smaller crypts, each one more disgusting than the last. Such confinement makes both the readers
and the characters appreciate the deliciousness of fresh air. Hopefully, it makes us, the readers, think more deeply about
what makes us feel trapped, and what makes us feelfree.
The Cask of Amontiltado Theme of Foolishness and Folly
ln "The Cask of Amontillado" foolishness and folly can cost you your life. The story amplifies human foolishness and folly
to extremes so hideous and cruel they become vices. "The Cask" only has two characters. By the end of the story, their
combined silliness culminates in tragedy and pain for them both. The tragedy is what makes us think more profoundly
about their foolish ways - in the hopes that we can avoid ending up, even in some metaphorical way, Iike them.
The Cask of Amontillado Summary
How lt All Goes Down
The story is told in first person, so we don't explicitly learn the narrato/s name until near the end. Until then, we'll call
him "the narrator." Here we go.
The narrator begins by telling us that Fortunato has hurt him. Even worse, Fortunato has insulted him. The narrator must
get 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 brandy 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. Apparently, that's
where the narrator 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.
Eventually, Fortunato walks into a man-sized hole that's part of the 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.
The Cask of Amontillado Plot Analysis
Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax,
suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
lnitial Situation
An insult, and a vow of revenge-Fortunato and Montresor have a history, and a painful one at that. Fortunato has
wounded Montresor a "thousand" times. Montresor never complains. But one day, Fortunato goes too far: he insults
Montresor, and Montresor vows revenge.
Conflict
How to make things righl - lorever-For Montresor to revenge himself for Fortunato's insult, he has to get away
with it
if Fortunato can revenge him back, then Montresor has lost. The punishment must be permonent Fortunato
has to feel
it, and he has to know it's coming from Montresor.
-
Complication
It's almost too easy...There really isn't much complication. After a few carefully dropped
hints from Montresor (think
"Amontillado" and "Luchesi"), Fortunato insists on following Montresor
down into the underground graveyard of your
worst nightmares' Montresor baits him and plays with him, but Fortunato
never considers tur-ning back until it,s way too
Climax
Trapped in a conveniently man-sized space!-Montresor brings up Luchesi, Fortunato calls Luchesi an "ignoramus," and
boom ! He's chained inside an upright casket in the foulest depths of the catacomb ! That's the story's big, explosive
moment,
Susoense
Brick by brick by brick,..Montresor is building a wol/ of suspense, especially if you are Fortunato. Fortunato's watching
himself being bricked in, waiting, breathlessly to see if this is some kind of really creepy carnivaljoke.
Denouement
The final brick-After Montresor puts in the final brlck, the suspense is dissolved. He's heard the pitiful jingle of
Fortunato's bells, and it means nothing to him. As soon as the air is used up in the tiny brick cosket, Fortunato will be
dead.
Conclusion
Looking back-lt's impossible to know how old Montresor ls when he kills Fortunato, but in the second to the last line of
the story, we learn that the murder happened fifty years ago. So Montresor is probably pushing eighty when he's telling
the story. And he could be far more ancient. More importantly, this conclusion lets us know that Montresor has gotten
away with his crime so far. His vengeance has been a success, and he wants us to know it.
the
Cask of Amontillado Setting
Where lt All Goes Down
An undergtound catacomb, somewhere in ltaly, during the carnival season
The setting in "The cask," and in most Horror or Gothic Fiction, has a special purpose: to suggest freedom or
confinement, in harmony or opposition to the freedom or confinement of the characters. This is called the "Gothic
lnterior." Most people go back and forth between feeling free and feeling trapped. The Gothic lnterior is meant to make
us hyperaware of these emotions through careful attention to the setting.
When we look at the settlngs of "The Cask," we can see that the story has a distinct movement trom freedom to
confinement.
at least not in an
First, let,s start with the country. ltaly doesn't directly factor into this formula of the Gothic lnterior,
The costle ol
obvious way. lt might have somethinS to do with the guy who wrote the first explicitly "Gothic" story,
it was a
that
Otronto: A Gothic Story. That guy is Horace Walpole, and when he first published Otranto, he claimed
that he wrote it
translation of an old ltalian manuscript he found. When the story became a huge success, he confessed
himself.
ln a nutshell, it's about a giant gold
Not so coincidentally, Otronto has much to do with freedom and confinement.
ltalian setting is probably Poe's nod to Walpole'
helmet falling from the sky and trapping a guy underneath it So, the
The carnival is a literal celebration of
The carnival season and the Montresor family catacomb are a bit more direct.
freedom,whichbothMontresorandFortunatoareparticipatinginatthebeginningofthestory.
As they journey through the catacom b, Montresor and Fortunato move into smaller and smaller
-
-
and fouler and fouler
spaces. This suggesting that, as they travel farther away from fresh air, they are also moving further away from
freedom.
Fortunato is eventually trapped in a space that represents the opposite of freedom: he's chained up and bricked inside
man-sized crypt with no air and no way out. You can certainly argue that Montresor presents a contrast to Fortunato's
fate in that he finds freedom at the end of the story: he is alive.
a
Montresor is free to do as he wishes. lronically, what he wishes to do is tell this story. Which means that the story has
him trapped. He can't forget it, and he has to talk about it. ln his mind, he's still down there in the hole with Fortunato
The Cask of Amontillado Narrator:
Who
is
the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
First Person (Central Narrator)
Montresor is our vile narrator. He is dedicated to his own polnt of view, which is cold, merciless, brutal, conniving, and
vengeful. He doesn't mind telling us about his torture and murder of Fortunato; indeed, he thinks what he did was the
just, right way to handle the situation.Given his brutality and insensitivity, lt might surprise you to learn that Montresor's
point of view also involves poetry and writing. A quick look at Poe's philosophy of fiction writing will help you see how
we come to this conclusion.
ln addition to the idea of "secret writing," which we discuss in "What's Up With the Title," Poe was very concerned with
the form his stories should take. He wanted each story to be a little puzzle, with all sorts of hidden pieces we have to try
to pick out ourselves. You can see this idea in the tight structure of 'The Cask." Poe also believed that lyric poetry, or
poetry that "is characterized by the expression of the poet's innermost feelings, thoughts, and imagination" was the
highest form of writin8, and he wanted to bring short story writing up to the level of lyric poetry.
When we take aIlthat into account, Montresor's confession/brag-fest begins to look suspiciously meta-fictional. Metafiction means that a story or a moment in the story comments on the writing process in some way. lt tells us how the
author feels about writing.
Ihc
Cdsk of Arrorrtrllado Ccnrr:
Horror or 6othic Fiction; Literary Fiction; quest; Tragedy
You don't need us to tell you "The Cask" is Horror or Gothic
- the whole story is about two guys walking through a vast
underground graveyard, in the middle of the night, getting drunker and drunker. And somebody is getting
walled in a
hole. That scares us- But what scares us in Poe is what makes'The Cask" Literary Fiction as well. poe
doesn,t show us
the violence in the story; there is no blood and no guts or gore - it's all in the psychology. ,,The Cask,, presents
a bizarre
psychological study of two creepy men. Both men are on a quest. Fortunato
wants the Amontillado, and Montresor
wants Fortunato to feel his revenge. And where there is revenge, there is usually tragedy
- meaning somebody dies in
the end 'Because Montresor is the guy telling the story, he becomes symbolic of the writer
and is likely to have some of
the writer's habits - and here we mean both the literal writer, in this case poe, and, in
the larger sense, any person who
is driven to express themselves by writing. This isn't necessarily true
of all first person narratives, but in Montreso/s
case, it's abundantlv clear - even if we don,t know poe,s ohilosoohv.
Look at the names. Montresor, and Fortunato. Do those sound like real people to you? Of course not, because
Montresor is makinB it all up and he wants us to know it. (See "Symbols, lmagery, Allegony'' and the Montresor Family's
"Character Analysis" to find out why we think this.)
ln addition to being phony, the names are rhythmic, song-like, and should remind us of Poe and poetry. For-tu-na-to.
Mon-tre-sor. These are names to be sung, said out loud, like poetry. Amontillado is the only name not invented by
Montresor, and it has that same quality A-mon- ti -lla -do - it almost seems like a combination of Montresor and
Fortunato. lt rhymes with Fortunato, and it shares a mon, which can mean both the possessive "mine" or "mound" or
"mountain." This might suggest positive feelings about the craft of writing.
On the other hand, as we say in the beginning, Montresor's point of view is also extremely hideous and vile. Which
suggests that maybe Poe had some mixed feelings about writing. His writer is a murderer. From a meta-fictional
perspective, Poe, through Montresor, might be asking if fictionalizing one's own experience, or the experience of others,
cheapens, or even destroys the experience. lt suggests that he fears that the very process of writing is somehow violent.
The Cask of Amontillado Tone
Take a story's temperature by studying its tone. ls it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?
Creepy, Elegant, and Funny
Montresor describes the mounds of bones and stench of human remains so elegantly, it almost sounds beautiful. The
following passage is a good example:
We possed through o ronge of low orches, descended, passed on, ond descending ogoin, orrived ot o deep crypt, in which
the foulness of the oir coused our flombeaux [torches
- pronounced "flom-bow"] rother to glow thon flome.
out loud. Doesn't it sound pretty? See how it moves? See how "flambeaux" rhymes with glow? Perhaps the
beauty makes it scarier.
Read it
The creepily humorous tone also adds to our engagement in the story. ln addition to being entertaining, Montreso/s
sinister (and usually somewhat lame) jokes (like the one about how he gets his servants out of the house in paragraph
24) make us believe, for a moment, that everything is going be OK. lf we can still laugh, it must not be so bad. When
things get rough for Fortunato, we feel a little guilty for having laughed before.
The Cask of Amontillado Writing Style
lronic-trony probably doesn't sound very terrifying, but irony contributes hugely to the spine-tingling power of "The
to talk
Cask.,, you can find irony in every line of the story.Critic and teacher Charles N. Nevi says that it's a crime not
means
the
about irony when talking about "The Cask." lrony basically means that somebody says one thin& but
be gone."
opposite. A good example is when there is only one stone left to fit into the wall, and Fortunato says, "Let us
and
bricks
layers
of
going
those
all
is
to
undo
This is ironic because he'd have to be a complete foolto think Montresor
let him out. He's hoping against hope.
Fortunato with his irony - and has been all
Montresor's reply is even more ironic, "Yes, let us be gone." He's torturing
we never know if he means if he means what he says'
along. come to think of it, he's been torturing us with irony, too.
production, but rather, the use of language in a playful way' ln
lrony is a kind of "play." we aren't talking about a stage
this case, the stylistic play is twisted and creepy'
what's Up With the Title?
The title of this grim tale has an unusual ring to it. lt doesn't sound like anything we've ever heard before. lt's a mystery.
But nothing to be scared of.
We'll start with "Amontillado". Literolly, it's an alcoholic beverage, closely related to sherry. Unless people have read
Poe's story, or are wine connoisseurs, they probably haven't heard of it, much less seen a cask of it.
Casks, by the way, are barrels for storing wine or other drinks, and they come in many sizes. Montresor tells Fortunato
he has a "pipe of what passes for Amontillado." ln this context, "pipe" and "cask" mean the same thing. As you may
have suspected, "cas(' also literolly means "casket." This is important because, though Fortunato seeks a cosk of
Amontillado, he finds a casket of deoth.
Now that we know the literal meaning of the tltle (barrel of wine) we can try to get at the figurotive meaning ot
meanings. Why are we so sure there are figurative meanings? Because Poe says there are. About now, we should
mention that Poe was very into what he called "secret writing."
The idea of "secret writingf is pretty simple: You've done something terrible, or something terrible is happening to you.
You have to tell somebody.Soyou write a letter to a friend. But, you want to make sure that if the wrong people
intercept your letter, they won't be able to understand it. To solve this dark dilemma, you must write your letter in code.
On the surface, your letter is about one thing. Underneath, or between the lines, it's about something else entirely.
Here's another hint: Poe's stories are strongly psychological. Everything in a Poe story represents an aspect
ofthe
human mind.
tell us whot they are. We have to figure them out for
ourselves, but he gives us lots of (really disgusting) clues! One way to get at this mysterious Amontillado is to consider
what it means to each of our two characters.
Poe tells us that there are figurative meanings, but he doesn't
For Fortunato, Amontillado symbolizes pleasure and enjoyment in the extreme. He's willing to travel through the
nastiest graveyards to get what he wants. He would probably do just about anything for it, but it betrays him. ln the end,
for Fortunato, Amontillado means imprisonment by his own desires. He's trapped, and he can't do anything but die
-
though, alternatively, death can be considered freedom from desire.
For Montresor, Amontillado means something slightly different. lnstead of being ruled by it, he uses it to get what he
wants, which is the powerto make Fortunato feel his revenge - permanently. ln the end, Montresor is freed from his
desire
- for revenge,
at least. But is he really free?
What's Up With the Ending?
Edgar Allan Poe claimed that a writer shouldn't put pen
to paper until he knows the ending (source). "The Cask" is a
shocking example of this idea in action. There are tons of significant aspects of Poe's ending. We'll get at some of the
bigger ones.First, Fortunato finally reveals Montresor's name; we now know that he is, or claims to be, part of the
Montresor family buried in the catacombs. (See "Character Clues," and the Montresor Family's "Character Analysis" for
the significance of his name.)Second, the jingling of Fortunato's bells is pretty important. As Montresor fills in the fatal
wall and Fortunato sobers up, Fortunato cries out and rattles his chains, laughing nervously at Montresor's "excellent
jest." When the penny finally drops, Fortunato's pleas get more and more desperatel. "For the love of God, Montresor!"
But Montresor meets all of Fortunato's beBging with mockery, leaving Fortunato horribly silent.
Terrorized, Fortunato knows there is no way out: the final stone will be inserted, and his air will soon run out.
Nonetheless, he can't stop - Fortunato must assert that he still lives. The jingling is a last ditch effort at communication
that makes Fortunato's death (which we only hear off screen) all the more poignant - it shows us what he's been
reduced to.
Third, and just as chillin& if not more so, is Montresor's failure to be sickened by Fortunato's jingling. when he says, "My
heart Brew sick -," he teases us cruelly - i la Patrick Bateman. The next few words ("on account of the dampness of the
catacombs")tell us that he isn't slck because of his crime; he's bragging that he got away with it. Unless you think he's
just hiding his real feelings of remorse.
Now for the final line: "ln poce requ,?scof (89). This means, "may he rest in peace." Critic Elena V. Baraban points out:
"The phrase is used in the Requiem Mass and during Last Rites" (source.) lt's what a priest says to a dying person, after
the dying person confesses his sins. By saying this phrase, a priest can forgive the dying for everything he or she has
done wrong. Baraban claims that this proves Montreso/s story isn't his own confession. lnstead, he's taking on the role
of priest, forglving Fortunato for hrb sins, which Fortunato can't confess on his own, because (obviously) he's dead.
Totally creepy.
lf Montresor is sincere, and means the words literally, then
maybe he feels sorry for what he did, and really wants Fortunato to rest in peace. What do you think? For more
discussion on this, see Montreso/s "Character Analysis."
Unless Montresor really means that "may he rest in peace?"
The Cask ol Amontillado as Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis: Tragedy Plot
Christopher Booker ls a scholar who wrote that every story falls into one of seven basic plot structures: Overcoming the
Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. Shmoop explores which of these
structures fits this story like Cinderella's slipper.
Plot Type
:
Anticipation Stage-Amontillado!
Fortunato is reveling in the carnival spirit, but it's not enouBh. When he hears that Montresor has "a pipe of what passes
for Amontillado," his "energies," as Booker would say, "have found a focus'"
Dream stage-Ahhh...Amontillado!
Montresor is getting Fortunato really drunk. Fortunato must be taking this as a sign that Montresor is truly leading
Fortunato to his heart's desire - the best drink of all, Amontillado.
Frustration Stage-The trowel
Fortunato begins to suspect that things might not be going as planned, when Montresor shows him the trowel. He has
to step back, perceiving for a moment what Booker calls a "shadow figure," some force threatening the hero. But then
he brushes off his fear and continues the hunt for Amontillado
Ni8htmare Stage-'For the love ol God, Montresor!'
Fortunato finally understands what Montresor is doin& and he screams, cries, and begs. He's getting walled up in a hole.
No Amontillado. He even brings up God. And Lady Fortunato. But none of this sways Montresor in the slightest.
Destruction or Death Wish Stage-The jingling of bells...
That finaljingle of bells is signal that Fortunato has accepted his situation for what it is. Only when he communicates his
utter resignation does Montresor insert the final brick. Fortunato has finally "felt" Montresor, and thus Montresor can
kill him. Fortunato's final communication with Montresor is the "final act," as Booker says, that "destroys the hero."
Three-Acl Plot Analysis
For a three-act plot analysis, put on your screenwrite/s hat. Moviemakers know the formula well: at the end of Act One,
the main character is drawn in completely to a conflict. During Act Two, she is farthest away from her goals. At the end
of Act Three, the story is resolved.
Act
I
Montresor thinks Fortunato insulted him, and he vows to wreak a terrible vengeance on the man.
Act ll
He lures Fortunato down underground, into the foul catacombs of the Montresor family, with the promise of
Amontillado. Then he gets Fortunato really drunk.
Act
lll
After a long and drunken journey with lots of human remains, including piles of bones, Fortunato walks into a hole in the
wall. Montresor proceeds to chain him up and brick him in. After that we learn that the whole thing actually happened
fifty years ago...