SHORT STORY SUMMARY
 TITLE:
“The Cask of Amontillado”
 AUTHOR: Edgar Allan Poe
 SETTING (Time and Place): Italy,
late 1700’s-early 1800’s during
Carnival
CHARACTERS (List and
describe on separate lines):
Fortunato – drunk, wealthy, respected,
feared, has a bad cold, wine expert,
prideful, stubborn, insulted Montresor
 Montresor – deceptive, wants revenge
against Fortunato, wealthy, cunning,
devious, his family’s coat of arms is a foot
crushing a snake

 Montresor
SUMMARY:
has been insulted by
Fortunato and vows to get revenge
without suffering from harm or
punishment. He finds Fortunato at
Carnival, who has been drinking, and
entices him to follow him home and
verify the contents of a cask of rare
wine.
Summary continued
 He
shackles him to a wall in the
family catacombs and builds a wall
around him leaving him to die.
POINT OF VIEW:
 This
short story is told from the first
person point of view. Montresor
tells the story 50 years later.
Conflict
 Internal
– Montresor vs. himself -
He can’t forgive the insult
 External – Montresor vs.
Fortunato - Montresor wants
revenge and leaves Fortunato to die
in the catacombs of his house
SYMBOLS
 Bells
–happiness/Carnival/foolishness
 End of bells ringing – death, Death
toll
 Montresor crest and motto –
killing the enemy that attacks the
family
Symbols continued…
 Amontillado
– trickery, deception,
lure, pride, weakness
 Trowel – helps in the construction of
Fortuanto’s tomb
THEME
 1.
Revenge is sweet.
 2. Be careful of what you say and
who you offend.
 3. What goes around comes around
(Karma).
Other Literary Elements
 Flashback
– The narrator is telling
the story after 50 years has passed.
 Foreshadowing – Family crest and
motto, “I shall not die of a cough”,
toast to a long life.
Other Literary Elements cont’d
 Mood
–dark, dreary, damp, death
 Verbal Irony – “luckily met’, “man
to be missed” “rest in peace,” “toast
to a long life”
 Irony – the name Fortunato
(fortunate)
PLOT DEVELOPMENT CHART
 EXPOSITION:
Meet Narrator,
Montresor, learn he has something
against Fortunato and vows revenge
 NARRATIVE HOOK: Fortunato
agrees to follow Montresor to the
vault.
Plot Development Chart…
RISING ACTION: Montresor lures
Fortunato deeper into the catacombs,
taunting him and teasing him the entire
time without Fortunato being aware.
 CLIMAX: Montresor chains Fortunato to
the wall and begins to build up a wall
around him.

Plot Development Chart…
 FALLING
ACTION: Montresor gets a
cold chill after hearing bells.
Fortunato does not reply.
 RESOLUTION: 50 years later,
Fortunato’s bones are untouched.
Montresor is still around to tell the
story.
QUOTATION
INTERPRETATION:
 Quote
–
 “A man that studieth revenge keeps
his own wounds green.”
 In
Quote Interpretation …
your own words, explain what
this quote means to you – A
person that spends all of his time
thinking about and trying to get
revenge will keep the hurt fresh in his
mind. “Green” meaning new, fresh
young.
Quote Interpretation …
 How
does this quote relate to the
story you just read? Montresor
was able to get revenge without
being caught or punished, but was he
ever able to forget or forgive what
Fortunato did?
Quote Interpretation …

State one literary element–
Flashback- The narrator tells the
story in the form of a flashback. The
retelling of the story 50 years later
may suggest he regrets some of his
actions and decisions, or it might
suggest he is still proud of the fact
that he got away with it.