Introduction
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a short story by Alan Edgar Poe, first published in 1864 and part of an unofficial collection of stories about murderers’ confessions. The story tells of a deep grievance and the place the narrator chose: walling up a corpse. Grim themes have always been part of Poe’s stories, but it is no longer a detective story but a mystery of actual events. The true motives of the perpetrator are unknown to the reader; the truth of each character in the story is different. Did Montresor experience thousands of humiliations? The narrator’s revenge is cold and personal, laden with resentment and humiliation. The story is a gothic tale of brutal vengeance and horror that has overtaken the abuser.
Montresor’s Madness as a Subject of Debate on Equal Punishment
Amontillado is a type of wine that became widely known after the story of A. E. Poe. Amontillado in the story is a temptation and a subject of lies and sin. Montresor, who harbors a grudge, lures his friend into the dungeon on the pretext of trying the wine to exact revenge and make him pay for all the humiliation he has suffered. The story begins with Montresor’s grief: “the thousand injuries of Fortunato” (Poe, 2021, line 1). The carefully prepared revenge plan is cruel, so Montresor executes it during carnival: in the bright, lighted streets, no one will notice the drunks. The narrator rightly assumes that no one will follow them. He also prepares for his estate: all the servants will flee during the festivities, the house will be deserted, and everything will work out as he plans.
Initially, the story is evaluated from Montresor’s point of view: all the wrongs and humiliations may not have existed. Mistrustfulness is a characteristic of the outlaw, but calculating and cunning, on the other hand, enabled him to carry out his plan. Montresor is a striking figure whose act evokes condemnation and not a shred of understanding. The insult and humiliation, a thousand acts of Fortunato, came at a high price, and Montresor dared to take the sin of his friend’s death on his soul.
Montresor’s mind is unclouded, his thoughts understandable and straightforward to the narrator, even though there are no reasons or reasonable grounds for violent revenge. Fortunato is an unflattering character who may indeed have inflicted deep hurt on the narrator. In the novella, as “The Cask…” is often called, he is fond of wine, luxury, and excess. He calls himself a wine connoisseur, but he gets drunk and succumbs to Montresor’s tricks, to whom this is to his advantage. The finale of this behavior is obvious: Fortunato is shackled and left for more than half a century (Poe, 2021, line 206). Montresor is not constrained by the boundaries of permissibility and he boldly oversteps them.
Conclusion
The story of “The Cask” is really about it: the chains shackled Fortunato, and the terms of his imprisonment were like the conditions for storing fine wines. The narrator’s confession was made available for the judgment of idle people, making readers unwitting accomplices. Montresor’s resentment is deep, but it is probably caused by his madness rather than the actual humiliation of his friend. Montresor’s cruelty reflected on the unfortunate Fortunato, and revenge was exacted under the carnival lights. Gothic motifs have always accompanied A. E. Poe, so the classic horror and fear were the guides in “The Cask of Amontillado”.
Reference
Poe, A. E. (2021). Edgar Allan Poe: The complete collection. Kindle Edition.