The Cask Of Amontillado Revenge

Brusque story by Edgar Allan Poe

The Cask of Amontillado
by Edgar Allan Poe
Analogy of "The Cask of Amontillado" past Harry Clarke, 1919
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Horror short story
Publication type	Journal
Publisher	Godey's Lady's Book
Media type	Print (Magazine)
Publication date	Nov 1846

"The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado" [a.mon.ti.ˈʝa.ðo]) is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Volume. The story, set in an unnamed Italian city at carnival time in an unspecified yr, is about a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes, has insulted him. Similar several of Poe'south stories, and in keeping with the 19th-century fascination with the subject, the narrative revolves effectually a person beingness buried alive – in this instance, by immurement. Equally in "The Black Cat" and "The Tell-Tale Centre", Poe conveys the story from the murderer'south perspective.

Montresor invites Fortunato to sample amontillado that he has just purchased without proving its actuality. Fortunato follows him into the Montresor family vaults, which also serve as catacombs. For unknown reasons, Montresor seeks revenge upon Fortunato and is actually luring him into a trap. At the end of the story, the narrator reveals that 50 years accept passed since he took revenge and Fortunato's body has not been disturbed.

Scholars have noted that Montresor'south reasons for revenge are unclear and that he may but be insane. However, Poe besides leaves clues that Montresor has lost his family's prior status and blames Fortunato. Further, Fortunato is depicted as an skilful on wine, which Montresor exploits in his plot, merely he does non display the type of respect towards alcohol expected of such experts. Poe may have been inspired to write the story by his own real-life desire for revenge against gimmicky literary rivals. The story has been frequently adapted in multiple forms since its original publication.

Plot summary [edit]

Fortunato and Montresor drink in the catacombs. 1935 Illustration past Arthur Rackham

The story's narrator, Montresor, tells an unspecified person, who knows him very well, of the day he took his revenge on Fortunato (Italian for "the fortunate one"), a fellow nobleman. Angry over numerous injuries and some unspecified insult, Montresor plots to murder his "friend" during Carnival, while the man is boozer, light-headed, and wearing a jester's motley.

Montresor lures Fortunato into a individual wine-tasting excursion past telling him he has obtained a piping (nigh 130 gallons, or 492 litres) of what he believes to be a rare vintage of amontillado. He proposes obtaining confirmation of the pipe's contents by inviting a beau wine aficionado, Luchesi, for a private tasting. Montresor knows Fortunato will not be able to resist demonstrating his discerning palate for wine and will insist that he taste the amontillado rather than Luchesi who, as he claims, "cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry". Fortunato goes with Montresor to the vino cellars of the latter's palazzo, where they wander in the catacombs. Montresor offers wine (first Médoc, then De Grave) to Fortunato in order to proceed him inebriated. Montresor warns Fortunato, who has a bad cough, of the dampness, and suggests they go dorsum, only Fortunato insists on continuing, claiming that he "shall non dice of a cough". During their walk, Montresor mentions his family glaze of arms: a gold human foot in a blueish groundwork crushing a snake whose fangs are embedded in the foot's heel, with the motto Nemo me impune lacessit ("No ane provokes me with impunity").

At 1 betoken, Fortunato makes an elaborate, grotesque gesture with an upraised wine bottle. When Montresor appears non to recognize the gesture, Fortunato asks, "You are non of the masons?" Montresor says he is, and when Fortunato, disbelieving, requests a sign, Montresor displays a trowel he had been hiding. When they come to a niche, Montresor tells his victim that the Amontillado is within. Fortunato enters drunk and unsuspecting and therefore, does not resist as Montresor quickly chains him to the wall. Montresor and then declares that, since Fortunato won't go back, Montresor must "positively leave" him there.

Montresor reveals brick and mortar, previously hidden amid the basic nearby, and gain to wall upwardly the niche using his trowel, entombing his friend alive. At first, Fortunato, who sobers up faster than Montresor predictable, shakes the chains, trying to escape. Fortunato then screams for help, only Montresor mocks his cries, knowing nobody can hear them. Fortunato laughs weakly and tries to pretend that he is the subject of a joke and that people volition exist waiting for him (including the Lady Fortunato). As Montresor finishes the topmost row of stones, Fortunato wails, "For the love of God, Montresor!" to which Montresor replies, "Aye, for the dearest of God!" He listens for a reply only hears merely the jester's bells ringing. Earlier placing the final stone, he drops a burning torch through the gap. He claims that he feels sick at middle, simply dismisses this reaction equally an effect of the dampness of the catacombs.

In the last few sentences, Montresor reveals that 50 years later, Fortunato's body nevertheless hangs from its chains in the niche where he left it. The murderer concludes: In footstep requiescat! ("May he residue in peace!").

Publication history [edit]

"The Cask of Amontillado" was first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book,^[i] which was, at the time, the nearly pop periodical in America.^[2] The story was only published ane additional fourth dimension during Poe's life, in the Nov xiv, 1846 New England Weekly Review.^[three]

Analysis [edit]

Although the subject affair of Poe'south story is a murder, "The Cask of Amontillado" is not a tale of detection similar "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" or "The Purloined Letter"; there is no investigation of Montresor's crime and the criminal himself explains how he committed the murder. The mystery in "The Cask of Amontillado" is in Montresor's motive for murder. Without a detective in the story, it is up to the reader to solve the mystery.^[four] From the outset of the story, it is made clear that Montresor has exaggerated his grievances towards Fortunato. The reader is led to assume that much like his exaggerated grievances, the punishment he chooses will represent what he believes is equal justice, and in turn, going to the farthermost.^[5]

Montresor never specifies his motive beyond the vague "thousand injuries" and "when he ventured upon insult" to which he refers. Some context is provided, including Montresor'due south observation that his family once was keen (but no longer then), and Fortunato'southward belittling remarks almost Montresor's exclusion from Freemasonry. Many commentators conclude that, lacking significant reason, Montresor must be insane, though even this is questionable considering of the intricate details of the plot.^[4]

There is also evidence that Montresor is well-nigh as clueless about his motive for revenge as his victim.^[vi] In his recounting of the murder, Montresor notes, "A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong". After Fortunato is chained to the wall and nearly entombed alive, Montresor merely mocks and mimics him, rather than disclosing to Fortunato the reasons backside his exacting revenge. Montresor may not take been entirely certain of the exact nature of the insults for which he expected Fortunato to atone.^[6]

Additional scrutiny into the vague injuries and insults may have to practise with a unproblematic thing of Montresor's pride and not any specific words from Fortunato.^[7] Montresor comes from an established family. His house had once been noble and respected, but has fallen slightly in status. Fortunato, as his proper noun would seem to betoken, has been blessed with good fortune and wealth and is, therefore, viewed as unrefined past Montresor; withal, this lack of refinement has non stopped Fortunato from surpassing Montresor in lodge, which could very well be the "insult" motive for Montresor's revenge.^[7]

There is indication that Montresor blames his unhappiness and loss of respect and dignity within lodge on Fortunato.^[viii] Information technology is piece of cake to ascertain that Fortunato is a Freemason, while Montresor is not, which could be the source of Fortunato's contempo ascension into upper form club. Montresor even imparts this arraign to Fortunato when he states, "You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as one time I was". This interchanging of fortunes is a suggestion that, since the names Montresor and Fortunato mirror one another, there is a psychological reciprocal identification between victim and executioner.^[eight] This identification reciprocity is farther suggested when one takes into consideration that Montresor entombs Fortunato in the Montresor family unit catacombs rather than dispatching him elsewhere in the metropolis amidst the chaos of the Funfair. It is with this converging of the two characters that 1 is able to see the larger symbolism of the Montresor crest – the foot steps on the serpent while the serpent forever has his fangs embedded in the heel.^[viii]

Upon further investigation into the true nature of graphic symbol, double meaning tin can exist derived from the Montresor crest.^[six] It is the position of Montresor to view himself equally the owner of the righteous foot that is crushing the insolent Fortunato serpent and his "thousand injuries" that progress into insult. A more allegoric meaning of Poe'south places the actors in reverse.^[6] The bullheaded oaf Fortunato has unintentionally stepped upon the snake in the grass – the sneaky and cunning Montresor – who, as a reward for this accidental bruising, sinks his fangs deep into the heel of his offender, forever linking them in a form of mutual existence.^[6]

Though Fortunato is presented as a connoisseur of fine wine, his actions in the story make that assumption questionable. For instance, Fortunato comments on another nobleman being unable to distinguish amontillado from sherry when amontillado is in fact a type of sherry, and treats De Grave, an expensive French wine, with very fiddling regard by drinking it in a single gulp. A true wine connoisseur would never sample vino while intoxicated and it is implied inside the story that Fortunato is just an alcoholic. Nether this interpretation, Fortunato might have deserved to be buried alive for wasting a bottle of fine wine.^[9]

Immurement, a form of imprisonment, usually for life, in which a person is placed inside an enclosed space with no leave, is featured in several other works by Poe, including "The Autumn of the House of Usher", "The Premature Burial", "The Black Cat", and "Berenice".

Inspiration [edit]

An apocryphal fable holds that the inspiration for "The Cask of Amontillado" came from a story Poe had heard at Castle Island (South Boston), Massachusetts, when he was a individual stationed at Fort Independence in 1827.^[x] Co-ordinate to this legend, he saw a monument to Lieutenant Robert Massie. Historically, Massie had been killed in a sword duel on Christmas Day 1817 by Lieutenant Gustavus Drane, post-obit a dispute during a card game.^[eleven] The legend states other soldiers then took revenge on Drane by getting him drunk, luring him into the dungeon, chaining him to a wall, and sealing him in a vault.^[12] This version of Drane'south demise is false; Drane was courtmartialled for the killing and acquitted,^[11] and lived until 1846.^[13] A report of a skeleton discovered on the island may be a confused remembering of Poe's major source, Joel Headley's "A Man Built in a Wall",^[14] which recounts the author'southward seeing an immured skeleton in the wall of a church in Italy.^[fifteen] Headley'southward story includes details very similar to "The Cask of Amontillado"; in addition to walling an enemy into a hidden niche, the story details the careful placement of the bricks, the motive of revenge, and the victim'south agonized moaning. Poe may take also seen similar themes in Honoré de Balzac's La Grande Bretèche (Democratic Review, November 1843) or his friend George Lippard's The Quaker City, or The Monks of Monk Hall (1845).^[16] Poe may have borrowed Montresor's family unit motto Nemo me impune lacessit from James Fenimore Cooper, who used the line in The Concluding of the Mohicans (1826).^[17]

Poe wrote his tale, however, as a response to his personal rival Thomas Dunn English language. Poe and English had several confrontations, commonly revolving around literary caricatures of one another. Poe thought that 1 of English's writings went a bit too far, and successfully sued the other man'southward editors at the New York Mirror for libel in 1846.^[18] That twelvemonth, English published a revenge-based novel called 1844, or, The Power of the S.F. Its plot was convoluted and difficult to follow, just fabricated references to secret societies and ultimately had a primary theme of revenge. Information technology included a character named Marmaduke Hammerhead, the famous author of "The Black Crow", who uses phrases similar "Nevermore" and "lost Lenore", referring to Poe's verse form "The Raven". This parody of Poe was depicted as a drunkard, liar, and an abusive lover.

Poe responded with "The Cask of Amontillado", using very specific references to English language'due south novel. In Poe's story, for example, Fortunato makes reference to the secret society of Masons, similar to the hole-and-corner society in 1844, and even makes a gesture similar to one portrayed in 1844 (it was a indicate of distress). English language had besides used an image of a token with a hawk grasping a serpent in its claws, similar to Montresor'southward coat of arms bearing a pes stomping on a snake – though in this image, the snake is bitter the heel. In fact, much of the scene of "The Cask of Amontillado" comes from a scene in 1844 that takes place in a subterranean vault. In the finish, and so, it is Poe who "punishes with impunity" by not taking credit for his own literary revenge and by crafting a curtailed tale (equally opposed to a novel) with a singular upshot, as he had suggested in his essay "The Philosophy of Composition".^[19]

Poe may take also been inspired, at least in function, by the Washingtonian movement, a fellowship that promoted temperance. The grouping was made up of reformed drinkers who tried to scare people into abstaining from alcohol. Poe may take made a promise to join the movement in 1843 later on a bout of drinking with the hopes of gaining a political appointment. "The Cask of Amontillado" then may be a "nighttime temperance tale", meant to shock people into realizing the dangers of drinking.^[xx]

Poe scholar Richard P. Benton has stated his conventionalities that "Poe'due south protagonist is an Englished version of the French Montrésor" and has argued forcefully that Poe's model for Montresor "was Claude de Bourdeille, comte de Montrésor (Count of Montrésor), the 17th-century political conspirator in the entourage of King Louis XIII's weak-willed brother, Gaston d'Orléans".^[21] The "noted intriguer and memoir-writer" was first linked to "The Cask of Amontillado" past Poe scholar Burton R. Pollin.^[21] ^[22]

Farther inspiration for the method of Fortunato'southward murder comes from the fearfulness of alive burial. During the time period of this brusque story some coffins were given methods of alerting the outside in the event of live entombment. Items such as bells tied to the limbs of a corpse to betoken the exterior were not uncommon. This theme is evident in Fortunato's costume of a jester with bells upon his hat, and his situation of live entombment within the catacombs.^[8]

Poe may take known bricklaying through personal experience. Many periods in Poe's life lack significant biographical details, including what he did after leaving the Southern Literary Messenger in 1837.^[23] Poe biographer John H. Ingram wrote to Sarah Helen Whitman that someone named "Allen" said that Poe worked "in the brickyard 'late in the fall of 1834'". This source has been identified as Robert T. P. Allen, a boyfriend West Signal student during Poe'southward time in that location.^[24]

Adaptations [edit]

In 1944, the syndicated radio anthology serial The Weird Circle aired an episode based on the story, in which Montresor is depicted every bit being kidnapped and sold into years of slavery by agents hired past Fortunato, who steals his fiancee and wealth in his absenteeism, equally motive for entombing Fortunato alive. The writer of the adaptation was not credited.
In 1951, EC Comics published an adaptation in Crime Suspenstories #3, under the championship "Claret Reddish Wine." The adaptation was written by Al Feldstein, with fine art past Graham Ingels and a cover by Johnny Craig. The ending was inverse from Poe's original to show the murderer drown in wine moments after the crime, due to the walled-upwardly man having shot the vats of vino before being walled up, while aiming for the homo murdering him past walling him upwards. Information technology was reprinted in 1993 by Russ Cochran.
In 1951, Gilberton'due south Classics Illustrated #84 featured a true-blue accommodation, with fine art by Jim Lavery. It has been reprinted multiple times over the years.
In 1953, classical composer Julia Perry wrote a 1 human activity opera based on the story entitled The Bottle.^[25]
In 1959, 'The Cask of Amontillado' was retold through a Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar Episode, entitled The Cask of Death Matter. The episode was broadcast on May 24, 1959, and starred Bob Bailey every bit the eponymous Johnny Dollar.
In 1960, Editora Continental (Brazil) published an adaptation in Classicos De Terror #ane by Gedeone Malagola.
Roger Corman'southward 1962 anthology film Tales of Terror combines the story with another Poe story, "The Black True cat".^[26] This loosely adapted version is decidedly comic in tone, and stars Peter Lorre every bit Montresor (given the proper name Montresor Herringbone) and Vincent Cost as Fortunato Luchresi. The amalgamation of the two stories provides a motive for the murderer: Fortunato has an affair with Montresor'due south wife.
In 1970, Vincent Toll included a solo recitation of the story in the anthology film An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe. The production features Montresor recounting the story to an unseen guest in a vast, empty dining room.
"The Merciful", a 1971 episode of Nighttime Gallery, features the story with a twist: an old couple in a basement, with the wife (Imogene Coca) building the wall and quoting from the Poe story, while the hubby (King Donovan) sits passively in a rocking chair. Once she has finished, he gets up from the chair and walks upward the stairs. The wife has sealed herself in.
In 1974, Skywald did an adaptation in Scream #5. Adaptation past Al Hewetson, fine art by "Maro Nava" (a possible pseudonym for Jerry Grandenetti). In 1989, this was reprinted by Eternity Comics in Murders In The Rue Morgue #1.
In 1975, CBS Radio Mystery Theater did an extended adaptation which invented new details not original to the story, episode number 203, January 12, 1975.
In 1975, Warren did an adaptation in Creepy #70. Adaptation by Rich Margopoulos, art by Martin Salvador. This has been reprinted multiple times over the years.
In 1976, The Alan Parsons Project released an album titled Tales of Mystery and Imagination with i of the tracks chosen "The Cask of Amontillado".
"The Cask of Amontillado" was made into a British film in 1998, directed by Mario Cavalli, screenplay by Richard Deakin and starring Anton Blake every bit Montresor and Patrick Monckton equally Fortunato.^[27]
In 2003, Lou Reed included an adaptation on the extended edition of his Poe-themed album The Raven, titled "The Cask" and performed past Willem Dafoe (as Montresor) and Steve Buscemi (as Fortunato).
Edgar Allan Poe'due south The Cask of Amontillado (2011) stars David JM Bielewicz and Frank Tirio, Jr. Information technology was directed past Thad Ciechanowski, produced by Joe Serkoch, by production company DijitMedia, LLC/Orionvega. It was a winner of 2013 regional Emmy Accolade.^[28]
In 2013, Lance Tait's stage adaptation located the action of the story in Nice, France.^[29]
in 2014, Keith Carradine starred in Terroir, a feature-length film adaptation past John Charles Jopson.
In 2014, the Comedy Bang! Blindside! Telly series included a parody adaptation in a segment titled "Tragedy is Comedy Plus Slime" in their Halloween episode with Wayne Coyne. In this version, Fortunato is kept alive and is paid as the prove'due south head writer while remaining immured.
The fourth episode in flavor 9 American Masters titled Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul adapts the story.^[xxx]
On October 17, 2017, Udon Amusement's Manga Classics line published The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe, which included a manga format adaptation of "The Cask of Amontillado". Information technology was planned to release in Spring 2017.^[31]

References [edit]

^ Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. Checkmark Books. p. 45. ISBN0-8160-4161-X.
^ Reynolds, David F. (1993). "Poe'southward Art of Transformation: 'The Cask of Amontillado' in Its Cultural Context". In Silverman, Kenneth (ed.). The American Novel: New Essays on Poe's Major Tales. Cambridge University Press. p. 101. ISBN0-521-42243-iv.
^ "Edgar Allan Poe – 'The Cask of Amontillado'". The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.
^ ^a ^b Baraban, Elena V. (2004). "The Motive for Murder in 'The Cask of Amontillado' by Edgar Allan Poe". Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature. 58 (ii): 47–62. doi:10.2307/1566552. JSTOR 1566552. Archived from the original on 2012-07-xiv.
^ "The Poe Decoder - "The Cask of Amontillado"". www.poedecoder.com . Retrieved 2020-03-02 .
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^east Stepp, Walter (1976). "The Ironic Double In Poe'south 'The Cask of Amontillado'". Studies in Brusque Fiction. 13 (four): 447.
^ ^a ^b St. John Stott, Graham (Wintertime 2004). "Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado'". Explicator. 62 (2): 85–88. doi:10.1080/00144940409597179. S2CID 163083602.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Platizky, Roger (Summer 1999). "Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado'". Explicator. 57 (4): 206. doi:x.1080/00144949909596874.
^ Cecil, Fifty. Moffitt (1972). "Poe'south Wine List". Poe Studies. 5 (2): 41. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6095.1972.tb00193.x.
^ Bergen, Philip (1990). Old Boston in Early on Photographs. Boston: Bostonian Gild. p. 106.
^ ^a ^b Vrabel, Jim (2004). When in Boston: a time line & almanac. Northeastern University. ISBN ane-55553-620-iv / ISBN 1-555-53621-2 p. 105
^ Wilson, Susan (2000). Literary Trail of Greater Boston. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 37. ISBN0-618-05013-two.
^ "Battery B, fourth U.Southward. Light Arms – First Lieutenants of the fourth U.S. Arms".
^ Headley, J. T. (1844). "A Man Built in a Wall". Letters from Italia. London: Wiley & Putnam. pp. 191–195.
^ Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, editor. Tales and Sketches: Volume II. Urbana, Sick.: Academy of Illinois Press, 2000. p. 1254
^ Reynolds (1993), pp. 94–5.
^ Jacobs, Edward Craney (1976). "Marginalia – A Possible Debt to Cooper". Poe Studies. nine (1): 23. doi:x.1111/j.1754-6095.1976.tb00266.ten.
^ Silverman, Kenneth (1991). Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial. pp. 312–313. ISBN0-06-092331-eight.
^ Rust, Richard D. (2001). "Punish with Impunity: Poe, Thomas Dunn English and 'The Cask of Amontillado'". The Edgar Allan Poe Review. 2 (2): 33–52. JSTOR 41508404.
^ Reynolds (1993), pp. 96–vii.
^ ^a ^b Benton, Richard P. (1996). "Poe'due south 'The Cask of Amontillado': Its Cultural and Historical Backgrounds". Poe Studies. 30 (1–2): nineteen–27. doi:10.1111/j.1754-6095.1997.tb00089.x.
^ Pollin, Burton R. (1970). "Notre-Matriarch de Paris in Two of the Tales". Discoveries in Poe . Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Matriarch Press. pp. 24–37.
^ Silverman, Kenneth (1991). Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial. pp. 129–130. ISBN0-06-092331-viii.
^ Thomas, Dwight; Jackson, David K. (1987). The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe, 1809–1849. New York: G. K. Hall & Co. p. 141. ISBN0-7838-1401-ane.
^ Julia Perry. Grove Music Online. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
^ Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z: the essential reference to his life and work . New York City: Facts on File. p. 28. ISBN0-8160-4161-X. OCLC 44885229.
^ "The Cask of Amontillado (1998)". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-06-17 .
^ "2013 Emmy Winners". www.natasmid-atlantic.org. National University of Television set Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
^ Caridad, Ava (2016). "Lance Tait: The Black True cat and Other Plays: Adapted from Stories by Edgar Allan Poe". The Edgar Allan Poe Review. Penn State University Press. 17 (1): 66–69. doi:10.5325/edgallpoerev.17.1.0066. JSTOR ten.5325/edgallpoerev.17.i.0066. p. 67.
^ "Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-06-17 .
^ "Udon Ent. to Release Street Fighter Novel, Dragon's Crown Manga". Anime News Network. July 21, 2016.

External links [edit]

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Total text in the jump volume of Godey'due south Lady'due south Book, Vol. XXXIII, No. five, November, 1846, pp. 216-218.
"The Cask of Amontillado" – Total text of the first printing, from Godey's Lady'southward Book, 1846
Full text on PoeStories.com with hyperlinked vocabulary words.
Free-to-download MP3 dramatisation of the story (Yuri Rasovsky)
The Cask of Amontillado public domain audiobook at LibriVox
The Cask of Amontillado - Full text in PDF, ePUB and MOBI.