The Cask of Amontillado is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe that was first published in the November 1846 issue The Gift: A Christmas and New Year’s Present for 1847. The story begins with two friends, Montresor and Fortunato, meeting outside of an opera house where they run into each other. The two have not seen each other in six years. Montresor tells Fortunato that he has just finished the most amazing cask of amontillado, but he cannot drink any until Fortunato has tasted it.
The two go to the palazzo of Montresor, who pours taste after taste of his wine for Fortunato. The last glass is so good that Fortunato demands a case of this fine amontillado. The men go inside, where Montresor leads him into the catacombs beneath his palazzo. Along their walk into the labyrinthine passages beneath the city, Montresor begins taunting Fortunato by insulting his skills as a connoisseur and luring him on with more of the ever-present amontillado.
The two go on like this for quite some time, but when they reach a niche in the wall Fortunato is unable to go any further due to his bad knees and Montresor suggests that if he were to remove both of Fortunato’s elbows he would be able to continue without difficulty. The story ends when Montresor reveals his true design: He has lured Fortunato into the catacombs beneath his palazzo where he will push him into his own private well, leaving Fortunato there to die.
The story does not indicate whether or not this is successful, only that it has taken place. Montressor’s booby traps Fortunato in the catacombs and pushes him into a well to kill him. The two have been at odds with one another for many years, but Montressor has always held a grudge against Fortunato for being a better connoisseur than he is. The two were on good terms until one day when they got into a fight over Fortunato’s poor knowledge of wine, which ended up costing Montresor a lot of money as he had wagered his fortune on it.
The two have not seen each other in six years, until they meet outside of an opera house where Montresor tells Fortunato that he has just finished the most amazing cask of amontillado. The two go together to taste the wine in the palazzo of Montresor, but when Fortunato demands a case of this wine, he is unable to produce it. The two go into the catacombs beneath his palazzo where Montresor begins taunting Fortunato by insulting his skills as a connoisseur. The two continue with this for quite some time until they reach a niche in the wall when Fortunato is unable to go any further due to his bad knees.
The story ends when Montresor reveals his true design: He has lured Fortunato into the catacombs beneath his palazzo where he will push him into his own private well, leaving Fortunato there to die. The does not indicate whether or not this is successful, only that it has taken place. The story ends when Montresor reveals his true design: He has lured Fortunato into the catacombs beneath his palazzo where he will push him into his own private well, leaving Fortunato there to die. The does not indicate whether or not this is successful, only that it has taken place.
The plot of The Cask of Amontillado begins with two men who have known each other for a long time, Montresor and Fortunato. The two run into one another at an opera house where they begin catching up on what’s been going on in their lives over the past six years. The protagonist mentions that he just finished making the most amazing cask of amontillado, but he can’t drink any until Fortunato has tasted it. The two then go to the palazzo of Montresor where they taste all sorts of wine before producing a special bottle that is, in fact, the same amontillado that was just mentioned.
The two continue tasting and drinking until there’s one last glass which is so good that Fortunato demands a case of this fine wine. The protagonist responds by saying that he’ll only give him a single flask as payment. The men continue like this for some time, insulting each other about their reconnaissance skills and such, but Montresor is able to convince Fortunato to come down into the catacombs beneath the palazzo where he will be able to get his hands on some more of this amontillado. The two have been down there many times before.
The story then becomes tense when Fortunato gets a rock in his shoe and Montresor has to take time out of their excursion to remove it for him, thus slowing them down quite a bit. The two fight over whether or not they should go back up so that Fortunato can take his coat, but they decide against it and continue on their way until they reach a niche in the wall where Fortunato is unable to go any further due to his bad knees. The protagonist suggests that if he were to cut off both of Fortunato’s elbows it would allow him to pass.
The protagonist gets so fed up with Fortunato’s insistence on continuing the catacombs excursion, even after they reach the well filled with water, that he says he will be forced to cut off his arm if they go any further. The two continue this for some time until Montresor tells Fortunato that there is one last wine that he has to taste before they return. The protagonist produces a bottle of Amontillado and demands that Fortunato try it before proclaiming whether or not it’s better than his own cask of amontillado.
The narrator in “The Cask of Amontillado” tells readers about how he has been wronged by Fortunato and decides to take revenge. The narrator deliberately plans out how he will exact his revenge on Fortunato who insulted him while they were at a carnival one year before. The setting for this short story is in an unspecified time, probably during night time because there are no sounds heard from other people or animals. The location also does not affect the plot since it can take place anywhere with two men. The mood is mostly ominous but with an underlining layer of foreboding.
The tone is serious, passive, and bitter towards the end when Montresor reveals what he has done to Fortunato. The point of view used in this short story is first person since it is told through the eyes of Montresor who takes pleasure in telling about how he exacts his revenge on Fortunato by burying him alive; The narrator also knows that what he did was wrong but justified because Fortunato insulted him first. The mood changes at the end when Montresor tells readers that the only friend he ever had is now dead.
The conflict between these two men leads up to violence because neither one was willing to give into each other; They both wanted their way without compromising. The main characters in The Cask of Amontillado are Montresor, Fortunato, and the narrator. The antagonist in this story is Montresor since he planned out his revenge on Fortunato who insulted him once at a carnival; The other character is Fortunato because he was wrong by insulting Montresor in front of others, which in return angers Montresor to take revenge on him.
The setting for “The Cask of Amontillado” does not have much significance concerning the plot because it could be anywhere with two people fighting against each other with one wanting to bury them alive without being caught. The conflict between these two men leads up to violence when neither one wants to back down or compromise; The only way to solve the problem is with one person winning over the other.
The resolution for The Cask of Amontillado is Montresor telling about how he got his vengeance on Fortunato by burying him alive, and now knowing that there was no escape for him because he sealed up the wall. The theme throughout “The Cask of Amontillado” is revenge has consequences since it does not end well for either character. The mood changes at the end when Montresor tells readers that Fortunato didn’t fear him but cared more about things like wine rather than believing in the supernatural which makes him seem foolish, which leads to his death.