Edgar Allan Poe was a very dark and dramatic writer. All of his stories require the audience to reread his works of art because there are so many elements incorporated into them that it would be impossible to understand everything after just one reading. His stories drip with irony and reveal mysteries in an interesting way. Poe writes his stories in a way that engages the mind and questions character.
One of his most famous short stories is The Cask of Amontillado.” This story contains a lot of verbal and dramatic irony. The most ironic concepts are how the narrator interacts with Fortunato and the use of names within the story.
The setting of this story was during the 1800s, at night, and during a great party. The setting greatly adds to the suspense that is being told. If the story had been set during the daytime, there would not have been an eerie element added. Since the climax of this story happened at night and during a big party, Fortunato and Montresor were able to be together without anyone interrupting.
Montresor is the narrator in this story, and he is extremely angry at a man named Fortunato. Poe used verbal irony for the naming of his characters. Fortunato is a French name that means lucky”. (Lorcher) After a full reading of “The Cask of Amontillado”, the reader discovers that Fortunato is anything but lucky. Montresor is a French surname meaning “my treasure”. (Lorcher) The Montresor family considered themselves deserving of respect because of the name they carry. The “lucky” one ended up dying because he offended his friend’s “treasures”. During the great party, Fortunato drank too much, resulting in him becoming extremely drunk. Montresor persuades Fortunato to go into a catacomb to taste a cask of Amontillado wine. While in the catacombs, Montresor chains up Fortunato and seals him in a niche. Montresor did not kill Fortunato instantly; he let nature take its course by leaving him sealed up in a tomb.
The theme of the story is how natural it is for some people to avenge their family name, despite how wrong it may be legally and morally. Even though Montresor vowed to get revenge, it is very surprising how many times he calls Fortunato his friend. Montresor had been plotting the death of Fortunato for days, maybe even weeks, and still considers him a friend. When Montresor and Fortunato were in the catacombs, the atmosphere was having a negative effect on Fortunato. After Fortunato was coughing very badly, Montresor thought to himself, “My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes.” (Poe) That thought reflects how much Montresor himself was full of irony. Montresor knew the fate that he was going to be giving to Fortunato, but he was still thinking of him as a friend. The reader can imagine a big smile across Montesor’s face after reading that thought.
Montresor had kept his idea for Fortunato’s death very secret. Fortunato seemed to have no idea of the anger Montresor had harbored towards him. Fortunato trusting Montresor causes dramatic irony. Since the reader knows Montresor’s thoughts, it is easy to see Fortunato’s character flaw in trusting Montresor. Fortunato had another character flaw: his behavior when he was drinking. Fortunato could have never trusted Montresor when he was sober. Maybe Montresor knew that Fortunato would have to be drunk in order to lure him to his death.
Montresor said, The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could.” (Poe) It is left a mystery to the readers what Fortunato actually did to Montresor. It is extremely interesting why Poe did not write what Fortunato did. Montresor then goes on to say, “But when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” (Poe) One might determine that Montresor was easily angered, but since the story does not reveal what Fortunato did, that is not a perfect guess. Fortunato could have actually done something extremely wrong to Montresor. Poe wanted the readers to be more sympathetic to Fortunato, leaving out the reason behind Montresor’s actions.
Montresor came up with an interesting way to draw Fortunato away from the party. Montresor knew exactly how to do that by chastising Fortunato, saying that he would go to Luchesi to get advice on his wine instead. Montresor pinpointed a certain person to get advice from, instead of Fortunato himself. It is written that Fortunato was very educated in his wines. It was written that, “He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine.” (Poe) Fortunato seemed like a man who was very boisterous, so everyone, including Montresor, knew about his love and skills of wine. Why, then, did he say he was going to ask Luchesi for advice? Montresor must have known what a prideful man Fortunato was. Maybe Fortunato had a certain dislike towards Luchesi. If Fortunato had liked Luchesi, then he would not have put him down. He simply said, “Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry.” (Poe) He did not have anything nice to say about Luchesi, especially when he called him an ignoramus. Fortunato perhaps had another character flaw of having too much pride, resulting in him falling straight into Montresor’s evil plan so easily.
Montresor had meticulously planned out the details of his revenge. He made sure that no one would interfere. Montresor (talking about his house’s attendants) said, I told them that I should not return until the morning and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house.” (Poe) He had previously gone through the catacombs to find the perfect place and had hidden his tools down there before taking Fortunato there. After guiding Fortunato to the niche, Montresor said, “In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock.” (Poe) Montresor knew what he was doing; he had definitely planned how to capture Fortunato. After chaining Fortunato in the niche, he “uncovered a quantity of building stone and mortar.” (Poe) Montresor had mapped out his plans before taking Fortunato down there.
Poe used a lot of verbal irony in Montresor’s family history. Poe gave us more insight into Montresor’s family arms and motto. This information adds to the irony and thoughts behind what Montresor did. Montresor told Fortunato that his family arms are A huge human foot d’or, in a field azure, the foot crushed a serpent rampant whose fangs are embedded in the heel” (Poe). This gives much information about Montresor’s character. A snake is a symbol of a lying, sneaky person who harms someone. Montresor considered Fortunato to be a snake to stomp out. Fortunato insulting Montresor can be symbolized as a snake biting him. Montresor crushed him by making him suffer a horrible death. The Montresor family motto was “Namo me impune lacessit” (Poe), which means “No one wounds me with impunity.” According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, impunity is a Latin word that means “without punishment.” That motto says a lot about the character of the Montresor family.
Their motto was that no one would hurt them without punishment. They must have either been an easily angered family or had a very high sense of family honor in order for that to be their motto. The first paragraph states that Montresor, “Must not only punish, but punish with impunity.” (Poe) Montresor said, “The Montresors were a great and numerous family.” (Poe) It was were,” not “are.” The Montresors must have been a socialite years before, but are now diminishing out of society. Montresor took his family history and motto very seriously because his family was not on a pedestal anymore. He did not want to stray from the beliefs of his ancestors. His family arms and motto were what gave him endurance, and anyone that insulted him was ultimately insulting his family. While Montresor and Fortunato were walking in the catacombs, Fortunato asked him if he was a mason. Fortunato was referring to the masons that are an “international fraternal and charitable organization with secret rites and signs.” (“Freemason”)
Montresor told Fortunato that he was a mason, referring to the type of mason involved in building architecture. Montresor was honest, as he intended to build a tomb made of stones to encase Fortunato forever. The irony of the story was that Montresor pretended to like Fortunato, stating, That neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good-will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe). Montresor was cunning in his vengeance, concealing his hatred and presenting himself as nothing but a friend to Fortunato. The title of the story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” is intriguing. While it refers to the cask Montresor used to lure Fortunato to his death, there may be more to it, as with the rest of Poe’s story.
Cask” and “casket” are derived from the same root wood, and “casket” can be interpreted as a coffin (Lorcher). In this story, Fortunato was looking for a cask of Amontillado, but he ended up finding himself in a figurative casket. The most ironic substance in “The Cask of Amontillado” is the dialogue between Montresor and Fortunato after they share a drink. Fortunato said, “I drink to the buried that repose around us” (Poe). Montresor said, “And I to your long life” (Poe).
