The Cask of Amontillado

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) a poet, short-story writer, editor and

literary critic Contributing greatly to the genres of

horror and science fiction, Poe is now considered the father of the modern detective story

first gained critical acclaim in France and England, later in America

Poe’s Life (1809-1849) Early life: adopted by John Allan at 3 Education: University of Virginia (1826-27) Serving the army: gambling debts; 1827-29 Stay at West Point: 1830-31 Editor and Writer: staff member of magazines Marriage: married his 13-year-old cousin in 1836 Death: depression, suicide (1848), alcoholism

(1849)

Literary Works Poem Short story fiction Essay Literary criticism

Short Story Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840) The Black Cat The Cask of Amontillado The Fall of the House of Usher Ligeia The Masque of the Red Death The Purloined Letter The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Categories of Poe’s Short Stories Horror story Science fiction Detective story psychologically thrilling tale

Poetry The Raven (1845) Annabel Lee (1849) To Helen (1848) Sonnet—To Science …

Literary Criticism Review of Twice-Told Tales (1842)

- the unity of effect （单一效果） - completed at one sitting （一口气读

完） “Philosophy of Composition” (1846) “The Poetic Principle” (1850)

The Cask of Amontillado

The Cask of Amontillado Place - a town in Italy Time - dusk/evening of a Carnival season Character - Montresor, Fortunato Theme - revenge, death Atmosphere - gloomy, horrible, etc. Language: not easy

Plot Summary The story is narrated by Montresor, the

protagonist, who has sworn to repay another Italian nobleman named Fortunato for many insults to the protagonist. Montresor tricks Fortunato into entering the Montresor vaults on the excuse of asking Fortunato’s opinion of a cask of wine. When the two men reach the last underground niche （壁龛） , Montresor chains Fortunato to the wall, builds a new wall to seal him in, and leaves him to die.

Question 1 Who is the narrator?

Montresor, a man from an old and important Italian noble family who is also the protagonist of the story.

What wrong does he want to redress?

- The thousands of injuries and insults Fortunato inflicts upon him (para 1).

Question 2 What is the pretext he uses to lure

Fortunato to his wine cellar?

- That he has doubts about the received pipe of Amontillado and needs to consult an expert like Fortunato to judge if it is worth the paid price (para 4 – 6, p. 12).

Question 3 What happens to Fortunato in the end?

- He was lured into a niche of the underground catacombs of the Montreso family mansion and walled in it by Montreso. He probably had choked to death for the lack of air in it.

Question 4 Describe briefly how Poe characterizes Montresor

and Fortunato as contrasts?

Montresor – inwardly calculating / scheming, insidious, pretending humility, excessively revengeful, smart, cunning…

Fortunato – outwardly arrogant, stupidly self-conceited, looking down upon Montreso, not counting Montreso as worth much notice

Unity of Effect What effect does the story achieve? By what devices has the story achieved the

effect?

HorrorUnity of effect

Elements contributing to the effect of horror Setting: time and place at which the story is

set Characters Symbols (signifying sth. beyond itself) of

death Narrative mode Irony Plot and structure

Setting around dusk one evening during the carnival season in the damp, dark, cold and foul catacombs

with piled bones around the walls

- long winding staircases, white web-work, cavern walls, deep crypt, piled skeletons

Characters both the protagonists have very serious

flaws in their character:

- Fortunato’s self-conceitedness

- Montresor’s insidiousness and unfathomable desire of revenge (e.g. his family’s coat of arms and its motto: Nemo me impune lacessit.) (ll. 6-9, p. 14)

Symbols of Death darkness of the catacombs and the black color of M’s mask

human skeletons / remains Montresor’s costume - “the mask of black silk”, “roquelaire”, “trowel”( a changed form of “scythe”)

- Death ( 死神 ) is often shown in pictures as a human skeleton ( 骷髅 ) in black knee-length cloak （黑袍） with a scythe （大镰刀） in hand.

Death – Grim Reaper

Narrative mode First-person-criminal narrator - from Montresor,

a murderer’s point of view to intensify the effect of moral shock and horror.

- By telling the story from M.’s point of view, Poe forces the reader to look and delve into the inner workings of a sinister murderer’s mind: his insane pursuit of revenge, his incredibly cruel scheme of taking another person’s life.

Plot and structure Short narration and quick rhythm: every

word, phrase and detail help achieve the desired effect of the whole story

Premature burial motif: suffocation, life-in-death

Irony 反讽a difference between what is asserted / expected /

appears and what is actually the case Dramatic irony: the audience/reader shares with

the author knowledge of which a character is ignorant, as for example, in Sophocles’ Oedipus.

Verbal irony: a statement in which the implicit meaning intended by the speaker differs from that which he ostensibly asserts, as for example, in the opening sentence of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

Dramatic irony 戏剧性反讽 We become painfully aware of a danger waiting for

Fortunato while he unknowingly continues his descent into the catacombs in pursuit of the Amontillado, taking Montreso as a friend who pretentiously smiles to him, saying “good” as a comment on Montreso’s coat of arms and motto, insisting on going ahead in spite of Montreso’s seeming dissuasion.

Effect

– intensify fear and hence horror effect

Verbal irony 词语反讽 Fortunato’s name Forunato’s clothes – a jester costume (a jester 弄臣，小丑

is a joker or fool, ridiculously dressed in motley like a harlequin and wearing a belled cap)

“My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met.” Montreso’s apparent concern with Fortunato’s health. Montreso says he is a mason. calling Fortunato “noble” (p. 16) Effect – intensify the horror effect - set off Montreso’s insidiousness - intensify the tragic sense of Fortunato’s destiny

Why do we like horror tales? Aristotle: a catharsis of fear and pity. 净化

论（悲剧的快感） Sigmund Freud: “blowing off steam” （发

泄） ; sublimation （升华）

Assignments Review 序言（ pp.1-5 ） Read Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”

closely and think about 1. What is the significance of the setting? 2. What dramatic change happens to Goodman

Brown? Why the change? 3. What is the theme of the story? 4. What are some of the major symbols?

Assignments

Review 序言 (pp. 1-5) Read Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” (pp.20-24)

; Prepare discussion questions on p. 24. Find the major argument points of the essay. Identify two passages that you find amazing /

inspiring or confusing / puzzling.