cask of amontillado summary

The Cask of Amontillado, which first appeared in Godey's Lady's Book in 1846, is a classic example of the use of an unreliable narrator. Montresor tells his tale of revenge smugly, as he invites the reader to applaud his cleverness much like the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart. By telling the story from Montresor's point of view, Poe forces the reader to look into the inner workings of a murderer's mind. - By Martha Womack Martha Womack, better known to Internet users as Precisely Poe, has a BA degree in English from Longwood College in Virginia, and teaches English and Theatre Arts at Fuqua School in Farmville, Virginia. When Martha first began teaching American literature, she found so much conflicting information about Edgar Allan Poe that she became confused about what to teach her students. As she began to research the author's life and literature, Martha discovered that a horrible injustice had occurred, and she became determined, like many others, to set the record straight. This mission has lead to ten years of research and the creation of her web site, Precisely Poe. Martha is proud and pleased to be a part of the Poe Decoder, a continual project to dispel the myth surrounding Poe, the man and his literature. Click here to email Martha Womack. Summary of the story Setting Characters Point of View Style and Interpretation Theme Related Information Works Cited Complete Text Available Illustration is Copyright, ©1997, Christoffer Nilsson Other Viewpoints Printed publishing rights retained by the author, copyright pending. Internet publishing rights granted by the author to Christoffer Nilsson for use exclusively in Qrisse's Poe Pages. Any for-profit use of this material is expressly forbidden. Educational users and researchers must use proper documentation procedures, crediting both the publisher, Christoffer Nilsson and the author, Martha Womack. Summary of.
This video explores Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado,' a Dark Romantic short story that illustrates the horrors of evil. By breaking down the elements of plot, we can see that Poe's intentional selection of details in the story create his 'unity of effect.' The Title'The Cask of Amontillado' - You might be thinking, 'Great. I don't even understand the title - how am I supposed to understand this story?' So before we can start exploring Edgar Allan Poe's famous short story, we first need to define a couple of words in his title. Amontillado is a very specific kind of Spanish sherry, sherry being a fortified wine. And a cask is a barrel. So if we put that all together, this story could be called 'The Barrel of Sherry,' but 'The Cask of Amontillado' has a much better ring, don't you think? CharactersSo, aside from being a story about a barrel of wine, Poe's short story is one of revenge and secret murder. It's a tale of terror starring two main characters: Montresor and Fortunato. Montresor is the narrator and the murderer. Fortunato is a wine connoisseur and the victim. Plot Poe achieves the unity of effect in The Cask of Amontillado The story begins with the narrator Montresor explaining that a man called Fortunato has wronged him a thousands times over, but his insult is the final blow that has provoked his vow to revenge. He continues to assure us that he has given Fortunato no insight to the fact that he is plotting to kill him, and he plans to use Fortunato's knowledge of wine to lure him to his death. Montresor continues to narrate his encounter with Fortunato at a carnival. He explains that Fortunato is dressed as a jester, in a striped outfit and a jester hat with bells. Fortunato is also very drunk, and he greets Montresor 'with great warmth.' Very quickly, Montresor entices Fortunato to come to his home to see the pipe of Amontillado that he has.
The short story the Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe in 4.5 minutes. Enjoy.