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Revenge In The Cask Of Amontillado

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Dorothy Parker is famous for her quote "Revenge is a dish best served cold". But what is revenge? The Oxford Dictionary defines revenge as to exact punishment or expiation for a wrong on behalf of, especially in a resentful or vindictive spirit. The story of “The cask of amontillado’’ by Edgar Allan Poe is about a dark take on someone’s willingness to exact his vengeance. One who would read the story would tell you that the whole thing is about revenge and it can be looked at as revenge twists the mind of a person who is vengeful, to begin with, or as revenge is a driving force behind a person going so far as to commit a murder. Such a person might be so obsessed with vengeance that he imagines reasons to obtain it are the right doing. In this story, Montresor 's family prides itself on leaving no insult unavenged. Montresor 's obsession with this has perhaps made him imagine that Fortunato has insulted his family just so that he, Montresor, has something to try his family 's pride on. As when the narrator says ‘’THE thousand injuries of …show more content…

To finally take said action against his friend and seek his vengeance, Montresor gets the idea to trick him into going inside his vault, where he plans to do his unjust deed. Fortunato is a 'rich, respected, admired, and beloved, man that is also member of the Masons and proud of his ability to judge wines. Fortunato in this story wears a clown or a fool 's costume which is ironic since Montresor intends to make a fool of the man and pledges to take his revenge upon him by taking this to his advantage of the man’s love for wine and provoking the his pride by saying "And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own’’ (Poe 1846) and doing this it is his pride that eventually leads him to his demise. Were as it being Montresor 's pride in his family motto may very well have led him into committing a totally gratuitous murder, by reason of his so-called imagined injuries and insults of his “friend”

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At the beginning of the story, Fortunato is dressed as a jester. He wears a long striped dress and a cap often associated with jesters. Montresor assumes Fortunato’s appearance makes him gullible. This allows him to believe that he is much more intelligent than Fortunato and that Fortunato is an easy target. The fact that Fortunato is dressed as a fool enhances Montresor’s satisfaction with his ability to deceive him.

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“He had a weak point… He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine…” (Poe, 360). Montresor use of verbal irony demonstrates that the murder is premeditated. “... the cough… it will not kill me…” states Fortunato who receives “True-true…” as a response from Montresor (Poe, 362).

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Montresor tortures Fortunato, both physiologically and physically. Montresor clearly gives Fortunato “multiple chances to escape his fate” (Delany 34), as he gives Fortunato obvious clues to his true intensions. These include leading Fortunato into a place for the dead, telling Fortunato not to go due to his severe cough that made it “impossible to reply” (Poe 5) at times, reminding Fortunato of his family arms, mentioning Luchesi, and showing Fortunato a trowel. Montresor seems to receive morbid joy out of the fact that Fortunato is so intoxicated that, just like the foot on Montresor’s coat of arms, he is unintentionally “stepping into his own destruction” (Cervo

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97 Words | 1 Pages

In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe displays the theme of revenge and manipulation. The narrator Montresor pledges revenge on Fortunato for an insult that is never explained. He maintains an appearance of goodwill towards Fortunato and decides to make use of Fortunato's weakness for fine wines against him. During the carnival season, the narrator approaches Fortunato, telling him that he has come across something that could pass for Amontillado a rare and expensive wine. Fortunato being excited about the news insists on accompanying Montresor to the vaults to determine whether it is Amontillado or not.

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1192 Words | 5 Pages

Early in the story one can understand the hate towards Fortunato, but it gets confusing when Montresor says, “I was so pleased to see him, that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand” (Poe 1846). Montresor had such a hate for Fortunato due to all the pain and upsets caused by him, so much so that Montresor vowed revenge and devised a plan to achieve just that. He did what every person would have done, put on a fake smile, and go on as if nothing has changed and nothing will change. This makes the previous statement from Montresor clear; he is trying to deceive his friend from getting an idea of

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841 Words | 4 Pages

As the story progresses it becomes exceptionally evident the role external conflict plays in creating Montresor’s character. To begin, Montresor mentions “the thousand injuries of Fortunato” and the revenge he is determined to get from the most recent injury, an insult (Poe 543). By Montresor choosing to open the story with remarks about Fortunato’s wrong doings towards him, it’s clear that he holds a grudge. These conflicts between the two men throughout their friendship have had such an impression on Montresor that it’s over taken him – it’s all he can think about; thus, he immediately mentions these conflicts at the beginning of the story. In result, Montresor as a character appears quite hostile and as a narrator appears unreliable.

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In the beginning of the story the author's choice of words in the descriptions makes the reader feel angry. Montresor tried to ignore Fortunato and his insults, but they were

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491 Words | 2 Pages

The theme is made clear in this story from opening line. “The thousand injures of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge”(739). Montresor and Fortunato have a lengthy history, then an insult that goes too far enrages Montresor and he vows revenge. Montresor states, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (739), implying that his revenge must be permanent, well thought out and Fortunato must feel the wrath from

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817 Words | 4 Pages

In this story, we observe how a character with such power and intelligence easily turns into a mad man who has devised a plan to murder an innocent man over a plebian conflict the two experienced. In one statement, Montresor says, “I must not only punish but punish with impunity” (Poe 1). In short, Montresor is implying that killing Fortunato is the fair thing to do and that he should be exempt from punishment for doing so. If I were to kill a classmate because he insulted me, I wouldn’t be exempt from punishment. Poe shows us that we can’t hold back our strange and uncivilized urges to get revenge on those who dishonor or hurt us.

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491 Words | 2 Pages

Montresor never actually told the reader what the insult was, but we as the reader can tell that it wasn’t a big insult, because Fortunato doesn’t act aggressively towards Montresor, so this shows that this wasn’t a big, or and intentional insult. “It must be understood, that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will.” This shows just how careful Montresor and how he can manipulate a person into thinking that he is still Fortunato’s friend and that he isn’t planning to murder him. Another example of Montresor being dangerous is when he is making the wall, Montresor waits until Fortunato stops struggling so he can listen to him in agony. “The noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labours and sat down upon the bones.”

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763 Words | 4 Pages

In the beginning of the short story, Montresor defines revenge on his friend Fortunato for believing he has insulted him. Montresor has become angry that his friend is taking advantage of him and overlooking at him like a fool,

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491 Words | 2 Pages

This is important because the insult from Fortunato was Montresor's main motive towards the execution of Fortunato. In conclusion, Montresor seeks death upon Fortunato because of an insult, which leads him to end Fortunato, as he believes that is what is

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996 Words | 4 Pages

Revenge is a real thing in today’s society. It happens every day. There are different reasons for revenge from as small, as a small child stealing a stick of gum to a drug dealer murdering a nark. Regardless, taking revenge in itself may be for the greater good, or evil.

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Montresor told Fortunato that he is a “rich, respected, admired, beloved” (86) man. He does not actually think that. When he says he “must not only punish” (83) Fortunato, but he must “punish [him] with impunity” (83), which he does. The first step in Montresor's plan is to get Fortunato to go in the catacombs. He says to Fortunato, “Come, we will go back, your health is precious” (86).

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1198 Words | 5 Pages

As long as people have existed, they have wronged one another. They find different ways to harm others. Those who have been wronged tend to seek revenge no matter the situation. They feel as though they must revenge. Because humans almost always seek revenge, William Shakespeare’s statement, “If you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” holds significant truth.

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