45 pages • 1 hour read
Edgar Allan PoeThe Cask of Amontillado
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1846A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Literary Devices
Unreliable Narrator
Gothic literature often probes the narrator’s inner psyche, which can be distorted, meaning the narrator is unreliable. “The Cask of Amontillado” presents an unreliable narrator in Montresor who gives the reader no clear reasoning for his harsh actions, as Fortunato’s “thousand injuries” remain indeterminate. There is thus no clear indication that Montresor is justified in his actions, and information is deliberately withheld from the reader. Some scholars maintain that Montresor’s unreliable narration suggests psychological instability. Given Montresor’s bitterness toward Fortunato and the severity of his actions at the end of the story, the reader is left to wonder how rational he is, creating a destabilizing effect through a narrative ambience of suspicion that enhances the story’s themes.
Irony
Irony is a literary device that adds layers of interpretation to a story, and several such instances imbue Poe’s story with deeper meaning. The first is Fortunato’s name, which would seemingly suggest fortune, although the character turns out not to be so fortunate after all—nor can his fortune of wealth save him from his fate. A second occurrence of irony can be found in Fortunato’s carnival garments. Dressed in “a tight-fitting parti-striped dress” adorned with a conical cap and bells (162), Fortunato wears the attire of a court jester, a “fool.” He is ultimately “fooled” in his decision to follow Montresor unwittingly to his death. Finally, there is irony in Montresor’s remark when Fortunato alleges he is not a Freemason. Montresor states that he is “[a] mason,” although he is referring to a stone worker, the wordplay hinting toward his walling Fortunato up in the catacombs.
Extended Metaphor
A metaphor extends through the text, amplifying certain themes: Amontillado is a rare type of wine, and the word is repeated several times throughout the story, especially by Fortunato. Amontillado would be stored in a cask, a barrel used to house alcohol. In the final, climactic scene, Montresor places the final stone, known as the “keystone,” into the wall. However, a “keystone” also refers to the valve where a tap is placed in a cask. In this extended metaphor, the keystone extends to both the cask and the vault. Thus, the “cask of Amontillado” refers to the tomb within which Fortunato is placed.
Related Titles
By Edgar Allan Poe
