THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO

“The Cask of Amontillado”

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

The Plot Line

The following essay examines the reason for Montresor's murder of Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado, suggesting that Fortunato is being punished for his arrogance and for insulting someone who is equal or superior to him.]

Theme Line

The fact that Montresor uses this expression for finally pardoning Fortunato highlights his conviction that he has merely avenged himself for the wrong that Fortunato afflicted upon him fifty years ago.

Truth Line

According to me the motive for murder mentioned in 'The Cask of Amontillado' is logically true. It is clear that suggesting that Fortunato is being punished for his arrogance and for insulting someone who is equal or superior to him.

Writers Assertions & the Text to Support Them

The story is a confession of a man who committed a horrible crime half a century ago. Montresor lures Fortunato into the family vaults under the pretext that he needs Fortunato's opinion of the newly acquired Amontillado wine. In a remote niche of the crypt, Montresor fetters Fortunato to the wall and then bricks him in. The reader is perplexed by a seeming absence of the motive for this crime. Unable to find a logical explanation of Montresor's hatred for Fortunato, most commentators conclude that Montresor is insane. Such interpretation, however, seems to make certain details in the elaborate structure of the story unnecessary and this, in turn, goes against Poe's approach to composition.

Being a descendant of a powerful aristocratic family, Montresor could not possibly let Fortunato insult him with impunity. The Montresors' motto is "Nemo me impune lacessit" ("No one insults me with impunity"), and therefore, for Montresor, punishing his offender is a matter of honor, a matter of fulfilling his duty before his noble ancestry.11 A description of the Montresors' coat of arms also provides a clue for uncovering the motive for Montresor's crime. "A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel" (Poe 851), which is the Montresors' coat of arms, is a mise-en-abyme, for the protagonist destroys Fortunato, who metaphorically represents the serpent that has dared to attack Montresor. Fortunato may use his power to "injure" Montresor, but since he comes from a less prominent family, he has no right to insult Montresor. In other words, the conflict between the two characters arises from the sensation of incongruity between their current social standing and their right to prominence by virtue of their origin.

Although the subject matter of Poe's story is a murder, "The Cask of Amontillado" is not a tale of detection, for there is no investigation of Montresor's crime.1 The criminal himself explains how he committed the murder. Despite this explanation, "The Cask of Amontillado" is a mystery, for at its heart lies an intriguing question: "Why did he do it?" This question is different from the "Who's done it?" of a classical mystery, as the latter presents crime as a logical puzzle solved by ...