Critical Analysis Of Poe

& # 8217 ; s A Cask Of Amontillado Essay, Research Paper

A Critical Analysis of Poe s The Cask of Amontillado

Poe s The Cask of Amontillado is a narrative about retaliation and the workings of the distorted head of a adult male who is purpose on it. In this choice, there are many illustrations of symbolism and prefiguration. The subject that is prevailing is adult male s domination of his luck which has been unkind to him.

The first and chief thought of symbolism comes into the narrative when Poe describes Fortunato s frock. He s described as have oning assortment, like a fool. This costume is appropriate for Fortunato s character in several ways. First of all, Fortunato is said to hold given Montressor the 1000 hurts for what he is being avenged for. This in itself makes the fool costume appropriate. Another facet of the symbolism of the fool costume is that in mediaeval times, a cruel male monarch would hold a tribunal fool executed when his stateliness thought the fool had lost his appeal & # 8211 ; if the gags didn t please, beheading served as the amusement. This parallels with Montressor s feelings about Fortunato- Montressor was ill of hearing Fortunato s gags and ridicules and decided to set an terminal to it. Another manner to construe Fortunato s fool costume is that he is made a sap by his pride. Montressor intended to do a sap of him and, in the terminal, Fortunato s haughtiness and pride in his connoiseurship of vino did him in. He could non penetrate anyone else s sentiment on a vino being any good, so he had to measure the vino himself.

Another point of symbolism that International Relations and Security Network T seen without research is expressed by Kenneth Silverman in his book Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Ceaseless Remembrance. Silverman notes that the Montressor slogan, Nemo me impune lacessit, is the national slogan of Scotland. He thinks that Poe chose this slogan non merely because of the rightness, but because of underlying tenseness- his Foster male parent, John Allan was Scots. Allan much resembled Fortunato in being a adult male rich, respected, admired, beloved, interested in vinos, and a member of the Masons ( Silverman 317 ) . Besides, whether it be happenstance or non, we can besides see that Allan can be seen as an anagram in Amontillado.

More symbolism is found in the name of the adversary, Fortunato. Fortunato is and Italian name, derived from luck or fortunate. This is dry, foremost, because Fortunato International Relations and Security Network T fortunate at all- he is killed. With a deeper expression at the narrative, we see that Fortunato represents luck, which is the ultimate influence on how good or bad a adult male s life is. Montressor represents a common adult male who is unfortunate enough- as most people are. The difference between Montressor and the common work forces who he may be compared to is that he is able to strike back at the luck that treats him so severely & # 8211 ; carry throughing adult male s retaliation on the fate/fortune that has been so unkind to him. Here we see that the warden has become the captive. After old ages of placing Montressor behind bars of ridicule, Fortunato had himself become restrained with the really existent restraints of retaliation that Montressor had placed upon him.

He turned towards me, and looked into the eyes with two filmy orbs that distilled the rheum of poisoning. This citation from The Cask Of Amontillado connotes two different ideas- about the eyes of Fortunato and about his inebriation. The eyes of Fortunato were glazed and were dripping grossly, as it sounds. Harmonizing to Poe, the eyes are the Windowss to the psyche. If this holds true for this narrative, Fortunato s psyche was non really clean or clear. Fortunato s inebriation ties in with the thought of him represe

nting luck. If Fortunato is intoxicated, he s non believing about what he s doing- how he s dissing Montressor. This shows that luck is equivocal. So, there are no wagess based on virtue and no penalty based on evil- it s more a instance of luck being apathetic and cruel to adult male.

You are a adult male to be missed & # 8230 ; This quotation mark from Montressor is one of the first cases and one of the more memorable of boding in The Cask Of Amontillado. Fortunato follows with a tantrum of coughing and answers that I shall non decease of a cough. True & # 8211 ; true, Montressor replies. Since Fortunato is intoxicated, he doesn T choice up on any of Montressor s elusive verbal sarcasm. When Fortunato proposes a toast, Montressor drinks to Fortunato s long life. The slogan of the Montressor household is Nemo me impune lacessit, which means literally No 1 provokes me with impunity. This implies and foreshadows that Montressor intends to seek retribution in support of his household slogan and no 1 will be exempt from the wrath of Montressor. Besides, Montressor says that he is a Mason, but non in the sense that Fortunato is speaking about. The Poe Decoder besides notes that the last dry portion of the narrative is Montressor s shutting comment: In gait requiescat! This means in Latin remainder in peace, but the Decoder says that in gait besides refers to a really unafraid cloistered prison.

On the surface, this is a straightforward narrative of retaliation, an oculus for an oculus, as the bible puts it. Fortunato abuses and ridicules Montressor, so Montressor decides to acquire even. It seems to be a simple narrative, but it is powerful and complex. Montressor is acquiring his enjoyment from cognizing that as Fortunato easy dies, the idea of his jilted chances of flight will biting him with intolerable sorrow, and as he sobers with panic, the concluding blow will come from the realisation that his craving for the vino has led him to his day of reckoning. He wants Fortunato to cognize what s go oning to him. At the beginning of this narrative, Montressor says that I must non merely punish, but punish with impunity. A incorrect is unredressed when requital overtakes its redresser. It is every bit unredressed when the retaliator fails to do himself felt as such to him who has done the incorrect. This means that Montressor non merely means to penalize Fortunato, but savor it and be after it methodically. The subject could besides be interpreted as adult male s effort to strike back at his luck. Montressor is penalizing the luck ( Fortunato ) which has burdened him for such a long clip. This is the ultimate narrative of a lunatic s twisted premeditated slaying. Montressor tries to warrant and apologize his ideas and workss to the readers- he is genuinely huffy. This is a authoritative instance of Poe s undependable storyteller. Like in The Tell-Tale Heart, we can non swear what the storyteller tells us, because there is evidently something incorrect with his head. In reading this narrative, the reader can believe right that some kind of requital from Montressor for Fortunato s abuses would be acceptable, Montressor leads us to believe that death- asphyxiation and premature entombment, no less- is the right path. At the terminal of the narrative, a spot of guilt or compunction may be crawling towards Montressor. He says that his bosom grew ill, but dismisses it on history of the moistness of the catacombs. The last sentence in this narrative is In gait requiescat! Is it possible that possibly, alternatively of this being Montressor s shuting comment to Fortunato, it is about Montressor, wishing his guilt and repent off? If this is so, so Montressor didn T genuinely acquire his retaliation on Fortunato, holding to populate the remainder of his life with the guilt that the decease has put upon him.

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