The Cask of Amontillado. By E.A. Poe
Setting: A place in Italy during Carnival time season.
Characters: Montresor, Fortunato, Luchesi, and the other guests of the party.
Plot:
Exposition: Montresor gives us background information about him and his terrible relationship with Fortunato, since he has insulted the narrator too many times, and for this Montresor swore revenge, to the point of wanting to kill him. During a night party in the carnival season, Montresor met Fortunato, and told him that he had acquired a cask of amontillado, knowing that Fortunato was a lover and expert in wines who was not going to reject his proposal to meet and help him, knowing if they were true or not.
Rising Action: Montresor brought Fortunato to his house, telling him that if he couldn't help him, Luchesi could, and because of his pride, Fortunato insisted on doing it himself. It was just the two of them in his house,since Montresor had told all his assistants to take the night off. This is how Montresor led Fortunato to the catacombs of his family (located below the house), where his cask of amontillado was supposed to be located. Fortunato had already been drunk since the party, so it wasn’t difficult for him to accept Montresors’ proposal, but on the way, Montresor offered him more wine to drink. Finally, when the two of them reached the end of the crypt, Montresor directed his friend to a small interior niche that is approximately four feet deep, three feet wide, and seven feet high, where supposedly, in a small hole in the wall , was the amontillado.
Climax: Montresor chained Fortunato to the wall with chains, while he begged for mercy.
Falling Action: Montresor built a stone wall and threw his torch inside, leaving Fortunato there screaming and laughing, since he believed that it was all a joke.
Resolution: As an unfortunate ending, for the enemy, and a successful one for Montresor, Fortunato died.
Conflict: The man vs. self can be seen in this story from two points of view. The first is that of Montresor, since he reached the level of madness to make revenge plans to kill his "enemy". And the second is Fortunato's, since his pride and his ego blinded him to the point of trusting a person he himself didn’t speak well.
The man vs. man is reflected in the rivalry between Fortunato (since he speaks bad things about Montresor) and Montresor (since he knew that the other spoke those things about him and that is why he wanted to see him dead).
The man vs. society is seen in history since Fortunato spoke badly behind Montresor's back with people to make him look like a horrible person.
Man vs. nature also appears in the story as fire, an element of nature, was used to kill Fortunato.
Finally, Evil counts as Man Vs. Superpower in this story, since Montresor behaved like a God, wanting to take the life of his rival, Fortunato, just for revenge.
Elements of horror
In this story there are several elements of horror, among them are the use of more actions than dialogues, the characters and the place, which had a touch of mystery, especially the place and time (since it was almost at night, the house of Montresor was alone, and the catacombs were dark and far from the surface), the Machiavellian ending that the story had with the obvious and unfortunate death of Fortunato, the suspense that the narrator left when speaking, and finally the presence of madness in the narrator's mind.
MEET THE CHARACTERS
Montresor.
Inner traits: Clever, revengeful, macabre and sinister.
Physical traits: He looks like an older man, but looking a little more jovial at his age. He seems like the type of person to keep a poker face, which is why I imagine him serious. Regarding his physique, I imagine him slimmer and taller than his enemy. He wears, according to me, a black costume (a little more serious than Fortunato's), a black mask, gloves, a hat and a torch (in the catacombs).
Fortunato
Inner traits: Egoistic, egocentric, and wine expert.
Physical traits: I imagine him as an ugly old man, bearded and short. He wears a motley, which makes him look funny and not serious. He doesn't know how to control himself with alcohol, which is why he looks like a drunk without self-control.
Theme:“Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair”.// “Sometimes being impulsive leads us to make the worst mistakes, and then remorse consumes us like a candle flame”.
Voice: 1st person.
Mood: Interested, anxious, and curious.
Tone: Formal, stressed and manic.
Ending Changed
At the end of the story, when they were reaching the little niche, a loud and dry thump was heard. Montresor on the floor, and Fortunato with a bottle of wine in hand. Unpredictable, right? Fortunato knew that Montresor wanted to kill him, in fact he insisted so many times to make Montresor believe that he had no idea, that it was only a matter of pride, but no. With blood on his head, Montresor looked up, he couldn't believe it. After that he was dragged, taken to where the cask of amontillado was supposed to be, and chained to the wall. What wasn't in Fortunato's plans? Accidentally burning with Montresor. Have they managed to survive? At that moment where they were burning, did any of them regret it? Historians say.....
<<THE END>>.
By Isabella Botero, Step 9 Yellow
