The Cask of Amontillado

By Edgar Allan Poe

What is a Cask?

Casks are barrels for storing wine or other drinks, and they come in many sizes.

What is Amontillado?

ə-ˌmän-tə-ˈlä dō

Sherry or a type of wine

Why would a story be named after an alcoholic beverage?

Parts of the Story…

SETTING: Mid 1800’s in Italy during Carnival season.

PROTAGONIST: Montessor (French: My treasure)

ANTAGONIST: Fortunato (good fortune, luck)

POINT OF VIEW: 1st person, Montessor is the narrator

Carnival A religious event during the week before

Lent in Roman Catholic countries to bid farewell to meat-eating.

Carn + Val = FLESH (Meat) + FAREWELL

Participants engage in extreme dancing, parting, alcohol, eating, and masquerading.

“The Cask of Amontillado” is set

during the “supreme madness” of Carnival.

In such a riotous atmosphere, it is easy

to see how a crime could go unnoticed.

Life of the RichPalazzos (mansions)

The wealthy could opt for family catacombs beneath their estates.

Literary Terms to remember…

Protagonist

Antagonist

Mood

Theme

Foreshadow

Symbol

Imagery

Irony A contradiction between appearance and

reality, between expectation and outcome, or between meaning and intention.

Three different kinds of irony: Verbal Situational Dramatic

Verbal Irony

Occurs when someone says something that deliberately contradicts what that person actually means.

Ex: Negative connotations- Sarcasm. “Go ahead and keep sleeping during class, why don’t you?” could be said to a sleepy student even though the teacher clearly doesn’t want the student to keep sleeping.

Situational Irony

Occurs when something happens that contradicts our expectation.

A man jumps over a giant waterfall like Niagara Falls in a barrel and survives, only to take a clean-up shower where he slips on the soap and dies from trauma.

Dramatic Irony

Occurs when the reader or audience is aware of a contradiction that a character(s) does not know.

Catacombs

Underground tunnels or rooms dug out to use a cemeteries or tombs. Sometimes used for religious worship.

And now, a trip through the catacombs in Paris.

virtuoso

Noun

a person who has special knowledge or skill in a field.

accosted

Verb

Greeted in an aggressive way.

fettered

Noun

a chain or shackle placed on the feet.

connoisseur

Noun

a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgments in an art, particularly one of the fine arts, or in matters of taste: a connoisseur of modern art.

precluded

Verb

to prevent or to make impossible

retribution

Noun

To pay back, a punishment for a misdeed.

afflicted

Verb

Suffering or sickened

explicit

Adjective

Clearly stated

recoiling

Verb

Staggering back

termination

Noun

To end

subsided

Verb

To settle down, to become less active

Why might Fortunato’s name be IRONIC?

He is not fortunate in his interactions with Montresor, which lead to his death.

This is the opposite of what we might expect for someone whose name implies good luck or fortune.

Give examples of IRONY in the story, including SITUATIONAL,

DRAMATIC, and VERBAL IRONY. Situational: Fortunato expects Amontillado and

instead receives death

Dramatic: Fortunato doesn’t know he’ll be killed; but reader does, and thus gets the trowel joke (p. 171) and the cough joke (p. 170)

Verbal: the compliments M pays to F; p. 171 M “implores” F to return.