Cask Of Amontillado

♦ TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION ♦

1.     Who is the narrator addressing? Who is the "you" to whom Montresor confesses his crime? What is his motivation in telling the story?

2.    Discuss the function and symbolism of wine in the story.

3.     Why do you think Poe gives no explanation of the "thousand injuries" and final "insult" committed by Fortunato? What can you guess about them based on the interaction between the men? How do you explain the fact that Fortunato does not ask why Montresor is ready to kill him?

4.     Consider all the factors that work in combination to lead Fortunato to his demise, including his drunkenness and his pride. What makes this a particularly lethal combination?

5.    Is Montresor ever sorry for what he did? Explain the passage in which Fortunato begs for his life and Montresor replies, "Yes, for the love of God." Why, at the end of the story, does Montresor say "Rest in peace"?

6.    Charles Dana, an early reviewer of Poe's stories, described them as "clumsily contrived, unnatural, and every way in bad taste." What other works that might fit this description also eventually won critical and popular favor?

♦ IDEAS FOR REPORTS AND PAPERS ♦

1.     Investigate the history of the Free and Accepted Masons, the group to which Fortunato apparently belongs. How were Masons perceived in the United States during the nineteenth century? Why might Poe have chosen to make Fortunato a member?

2.     Identify similarities and differences between "The Cask of Amontillado" and another Poe story, such as "The Premature Burial" or "The Tell-Tale Heart."

3.     What is nitre (also known as potassium nitrate or saltpeter)? How would it form on the walls of the catacombs? Why might it be harmful?

4.    Research the field of heraldry, the medieval system of assigning and describing symbols displayed on a shield to identify families. Learn enough of heraldry's special vocabulary to explain the conversation between Montresor and Fortunato on the subject of Montresor's "arms."

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5.    Learn what you can about European gentlemen's attire in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Fortu-nato, who has been enjoying the carnival, is dressed in motley. Montresor wears a silk mask and a ro(\uelaire. What does the men's clothing reveal about their station in life or about their character?

6.    Compare and contrast Poe's style of horror in "The Cask of Amontillado" with that of another well-known writer of the genre, such as Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, H. P. Lovecraft, or Stephen King.

♦ RELATED TITLES/ADAPTATIONS ♦

The audiocassette collection The Best of Edgar Allan Poe (1987), read by Edward Blake, includes "The Cask of Amontillado" and thirteen other stories and poems. The set is published by Listening Library. A radio play version of the story, originally broadcast on the NBC University Theater, is available on the audiocassette Nosology; The Cask of Amontillado; The Fall of the House of Usher (1991), part of the Golden Age of Radio Thrillers series issued by Metacom. Other audio presentations include "The Cask of Amontillado" {1987) in the Edgar Allan Poe collection by Westlake House; An Hour with Edgar Allan Poe (1979) from Times Cassettes; and Basil Rathbone Reads Edgar Allan Poe, a record album issued in 1960 by Caedmon.

The story has also been captured many times on film and videotape. Videotapes include The Cask of Amontillado (1991) from Films for the Humanities; The Cask of Amontillado (1982) from AIMS Media; Tales of Edgar Allan Poe (1987) from Troll; and a three-tape set that includes six stories by six authors, Classic Literary Stories (1987), from Hollywood Select Video. Film versions include a 16mm film from BFA Educational

Media accompanied by a teacher's guide; another 16mm film from Films Incorporated (1975); and a 35mm film from Brunswick Productions (1967) that analyzes and presents excerpts from the story.

"The Premature Burial" (1844), another one of Poe's tales of horror, is a catalog of anecdotes examining the horrors of being buried alive.

"The Tell-Tale Heart" (1843) is Poe's tale of a murderer who, unlike Montresor, is driven mad by guilt.

In "The Imp of the Perverse" (1845) Poe explores a man's uncontrollable impulses to do things that he knows will harm him� a recurring theme in Poe's fiction.

There are literally hundreds of anthologies of Poe's work to choose from. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales (1998), which is widely available, includes several of Poe's influential horror and detective stories.

♦ FOR FURTHER REFERENCE ♦

Benton, Richard P. "Poe's 'The Cask' and the 'White Webwork with Gleams.'" Studies in Short Fiction 28 (Spring 1991): 183-95. Benton focuses on Poe's fascination and use of the natural world in his stories, specifically the nitrous deposits in the caverns where Fortunato met his demise in "The Cask."

Carlson, Eric W. In Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 74: American Short-Story Writers before 1880. Edited by Bobby Ellen Kimbel and William E. Grant. Detroit: Gale, 1988, pp. 303-22. Carlson lauds Poe for his "pioneering contributions to the genre," including developing the traditional Gothic tale and expanding the boundaries of the modern short story.

Cervo, Nathan. "Poe's The Cask of Amon-

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Hllado.'" The ExpUcator 51 (Spring 1993): 155-57. Cervo reads the line, "No one wounds me with impunity," as a theme of Poe's story.

Gruesser, John. "Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado.'" The ExpUcator 56 (Spring 1998): 129-31. Gruesser examines the debate over whether Montresor achieved perfect revenge against Fortunate

Lawrence, D. H. "Edgar Allan Poe." In The Symbolic Meaning: The Uncollected Versions of Studies in Classic American Literature.' Centaur Press Limited, 1962, pp. 115-30. Originally written in 1919, Lawrence's essay studies Poe's depiction of love as a "destructive force in his short stories."

"The Cask of Amontillado." In Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events That Influenced Them. Vol. 2. Edited by Joyce Moss and George Wilson. Detroit: Gale, 1997, pp. 81-86. An extensive overview of Poe's short story, including analyses of historical and social contexts.

Platizky, Roger. "Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado,'" The ExpUcator 57 (Summer 1999): 206. This short critical essay focuses on Poe's obsession with living interment.

Stedman, Edmund Clarence. In Scribner's Monthly XX (May-October 1880): 107-24. A well-known nineteenth-century critic, Stedman compares Poe with Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. In The Academy VII (January 2,1879): 1-2. Stevenson derides Poe's last works as lacking in humanity and the creative genius that made him famous.

Thompson, G. R. Essay on Poe in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 3: Antebellum Writers in New York and the South. Edited by Joel Myerson. Detroit: Gale, 1979, pp. 249-97. This essay examines the importance of Poe in both American and European literary traditions, and explores critics' arguments over the intrinsic merit of Poe's writings.

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