'The Cask of Amontillado' Summary & Analysis

Edgar Allan Poe's famous short story takes place in an Italian city and features two characters,
Montresor and Fortunato. The plot summary of ''The Cask of Amontillado'' is about revenge,
deceit, and murder, as Montresor tricks a drunk Fortunato by trapping him inside an ancient
catacomb. Poe's story uses irony incredibly well in the elements of his characters and setting.
''The Cask of Amontillado'' is a great example of the Dark Romantic genre, which features
stories of the grotesque or situations of judgment and punishment.
Keep reading to learn about Edgar Allan Poe's short story ''The Cask of Amontillado'' with the
following lesson transcript.

'The Cask of Amontillado' Summary

''The Cask of Amontillado'' - You might be thinking, 'Great. I don't even understand the title -
how am I supposed to understand this story?' So before we can start exploring Edgar Allan Poe's
famous short story, we first need to define a couple of words in his title. Amontillado is a very
specific kind of Spanish sherry, sherry being a fortified wine. And a cask is a barrel. So if we put
that all together, this story could be called 'The Barrel of Sherry,' but ''The Cask of Amontillado''
has a much better ring, don't you think?

Characters
 So, aside from being a story about a barrel of wine, Poe's short story is one
of revenge and secret murder. It's a tale of terror starring two main
characters: Montresor and Fortunato. Montresor is the narrator and the murderer. Fortunato is a
wine connoisseur and the victim.

To whom is Montressor telling his story?

Montresor's listener is described only as “You, who so well know the nature of my soul.”
This tells us the person knows him very well; they probably have a long-standing
relationship. Some possible identities for this person include:

 a priest,
 a wife or mistress, or
 a trusted friend.
My guess is that he's talking to his wife, mistress or friend. I don't see enough support
for repentance to think he's telling a priest.

2. Are there any examples of irony?

Among the ironic moments in the story are when:

 Fortunato, a "man to be respected and even feared" wears motley and striped
clothing, and a jester's cap with bells due to the carnival,
 Montresor smiles at Fortunato, not out of goodwill, but at the thought of his doom,
 Montresor refers to Fortunato as "my friend",
 Montresor says "Your health is precious," and that he "cannot be responsible" for
risking it,
 Montresor agrees that Fortunato won't die of a cough,
 Montresor drinks "to your long life", and
 the bells jingle as Fortunato is walled in and dies.
3. Does Montresor have good reason for holding his
grudge?
We don't know for sure. He claims to have suffered "a thousand injuries" and an insult
from Fortunato.

It's noteworthy that Fortunato doesn't ask Montresor why he's killing him. I would guess
that would be the first question that would come to someone's mind—it's what I would
ask.
He begs for mercy. He says they could call it a practical joke and laugh about it later.
This suggests he's thinking clearly enough to try to save himself. Perhaps he knows
what he's done to Montresor. It could be something so serious that he knows there's
nothing to gain by bringing it up.