“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

1. “The Cask of Amontillado”by Edgar Allan Poe Cultural Literacy and Background for Understanding (Presentation assembled by Brooke Allen)

2. Background of Edgar Allan Poe • Born 1809-1849 • His mother died during his youth and his father abandoned them • He married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia in 1835 • Virginia died in 1847 • He died in 1849

3. Education of Poe • Entered and dropped from both the University of Virginia and West Point • Ran into debt and started borrowing money, gambling and getting deeper into debt

4. Writing Style of Poe • Wrote in a Gothic Style • Deep and intense • Explorations of а world of dream and of nightmare • Gothic lit includes • death and decay, haunted homes/castles, family curses, madness, powerful love/romance, ghosts, and vampires. • In his stories the past is darker, mоrе ominous and oppresses his heroes and heroines

5. Gothic Discussion • In your study guide, answer the question about what Gothic lit. is and where you have seen Gothic in TV, movies, books, etc. Be prepared to discuss.

6. Poe’s Characters • Many of his characters are filled with madness • Obsessed with the irrational side of the mind

7. Background • The Cask of Amontillado • Published 1846 • One theory for the inspiration for story was a feud Poe had with 2 other poets • The story was somewhat controversial for focusing his story on a crime with no apparent motive, and a murderer with no apparent remorse

8. Literary Focus • Point of View • Told in the first person by Montresor • By presenting the story in the first person, Poe puts the reader at the mercy of an unreliable narrator, a mad man, who decides what to tell and what to leave out.

9. Setting of story = Carnival • Carnival is a secular holiday, but it evolved from the Christian observance known as Lent. • Lent is a solemn forty-day period of fasting prior to Easter.

10. Carn + Val FLESH (Meat) + FAREWELL • In anticipation of the solemnity of Lent, the celebration of Carnival evolved. • Participants engage in excessive and extreme behavior to bid farewell to meat-eating(and merriment). • Carnival is a time of EXCESS and INDULGENCE. • BINGING upon food and alcohol is common.

11. Partying in the streets and masquerading are enjoyed.

12. The combination of alcohol and costumes creates an atmosphere where people tend to let down their inhibitions.

13. European Carnival traditions survive in the United States in the form of Mardi Gras.

14. “The Cask of Amontillado” is set during the “supreme madness” of Carnival. **Why is this setting perfect for committing a crime?

15. Lifestyles of the Rich Circa 1700-1800

16. PPalazzos (mansions)

17. Fine Wine (vintages) • Amontillado is a fine, rare wine.

18. The narrator plans for his revenge to take place in the catacombs beneath his estate.What are catacombs?

19. Catacombs: Cities of the Dead

20. Movie with catacombs as the setting

21. At a certain point in European history, catacombs, underground burial chambers, became a viable alternative to cemeteries.

22. Catacombs are characterized by extensive tunnels leading to chambers or recesses where the dead repose for eternity.

23. The narrator of “The Cask of Amontillado” carries out his revenge within the catacombs beneath his palazzo.

24. The Storage of Wine

25. For wines to maintain their best quality, they need to be stored at fairly cool and constant temperatures.

26. Basements, cellars, and even catacombs serve as excellent storage facilities for the precious vintages.

27. Cast of Characters

28. Fortunato • Montresor's sworn enemy, • Fortunato displays no uneasiness in Montresor's company, and is unaware that his friend is plotting against him. • Fortunato is a proud connoisseur of fine wine • He is urged on by the chance of sampling some rare Amontillado

29. Luchesi • Acquaintance of Montresor's and Fortunato's • A rival wine expert of Fortunato’s • Montresor keeps Fortunato on the trail of the Amontillado by threatening to allow Luchesi to sample it first

30. Montresor • Holds a grudge against his friend Fortunato, who has committed several unnamed offenses against him • Wealthy and lives in a palazzo • Has planned murder of Fortunato • Telling the story fifty years after it has taken place. Possible death bed confession?

31. Helpful Definitions • Mason- Two definitions: • A member of the fraternity of Freemasons, a worldwide fraternal organization OR • One whose occupation is to build with stone or brick; also, one who prepares stone for building purposes. • Nitre is a potassium nitrate salt formerly known as saltpeter. Saltpeter is composed of the names “Sal” or salt, and “Petrae” or rock. Literally, salt of the rock.

32. Definition Cont’d • Trowel-a small handheld tool with a flat, pointed blade, used to apply and spread mortar or plaster.

33. SourcesCoil, Suzanne M. Mardi Gras (photos by Michael Osborne). New York: Macmillan, 1994. France: A Culinary Journey. San Francisco: Collins, 1992.Poe, Edgar A. “The Cask of Amontillado” Literature. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1998. “Underground Paris: The Catacombs.” www.triggur.org.