What is The Cask of Amontillado all about?

Answer 1

"The Cask of Amontillado" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe that revolves around a man named Montresor seeking revenge on his unsuspecting enemy, Fortunato. Montresor lures Fortunato into his family catacombs with the promise of sampling a rare amontillado wine, only to trap and ultimately bury him alive behind a brick wall. The story explores themes of pride, vengeance, and betrayal.

Answer 2

It is about a man named Montressor, who was insulted by another man named Fortunato, who is equally as rich as he is. He decides to take revenge on Fortunato by using Fortunato's weakness ---- his pride in being an expert on wine. He tells Fortunato he has a bottle of Amontillado but isn't sure if it's real or a fraud. Montressor brings Fortunato into his basement where all of his dead ancestors are buried and where his wine cellar is. Montressor repeatedly says that Fortunato is too sick to go into the basement and insists that another friend can go down into the basement to check if the Amontillado is real. Fortunato refuses and is tricked into a corner deep in the basement. Montressor chains Fortunato to the wall and builds a brick wall sealing Fortunato in the basement. Montressor's code of arms says says "We will not be without revenge." Fortunato dies behind the wall and is never found again. Supposedly it is a partially true story because during Poe's era, they found a body chained to a wall in a wine cellar in the same area this story took place.

Answer 3

'The Cask of Amantillado' is a short story about revenge, wriiten by Edgar Allan Poe in 1846. It is written in first person narration.

The narrator, addressed as Montresor, lures fellow nobleman Fortunato into an underground crypt, using the lure of an unobtainable wine, Amontillado. There he begins to imprison him, sealing him up within a wall of bricks.
A cask is a small barrel in which wines are stored. Amontillado is a very rare wine.

Answer 4

The story begins with the Montresor, the narrator of the story, explaining the reason for the crime. According to Montresor, the victim, Fortunato has committed numerous injuries against him but it wasn't until Fortunato insulted him that he vowed revenge. Montresor then makes a statement that generates much of the controversy and discussion surrounding the story. Montresor says "You, who so well know the nature of my soul." Montresor never tells us or defines the you to whom he is speaking and many of the interpretations of the story hinge on that one cryptic statement.

Montresor never gave any indication to Fortunato that he was angry with him or that he was seeking revenge because as Montresor states, "I must not only punish, but punish with impunity." As a result, Montresor does not let anyone including his victim realize that he is angry to the point of vengeance.

Consequently, when Montresor meets Fortunato during carnival, Fortunato has no reason not to trust the smiling Montresor. Montresor studied his enemy thoroughly and knew of his weakness for good wines. As a result, Montresor used wine to trap his victim. He mentions to Fortunato that he has acquired a cask of Amontillado but that he is unsure that it is the real deal. He bemoans the fact that he payed full Amontillado price without consulting Fortunato, thus playing on Fortunato's pride.
Montresor then mentions that he knows that Fortunato is busy and that he is on his way to ask Luchesi to taste the wine, consequently, Fortunato's competitive nature comes to the forefront. Fortunato claims that Luchesi knows nothing and that he is the better judge of wine. Montresor protests that Fortunato is too busy for such an errand. Montresor's protest is designed to increase Fortunato's anxiety to go taste the Amontillado.
Once Montresor feels that Fortunato is completely sold on the errand, he agrees to allow him to be the one to taste the wine. Before they move down the street, Montresor protects his identity by putting on a black mask and pulling a cloak around himself.

Then he produces his trowel, waves it at Fortunato, and thus confuses him.
When they reach the depths of the catacombs, Montresor tricks Fortunato into stepping into a small recess where he chains him to two staples in the wall and begins to wall him in. At first, Fortunato does not understand what is going on. However, he soon realizes his situation and begins to moan and test the chains. Montresor stops so that he can listen more easily to Fortunato's dismay. When Fortunato quiets, he proceeds walling up Fortunato. At one point, he raises a torch to look inside the crypt and view his handiwork.

When the light falls on him, Fortunato begins screaming. At first Montresor is alarmed, fearing that someone will hear the cries. Then he remembers the security of his position and joins Fortunato's yells trying to yell louder than him.
Eventually, Fortunato quiets and Montresor continues his task. Just as Montresor is about to complete the wall, Fortunato begins to laugh and make comments as if the situation were a simple prank. However, Montresor's responses cause Fortunato to realize the sincerity of his actions. Fortunato begs for mercy "For the love of God!" but Montresor simply echoes the phrase and finishes the task. The last sound we hear from Fortunato is the jingling of his jester's cap

Montresor finishes his account with the phrase "In pace requiescat" or "May he rest in peace."

Answer 5

There is no real "mystery" in this story since this is not a mystery story like Poe's detective story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", where the mystery is who committed the murders in the Rue Morgue. In "The Cask of Amontillado" there are other types of mysteries. It is a mystery whether Fortunato ever did commit any of the thousand injuries and one insult that Montresor says he did. And, if Fortunato did commit them, it is a mystery as to what they are.

One unstated mystery that the reader is left to imagine is what Fortunato's wife is going to think happened to him when he doesn't come home for the rest of his life. The Italian police will probably be scratching their heads saying that Fortunato's disappearance is a real mystery.

Answer 6

The narrator, Montresor, fulfils his family motto during carnival by avenging the so-called thousand injuries dealt to him by Fortunato. Fortunato's pride in his expertise of wine becomes his undoing as he follows Montresor into his family catacombs to judge a cask of amontillado that is never gotten to, by the way. The servants having been dismissed leaving the residence empty combined with the alcohol consumed by Fortunato have made him vulnerable. Montresor finishes off his plan by using his mason's trowel to seal Fortunato behind a wall of building stones. As the story ends, Montresor reveals that fifty years have passed and that he lacks remorse for his revenge.

Answer 7

a barrel of wine - a cask is a barrel and Amontillado is a very expensive rare wine.

Answer 8

A summary is too lengthy to post here, so see below for details-