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The importance of revenge as a theme
Edgar allan poe gothic literature stories
Edgar allan poe gothic literature stories
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Murder is no way to get back at someone. Even if somebody is mad, they can find another way to cope with it. One may think that murder is the only option but if they just take time to calm down and think, then they will realize that doing that kind of thing to someone isn't worth the consequences. In Edgar Allan Poe's story “The Cask Of Amontillado,” Montresor has been wronged by Fortunato too many times, and he finally has had enough. Everything that he says to Fortunato the reader knows that he means the complete opposite. Poe uses Montresor’s use of irony to foreshadow Fortunato’s not so fortunate death.
Despite the fact that Fortunato's name sounds like fortunate, ironically he is murder by someone that he believed was his friend. Now that not so fortunate. Montresor begins by directly telling the reader how mad he is at Fortunato, and that he has had enough. This quote foreshadows the death of Fortunato because from the beginning the reader knows that
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something is going to happen to him. “The thousands of injuries For Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” This foreshadowing quote is just a reminder that at this time in Montresor's life, nothing will get in the way of him getting his revenge. He is telling the reader that his ex-friend Fortunato has stabbed him in the back too many times, and he has had enough. He believed that Fortunato needs to pay, in a way that will stop him from ever doing anything to him again. Although it may seem like Montresor cares for Fortunato, it is just his sarcasm, and his great use of irony. When Fortunato is lead into Montresor's catacombs, he becomes iller than he already was. Because of Fortunato's loud hacking, Montresor decides to sound like he cares to stay inconspicuous. “‘Come’ I said ‘you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible.’“ This quote from Montresor is noticeably ironic because he would love nothing more than to see Fortunato in pain. Another quote from the book is Fortunato foreshadowing his own death. “The cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.” This quote is ironically foreshadowing Fortunato's death because is going to die, but not from a cough. Fortunato is completely unaware that he is foreshadowing his own death. Along with tricking Fortunato, Montresor also tricked his servants.
He told them one thing when he very well knew that they wouldn't listen, and they would do the complete opposite. “There were no attendants at home; I had told them that I should not return until the morning and had given them explicit order not to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance.” This quote shows how detailed Montresor planned his revenge. It’s like reverse phycology on a child, you tell them the opposite of what you really want them to do so they do it. Throughout the book, Montresor is giving hints which foreshadows that he is planning to kill Fortunato. This quote proves that Montresor wanted nobody home so he could kill Fortunato without anybody knowing. Along with foreshadowing Fortunato's death, it is ironic because he told them when he was leaving and when he would return. He knew that if they knew this information they could leave and be back without him
noticing. In conclusion, Montresor may act like Fortunato's friend, but that is just his great use of irony. He uses this irony to foreshadow the death of his ex-friend. Throughout the story, Fortunato is completely unaware that the things he says are foreshadowing his own death. This story also uses irony by naming the character that dies Fortunato, because it sounds like Fortunate, and death is not so fortunate. Montresor uses his ability of irony to trick his servants. He tells them one thing so they do the opposite, which is exactly what he wanted them to do. Overall murder should never be an option for revenge. There are other more efficient ways to get back at someone.
Montresor must trick and manipulate Fortunato to accomplish his goal of revenge. He tells Fortunato the reason he is at the ...
In the story “The Cask of Amontillado”, the author uses lots of verbal irony to emphasize the evil intentions of Montresor.One of the examples of verbal irony in the story that he uses is “The cough’s a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.” and “true--true, I replied.” The effect of this irony is it that Montresor already knows how Fortunato will die.Another example of verbal irony used in the story was when they did a toast to each other. “I drink”, he said, to the buried that repose around us.”
He gives very little information about Fortunato, past that he is a wine connoisseur. There is no mention of what Fortunato does for leisure, his family, or even his job. In fact, the only details the reader receives on Fortunato paint him as a fool, with his costume, his drunken attitude, and obliviousness Montresor is focuses on the facts that make Fortunato look bad; he not only wants Fortunato dead but he also wants Fortunato’s name discredited. Montresor tells the reader even less about himself because there is no background to who Montresor is, what he does, or even what kind of contact he has with Fortunato. The only true details of Montresor that are given must be implied and give a sense of intelligence. In addition, he gives little to no details about the carnival, such as where it was, why the carnival was happening, or even why he chose this particular day to enact his plan. From these details, or lack of details, it seems Montresor doesn’t want his audience to know this information. The audience is supposed to simply look at Fortunato a fool and Montresor a genius, the harbinger of death. The facts such as who these people were, the time, or the setting are not important to Montresor’s focus in the
Revenge is the opportunity to retaliate or gain satisfaction for a real or perceived slight ("revenge"). In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor, the narrator, is out for revenge. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato and thinks he has developed the perfect plan for “revenge with impunity” (Baym). Montresor never tells the reader why he feels Fortunato deserves punishment. He only says that Fortunato causes him “a thousand injuries”until “[venturing] upon insult” (Baym ?). As a result, Montresor plans to bury Fortunato alive.
Irony is the expression of ones meaning by using language that usually signifies the opposite. There are three different types of irony; verbal, dramatic, and situational. Edgar Allen Poe uses verbal and dramatic irony in The Cask of Amontillado to depict a deeper meaning of Montresor’s hate towards Fortunato.
Throughout the story, Montresor does not justify his reasons for committing murder. He does not disclose anything about the “thousand injuries” (250) done to him by Fortunato, nor does he even reveal the details of the supposed injuries that drove him to vow revenge. Montresor’s family motto, “nemo me impune lacessit” which means “no one insults me with impunity” (252), indicate that Montresor only killed Fortunato to protect his family’s
When they arrive at the Montresor estate, Montresor leads Fortunato down the stairs into the catacombs. Down here is where the Amontillado Fortunato is going to taste and where the revenge of Montresor is going to take place. As he get closer and closer, the narrator opens up more and more to how he is going to kill his "friend". It sound like it is a premeditated murder. Montresor seems so inconspicuous that he acts like he cares about Fortunato which is still a part of his plan.
Poe's, The Cask of Amontillado is a story about fear and revenge. The story begins with Montressor's vow of revenge, foreshadowing future actions. "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult vowed revenge..." Montressor had to be sure not to raise suspicion of what he was going to do Fortunato. Montressor knew that Fortunato had a weakness that he could use towards his advantage.
He did not show even by words that he is going to kill. Also, he did not let Fortunato to know that he intended any grudge against him “..neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will... He did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation (8-10).” One night while Fortunato was drunk, Montresor told him that he bought a barrel of wine called Amontillado “But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts (25).” He understood that Fortunato “prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine (12).” He attracted him to going to his house to check the drink by saying that he might invite Luchresi to do it, a seeming rival of Fortunato 's, instead “As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi. If any one has a critical turn it is he. He will tell me (37-38).” When they left, Montresor put on a mask and quickly took the way to his property. He was sure nobody could see them together on Fortunato 's last night. Moreover, Montresor completely knew Fortunato and used the knowledge versus him. He planned his deed carefully and carried it out slowly. It seems that Montresor anticipated his revenge with joy. While they traveled down the cavern, Montresor gives Fortunato many opportunities to leave. Fortunato looks weak against the niter, which is growing on the walls, and repeatedly coughs. Montresor commented on Fortunato 's health and asked
In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of the Amontillado”, Montresor has always been viewed as a sociopath. He is a man who lured his friend into his family 's catacombs by lying to him. He then got his friend, Fortunato, drunk enough that he did not know what was going on. Montresor then chained his friend to a wall and boxed him in with mortar, all as an act of revenge and justice in his eyes. Although Montresor trapping Fortunato in the catacombs can be viewed as a cold, evil, heartless act, it does not mean that Fortunato’s death was meaningless. Montresor viewed Fortunato’s death as poetic justice, but others can not help but think of the irony of the situation. Poetic justice is defined as a result or occurrence that seems proper because someone
Hoping to obtain revenge, Montresor, the narrator, lures Fortunato, one of his friends, into the depths of his catacombs to be murdered. Montresor says, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge"(149). This is the first line in the story, and this is why Montresor seeks revenge. There is no explanation of the insults that Montresor received, so the reader may infer that Montresor is just lying. The insults that were received could possibly be just outdoing in the business arena. Montresor might be using that excuse for his desire to kill Fortunato, because he may be killing Fortunato out of jealousy. Montresor is likely telling this story to a family member, friend, or his doctor while lying on his deathbed. Montresor says, "…your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter."(150). Montresor just admitted that he knows Fortunato is better than he. Montresor may have been under the influence of jealousy. Redd 4 There are different theories to ...
In this short story, examples of irony and foreshadowing are presented very often in between lines. One of the very first things that I find as the biggest irony in this short story fiction is the victim’s name “Fortunato”. As I looked up the definition of the name, Fortunato means fortunate which is very ironic due to the fact that he is going to die, and be walled up in the catacombs. Aside from that, I also found a verbal irony at the very beginning of the story when Montresor first sees Fortunato at the carnival and says “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met,” (Poe) .I found this to be very much ironic because, Fortunato is not actually lucky to have met Montresor who is actually going to murder him.
In the opening lines Montresor explains what Fortunato has done to him: ?he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge?(75. The next line Montresor explains that he did not threaten him back and he did not reply to the threats. It was not in Montresor?s nature to do return the threat, ?You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat?(75).
There are many ironic situations in “The Cask of Amontillado”, the first I noticed is that when Montresor approaches Fortunato at the carnival, he remarks that he is “luckily met”. This is irony due to the fact that once they met, Montresor was going to execute his diar plan; killing fortunato making him very unlucky. That also goes along with Fortunato’s name, being also ironic that the end is very unfortunate for him. Another example of irony is when Montresor asks Fortunato what his family motto is. He replies that his family motto is, “Nemo me impune lacessit”, which is translated into “No one provokes me with impunity.”
Due to the fact that Fortunato is foolish he does not realize Montresor is trying to kill him. Fortuanto obviously did something wrong to Montresor. Therefor Fortunato should not have as much trust for Montresor as he does. "I have no engagement;-come" (p. 4, li. 22).