Literary Criticism Of The Cask Of Amontillado

In the short story The Casket of Amontillado, author Edger Allen Poe, takes the reader on a chilling tale of a man who murder a close friend out of revenge fifty years ago. Although the story is told as a flashback, it is obvious that Poe like all of his short stories, created the piece in a first person point of view (POV). Most will say Poe only created the piece as first person to add dramatic flair to his story. However, Poe could have chosen this POV as a way to express to the audience that all humans have a desire to enact revenge on the ones that have done them wrong. Poe also might have used The Casket of Amontillado, to express his hate for a fellow author that insulted his work. As stated before, most of Poe’s short stories such

Article that is located on the Gale Virtual library the authors Joyce Moss and George Wilson, believe that Poe saw this piece of fiction as more of a thriller and less of a horror story. Moss and Wilson write saying: “Although many tales of violent revenge had been written before Poe composed “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe’s story is significant because it is a psychological tale. Narrated by a boastful murderer, it opens a window onto the criminal mind as Poe saw it. At the time the story was written, interest in the workings of the criminal mind was significant. Increasingly publicized criminal trials and other literature that featured criminal characters spurred Americans to talk more than ever before about the nature of and reasons for criminal

Thomas Dunn English for insulting his work. On the website the world of Edgar Allan Poe, there is a mentioning of a bitter feud between the two that might have inspired Poe to write The Cask of Amontillado. There is a quote directly from the website stating “It is well-known among students of Edgar Allan Poe that he and Thomas Dunn English became the most bitter of enemies in 1846, a feud which culminated in Poe 's successful lawsuit against the newspaper which published English 's libels against him.” Poe might have intended for this piece of fiction to frighten English and to warn him of what will happen to him if he continues to insult Poe’s