English
Edgar Allen Poe can best be described as a writer who was seriously influenced by neo-Gothic interests. A great American writer, Poe was attracted and influenced by the neo-Gothic writers much before his time because of which, most of his work is on horror. Poe was also witness to a period of uncertainty in society as deceit, murder for gain, revenge and arson was quite common. While courts played an important role in trying to curb this menace, cases were manipulated to benefit the guilty. This had a profound impact on Poe who used certain themes of court matters to develop his stories. While horror and murder were common ground in his stories, repentance was something new and distinguished his ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ from his other works. Also, as in contemporary writing, writers of the class of Edgar Allen Poe and others were influenced greatly by their surroundings and this can be seen in their work. ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ by Poe demonstrates the extent to which the human mind can go before it construes the consequences of its action. This can be explicitly seen when drawing comparison between Montresor and Fortunato and their actions. It is intriguing to note how their independent decisions cause irreparable damage and they both suffer the ramification for those actions.
In ‘The Cask of Amontillado,’ Montresor, a man of immense patience, becomes possessed and no measure of reasoning could dissipate his thought of vengeance on Fortunato; “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.” (Poe, 157) Despite his weak exclamation to Montresor to refrain from doing something which he may regret later or do something which could have catastrophic intent, Montresor ignores them and his appeal of “For the love of god, Montresor” falls on deaf ears until its too late. In that spur of the moment, with raging anger, and unmindful of what his actions could cause Fortunato, Montresor strikes Fortunato, only to repent for his actions. Finally, a repentant Montresor realizes that it was too late for him to retract what he had done and sulks, “Yes, for the love of God, I do have pity on you.”
In addition to their character comparisons, there are also the subliminal comparisons between life and death, freedom and imprisonment, and intellect and foolishness. By the end of the story one see some of these comparisons contradicting themselves in such a way that it makes them wonder whether the story goes the way Poe intended or whether it was purportedly misdirected. Right from the outset, the characterization of Montresor and Fortunato is one of deceit and revenge. They are very much like the two sides of a coin, and reflect seemingly similar consent of early 19th century America. Right through the story, what one sees is Montresor’s growing dissent for Fortunato’s inveterate rebukes, and his final outburst that he feels sorry for.
While a lot of similar sentiments have been expressed by protagonists in the many stories written by Poe, the characterization of Montresor in ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ begs to differ in style and content. It is evident that vengeance in ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ is shrouded in mystery as Montresor wants to exact this revenge on Fortunato without placing himself at risk or retribution; a definite Poe-like style. However, Montresor repents for his action on Fortunato; a sentiment, clearly distinctive. This is something that greatly deviates from incidents that took place during Poe’s time. Repentance was non-existent. Poe worked and lived in Philadelphia at a time when issues of insanity echoed through the halls of the judiciary. The period was marked by slavery and notoriety. It was a period when criminals were acquitted despite committing heinous crimes after pleading to be insane. This argument was used commonly by defense counsels in courts. Poe was very much influenced by these events and used similar situations in other works of his. In ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ for example, the narrator commits the murder of an old man whom he says he loved, but killed him though he had no motive. However, he goes on to say that when he did kill him; he did an excellent job of hiding the body like an expert. This contrasts completely in ‘The Cask of Amontillado’. Here, like in ‘Tell-Tale Heart,’ the narrator, Montresor, knew Fortunato well and were good friends. When Fortunato provokes Montresor beyond a limit, he had no other choice, but to retaliate. This is where the comparison ends. The two characters; well-known to each other, seem to be like opposing poles. Montresor loathes Fortunato while Fortunato is just the opposite; he has no apprehension and if anything is just concerned about himself.
In comparing the two characters of Montresor and Fortunato, one sees a lot of difference in their dressing, style, behavior and the likes. Montresor dresses in a black silken mask dark cloak that portrays a rather grim appearance, while Fortunato is more flamboyant and this can be seen in his dressing. Appearing like a court jester in motley with bells on his head, Fortunato was expressive and had the analogical expressions of a fool, while Montresor’s grim posture reminded people around him of a rather sedate and serious individual; an executioner perhaps. Montresor’s countenance doesn’t stop with that of an executioner; but that of a judge and jury as well. Even though Fortunato dressed as a fool, he is actually a very well educated man and a member of freemason’s society. Freemasonry is another area where distinctions can be made; while one is a member of the order, the other is an apprentice, trying to prove to be an able mason.
It is in the context of their differences that Poe makes the story The Cask of Amontillado intriguing, yet compelling. The story also has dueling themes below the surface that reinforce the concepts of work and characterization. Life and death is a theme where comparison can be drawn. For example, Montresor couldn’t bear to live because of Fortunato’s continuous rebukes, while Fortunato had to pay with his life because of his actions and the contempt that it brought on Montresor. There seems to be some form of behavioral analogy that connects Montresor to the figurine of a foot stamping a serpent whose fangs are embedded in the heel of the foot. Was this a warning of sorts for those who knew Montresor to stay away from him or face the consequence for their own act? It just seems that Montresor made his intentions clear and that Fortunato was naïve and didn’t take the numerous warnings; from the black veil worn by Montresor, the trip into the crypts, to his admission of “True-True”, noting that the cough would not be the thing to kill Fortunato, seriously. Through all these incidents, one could see the looming darkness and death, finally culminating in the failing torches, signaling the end to life.
Did Poe really talk his mind when he juxtaposed Fortunato and Montresor? Was this his way of telling his audience what he thought of the society of early and mid-nineteenth century America? It can be argued that Poe purposefully used the countenance of the two prominent characters to elucidate their behavior. While the clown-like dressed Fortunato, with his antics was the darling of the readers and had no ill-feeling toward Montresor, Montresor could be compared to most commoners on the streets because of his behavior. However, the giveaway was obviously his attire. In portraying Montresor the way he was, Poe had a design that worked well with the plot. As mentioned earlier, it was obvious that Poe was influenced by his surroundings and sought to correct it in the way he could; his writing. Poe worked and lived in Philadelphia at a time when issues of insanity echoed through the halls of the judiciary. During this period, Philadelphia was known for its notoriety, where criminals were acquitted despite committing major crimes including murder after pleading to be insane. Much before things like this happened, insanity pleas were heard only in the defense of idiots or raving maniacs, and this trend was carried forward and used to good effect later on by defenses on the grounds of moral insanity. Therefore, by outlining Montresor as the dark side of society, was Poe trying to educate his readers on the life that took place in Philadelphia during such time or was it that he wanted to send out a message to the people then that, they should behave responsibly and not commit such heinous crimes for which they would repent later?
Conclusion
Fortunato and Montresor were good friends and whenever Fortunato made fun of Montresor, he would just ignore them, however, his patience ran out and he had no other option but to stop him before he added more to the ‘thousands of injuries’ hurled on him by Fortunato. The paradox to the whole story is written in the beginning by Montresor when he admits that, “A wrong is unredressed when the retribution overtakes its redresser.” Here, ‘unredressed’ stands for ‘not made up for,’ and ‘retribution’ stands for ‘punishment deserved for one´s wrongdoings.’ Therefore, in the context of the statement made by Montresor, it clearly reflects his state of mind, that, he plans to make Fortunato pay for the wrongs done to him which Fortunato never redressed. However, Montresor’s obsession of revenge on Fortunato ends up being the cause for his self-inflicted admission of guilt; something that contradicts his self-prophesized idea that his worries would end with Fortunato’s death. Also, while Montresor would have believed that he was the smarter of the two as Fortunato always played the role of a jester, it was Montresor who becomes the fool, as his regret got the better of him. In the end, it was Fortunato who had the last laugh, literally and metaphorically, as Montresor found him to be mentally imprisoned by his inability to cope with the void left by his murder of Fortunato, while Fortunato becomes free from bondage and burdens after his death.
