Edgar Allen Poe Tale of Premeditated Murder

¶ … Edgar Allen Poe tale of premeditated murder such as "The Cask of Amontillado," readers will immediately delight in the author's skill at suspense. Like wandering through darkened and ancient catacombs, reading "The Cask of Amontillado" stirs the imagination and maintains tension throughout its eerie passages. Deeper analysis lends insight into Poe's employment of various literary techniques to impart this sense of the tale being a campfire ghost story. Poe's clever use of irony, both dramatic and verbal, contributes to the short story's suspenseful mood. The opening line of "The Cask of Amontillado" whisper Montresor's plan of revenge: "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge," (Poe,). Before any action occurs, the reader is made aware of the intentions of the narrator. This dramatic display of irony allows the reader to fully engage and participate in the tale. In fact, the entire tale is a recounting of a murder that has already taken place; the narrator develops an intimate relationship with the reader through his confession. Fortunato, the intended victim, is ignorant of his fate throughout the entire story and even as Montresor seals the crypt, Fortunato still clings to his desire for the case of wine. Poe utilizes dialogue to impart verbal irony, especially Montresor's concern for his victim's health. Thick with symbolism, Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado" exemplifies the author's brilliant use of verbal and dramatic irony to evoke and maintain suspense.

Even Poe's choice of symbols in "The Cask of Amontillado" conveys irony. We first meet the unfortunate Fortunato at Carnival time. The character dons a Fool's costume, foreshadowing his role in the story. Fortunato's name is highly ironic: only bad fortune will befall this fellow, whom Montresor hates with passion. Montresor's vengeful nature may be out of proportion to the perceived offence Fortunato has committed, but the reader still longs for resolution. Thus we wait with bated breath as Montresor reels Fortunato to his death. Fortunato's obsession with the quality of Italian wine eventually leads to his demise. As a self-proclaimed connoisseur he is believed to be a "quack" by Montresor (Poe,). However, Montresor uses this knowledge of Fortunato's character to his advantage in his scheme for revenge. Knowing that Fortunato will assert his dominance over Luchesi in determining the quality of Italian wine, Montresor lures the fool into the catacombs. The "bells upon his cap jingled," indicating subtle irony and contrast between the joyful ignorance of the fool Fortunato and the dark downfall which he meets.

Fortunato repeatedly claims that Luchesi "cannot distinguish sherry from Amontillado," (Poe,). Wine connoisseurship becomes a symbol of aristocratic arrogance and pride; it is this haughtiness that Montresor hates and which lands Fortunato into the literal and figurative depths of despair. The catacombs themselves serve as a symbol of death and enclosure; they represent Fortunato's downfall and descent into a psychological hell. Furthermore, wine as bait acts as a clever tool for Montresor and a symbol for Poe. Montresor feeds the unwitting Fortunato wine along their passage in the underground, hoping to dull the man's senses. Thus, Montresor wields wine in two different ways. Irony abounds when Fortunato makes a toast "to the buried that repose around us," and Montresor responds, "And I to your long life," (Poe,). Fortunato does not know he is about to rest along with the bones around him to which he saluted in the toast; this typifies Poe's use of dramatic irony in "The Cask of Amontillado."

Fortunato's cough symbolizes his immanent suffocation in the crypt. Poe also employs the cough in a display of verbal irony throughout the dialogue between Montresor and Fortunato. When confronted with the fumes of nitre in the catacombs, Fortunato erupts in a coughing fit, to which Montresor responds in a blast of verbal irony: "your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved...You are a man to be missed...you will be ill and I cannot be responsible," (Poe,). Montresor's concern about the well being of Fortunato is darkly humorous, as the only care Montresor has is to successfully kill his friend. Montresor falls back on the ploy to appeal to Fortunato's pride by invoking once again the name of Luchesi. Fortunato falls for it and the pair continues into the depths of the catacombs. By far the most poignant use of verbal irony by Poe in "The Cask of Amontillado" comes when Fortunato claims, "it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough," (Poe,). Montresor replies, "True -- true," as the character ponders the irony of that statement. Fortunato will not perish from cough, but from something far more sinister: homicide. Maintaining a sense of suspense, Poe may even be hinting that the draughts of Medoc that the men imbibe on their walk may be laced with some kind of poison, but nothing occurs until the final moments of the tale.

The reader perceives a combination of verbal and dramatic irony when Fortunato suspects that Montresor might be a mason. Indeed, he holds a trowel, but rather than participating in Masonic rites, Montresor plans on building Fortunato his very own tomb. Even though Montresor cannot replicate nor recognize the hand gesture Fortunato makes, Montresor manages to fool his friend. "Yes...a mason," Montresor avers (Poe,).

Symbols provide some foreshadowing in Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado." The Montresor coat of arms contains references to the narrator's future actions against Fortunato. The family motto reads, "nemo me impune lacessit," or "No one assails me with impunity." Montresor already alerts the reader that Fortunato has offended him in some way and this story is one of exacting revenge. The description of the coat of arms also directly relates to the evolution of the plot: "a human foot...crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel," (Poe,). Montresor in this case would be the serpent that tricks Fortunato. Speaking about the symbolism directly to Fortunato proves once again that he chooses to remain ignorant of the future; the reader is more aware of his fate than he is. Fortunato does not suspect the malefic intent of Montresor, for he has his heart set on the cask of Amontillado wine. So strong does Fortunato covet the wine that he steps into his own grave.