1. The Tormented Life of Edgar Allan Poe
The Nightmarish Mind
of Edgar Allan Poe
“The Short Life”

2. Born
His mother died during his youth and his father abandoned them
After the death of his grandmother married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia in 1835
Virginia died in 1847
Died in 1849
Background

3. Entered and dropped from both the University of Virginia and West Point
Ran into debt and started borrowing money, gambling and getting deeper into debt
Education of Poe

4. Wrote in a Gothic Style
Deep and intense
Explorations of а world of dream and of nightmare
In his stories the past is darker, mоrе ominous and oppresses his heroes and heroines
Writing Style of Poe

5. Poe’s Characters
Many of his characters аrе filled with madness
Obsessed with the irrational side of the mind

6. The Pit and the Pendulum The Fall of the House of Usher
Tell-Tale Heart
The Cask of the Amontillado
The Masque of the Red Death
The Raven
Lenore
Famous Works
Short Stories
Poems

7. The Cask of Amontillado

8. Background
The Cask of Amontillado
Published 1846
One theory for the inspiration for story was a feud Poe had with 2 other poets
The story was somewhat controversial for focusing his story on a crime with no apparent motive, and a murderer with no apparent remorse

9. Pre-Reading Vocabulary
Amontillado: a variety of sherry imported from Spain
palazzo: a mansion
catacombs: underground burial place
Unredressed: unavenged
Redresser: an avenger
Virtuoso: a person skilled or knowledgeable in a specific subject

10. The Cask of Amontillado
Overview
The story is narrated by Montresor, who carries a grudge against Fortunato for an offense that is never explained
Montresor leads a drunken Fortunato through a series of chambers beneath his palazzo

11. The Cask of Amontillado
Overview
Although Fortunato has a horrible cough the promise of a taste of Amontillado spurs him deeper and deeper into the underground
When the two men reach the last underground chamber, Montresor chains Fortunato to the wall, builds a new wall to seal him in, and leaves him to die

12. Remorse vs. Lack of Remorse Pride Friendship Power and Respect
Literary Focus
Themes and Conflicts
Revenge
Madness
Deception
Remorse vs. Lack of Remorse
Pride
Friendship
Power and Respect
Social Clases and Social Significance within Society

13. Montresor’s Coat of Arms and motto, Nemo me impune lacessit
Literary Focus
Symbols
Montresor’s Coat of Arms and motto, Nemo me impune lacessit
Irony
The Usage of a Trowel
A foot in a blue background crushing a snake whose fangs are embedded in the foot's heel
“No one attacks me with impunity”
Both the coat of arms and motto are representative of Montresor’s lust for revenge
He will crush Fortunado for the “injuries” he has given
Fortunado belongs to a secret society called the Freemasons
Montresor says he is also a mason, but then produces a trowel used for regular masonery work
Fortunado thinks this action is trivial, but the trowel ends up playing an integral part in his demise .

14. Told in the first person by Montresor
By presenting the story in the first person, Poe puts the reader at the mercy of an unreliable narrator, a mad man, who decides what to tell and what to leave out.
Literary Focus
Point of View

15. Fortunato
Montresor's sworn enemy,
Fortunato displays no uneasiness in Montresor's company, and is unaware that his friend is plotting against him.
Fortunato is a proud connoisseur of fine wine
He is urged on by the chance of sampling some rare Amontillado

16. Luchesi
Acquaintance of Montresor's and Fortunato's
A rival wine expert of Fortunado’s
Montresor keeps Fortunato on the trail of the Amontillado by threatening to allow Luchesi to sample it first

17. Montresor
Holds a grudge against his friend Fortunato, who has committed several unnamed offenses against him
Wealthy and lives in a palazzo
Has planned murder of Fortunado
Telling the story fifty years after it has taken place he reveals no regret for his actions