ETI 306 — Literary Translation II

1. ETI 306 — Literary Translation II “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

2. Edgar Allan Poe • American short-story writer, essayist, and poet • He was born on January 19, 1809 to actors David and Eliza Poe. • He and his brother and sister were orphaned shortly before Poe’s second birthday, and were each taken in by different families. • He is rumored to have died from the bite of a rabid dog, but he probably passed away as a result of drug and alcoholrelated complications. • He was a heavy drinker, and also addicted to the drug laudanum (blue parts of opium) • A truly brilliant, visionary, and influential writer,Poe basically invented the genre of mystery or detective fiction as well as science fiction

3. The Cask of Amontillado (1846) • Setting:an unnamed Italian city in an unspecified year (during the 18th century?) / a vast underground catacomb • Characters:Montresor,the narrator, who is a cold and ruthless killer; Fortunato, who is the victim of Montresor; Luchesi, who is more of a plot device than a real character, helping drive the action. • Point of view: first person • Themes:dark and mysterious recesses of the human psyche; deadly revenge • Tone: creepy, elegant, and funny • Style: ironic

4. Plot summary • The narrator begins by telling the reader that Fortunato has insulted him and that he must get his revenge. • He meets Fortunato, who is all dressed up in jester clothes for a carnival celebrationand is already very drunk. • The narrator mentions he’s found a barrel of a rare sherry wine called Amontillado. Fortunato expresses eager interest in verifying the wine’s authenticity. • So he and the narrator go to the underground graveyard, or “catacomb,” of the Montresor family, where the narrator apparently keeps his wine. The narrator leads Fortunato deeper and deeper into the catacomb, getting him drunker and drunker along the way. • Fortunato keeps coughing, and the narrator constantly suggests that Fortunato is too sick to be down among the damp crypts, and should go back. Fortunato just keeps talking about the Amontillado.

5. Plot summary(cont’d) • Eventually, Fortunato walks into a man-sized hole that’s part of the wall of a really nasty crypt. The narrator chains Fortunato to the wall, then begins to close Fortunato in the hole by filling in the opening with bricks. • When he has one brick left, he psychologically tortures Fortunato until he begs for mercy – and we finally learn the narrator’s name: Fortunato calls him “Montresor.” • After Fortunato cries out Montresor’s name, he doesn’t have any more lines. But just before Montresor puts in the last brick, Fortunato jingles his bells. • Then Montresor finishes the job and leaves him there to die. • At the very end, Montresor tells us that the whole affair happened fifty years ago, and nobody has found out.

6. Literary Devices • Symbolism:The Montresor family’s coat of arms--on a shield, there is a picture of a giant gold “human foot” in “a field azure”;the foot is crushing a wild and crazy “serpent” whose fangs are buried in the foot’s heel. Could Fortunato be that snake who bit Montresor, and Montresor’s big gold foot is coming crashing down on him as a result?Irony:Poeuses irony in a humorous way a few times:theway Fortunatois dressed as a clown is ironic because he is being virtually made a fool of by following Montresor into the catacombs;also, when Fortunato says “I will not die of a cough,” Montresor responds “True-true,”showing a perverse sense of humor in the irony of Montresor's response

7. Mystery or detective? • The subject matter of the story is a murder, but it is not a detective tale; there is no investigation of Montresor's crime and the criminal himself explains how he committed the murder. • The mystery in the story is Montresor's motive (a thousand injuries?) for murder and without a detective in the story, it is up to the reader to solve the mystery. • An important question in the story is to whom Montresor is confessing this tale. (In the beginning of the story, the narrator says, "Surely, you..." ).

8. “You?” • The "you" being addressed might be a priest. (The story takes place in Italy, the center of Catholicism and at the end, Montresor says that it has been fifty years since the murder).This would mean that he is very old and dying, on his death bed. • Also, there are two sentences at the end that are italicized:“For the love of God, Montresor!” and, “In pace requiescat.” These sentences could be said by Fortunato and Montresor respectively, or by the priest. For the second sentence, if Montresor is saying it, then he is expressing the lack of remorse for his murder. However, it could be the priest saying it,inwhich case, it would mean that Montresor had just died.