The Setting in The Cask of Amontillado
The Setting in "The Cask of Amontillado"In the story "The Cask of Amontillado," by Edgar Allan Poe, a maddened narrator, Montresor, plans to get revenge on a friend, Fortunato, for some unexplained injustice. The readers learn that Montresor lures him into the catacombs to try a cask of amontillado and then seals him away to die there. This plot, though relatively straightforward, leads the readers into an experience of horror. The story's setting contributes greatly to the increasing atmosphere of horror, as Poe's treatments of time and place cause the readers to predict, to fear, and tremble in the unfolding action. The physical time in "The Cask of Amontillado" produces an element of tension and foreboding to the story. The selection of the time and place also played a significant role in the story. The festival gives Montresor an excellent opportunity not only to appear in disguise, but to locate his inebriated companion and lure him into his deadly lair. According to Womack, Poe introduces us to a familiar carnival atmosphere of indulgence that one can today associate with Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Carnival is the time of celebration and happiness for everybody and for Fortunato to enjoy the pleasures of the season with
When the characters step into the underground world, the readers grow steadily more horrified at every turn, and the readers' feelings of foreboding increase. The sense of darkness reappears and haunts thoughts as Montresor describes the indoor setting to which he leads his friend. He never faces criminal punishment for his evil actions. Convinced by the description of time and place that the worst has happened, the readers are doubly troubled by the disturbing revelation made in the story's closing words. It is impressive that a five-page story brings the same effect that cinematographers have to spend millions of dollars and truckloads of technology in order to create. This atmosphere of horror increases much more as Montresor describes his descent with Fortunato into the vaults. The manipulation and destruction of others for a moment of satisfaction is no longer a surprise to the readers who have been led by the story's setting to expect this deed. From an ancient and noble family, he has executed the perfect crime through a combination of careful planning and fortuitous circumstances. The other suggestion that this is a season of "supreme madness" (Poe 217) evokes the atmosphere of uncertainty and suspense. In the vaults where he eventually entraps Fortunato, the hour is late, and there is only "feeble light" (Poe 220). In "Guide for Reading: Edgar Allan Poe," it says that:Much of the action in this story takes place in underground burial chambers known as catacombs. Finally, Poe creates one more detail of the setting which shocks his readers.
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