The Setting in The Cask of Amontillado

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.