What Is the Cultural Context of “The Cask of Amontillado”?

Sponsored content

The popular short story by Edgar Allan Poe is set in an Italian city and discusses two personalities: Montresor and Fortunato. The storyline of “The Cask of Amontillado” revolves around vengeful deception, and killings, as Montresor traps an intoxicated Fortunato inside an old secret chamber.

In the aspects of his plot, Poe’s tale makes excellent use of irony. “The Cask of Amontillado” is an excellent illustration of the Dark Dramatic genre, which includes gruesome tales and scenarios of punishment and retribution.

The plot

In summerly, the story opens with Montresor’s plan to assassinate Fortunato for wronging him a thousand times. To fulfill his plans, he lures him into his house, pretending that he wants Fortunato to taste his newfound wine. 

The event takes place during the carnival, an event that took place during lent, a time when they were supposed to be fasting instead of eating and making merry. Fortunato follows the spirit of the carnival and drinks beyond measure, giving Montresor the best chance to execute him. 

In his home, Montresor made sure all his servants were away, leaving him alone with his target victim. If you read Yellow Wallpaper, you might want to do a comparative analysis of this story. The plot in the Yellow Wallpaper is about a husband who was psychologically killing his wife, thinking he was helping her get a cure. He had locked her in a holiday getaway room and all she could do was stare at the wallpaper wishing she gained her freedom sooner. 

According to The Cask of Amontillado story, the house is very big with many rooms and underground passages called catacombs. The two follow a series of staircases that winds down to the passages. Fortunato seems unwell because he begins coughing and although he’s overdrunk, Montresor offers him more wine. Fortunato accuses Montresor that he’s not a mason and Montresor proves to him he is a mason by showing him his trowel, a small shovel carried by freemasons. 

Finally, they reach the furthest end of the catacombs and proceed yonder into a script that’s about 4 feet deep. Fortunato follows blindly, mostly because he is too drunk. Montresor chains him up in this cubical and instead of offering him the Amontillado, he seals the cubical using stone and motor. 

Fortunato realizes he’s about to die and screams at the top of his voice. Montresor knows how deep they are into the catacombs and knows his screaming is in vain. Before sealing off the final opening to the crypt, Montresor throws in fire and he seals off the opening, leaving his victim to die. 

The Cask of Amontillado essays

The Cask of Amontillado has many lessons today’s university students can learn. The students can analyze the book and write various essays on different topics. The dramatic events in the book also give college students a chance to improve their essay writing skills for better performance in education. 

If students can create time and read through The Cask of Amontillado essays on WritingBros, they will find the free essay samples inspirational when writing an essay on the same topic. Access to essay examples is a unique advantage today’s students can get from online writing services. The book has a lot of lessons on morality and culture and how students can relate with each other in today’s society. 

Questionable culture

The Cask of Amontillado narrates a story that is intertwined between the Carnival and the Freemasons. The masons were believed to practice rituals that involved human sacrifice and the one sacrificing became wealthier and probably gained a better office in the mason’s leadership hierarchy. Montresor tries to prove to Fortunato that he’s a freemason by showing him his trowel. The reader could be right to conclude that even Fortunato was a mason. 

The Carnival was a ceremony that was observed during lent, a time when adherents were supposed to be fasting and not feasting on meat and wine. The Carnival, however, encouraged people to a feast, eat meat and get excessively drunk with wine. 

On one hand, freemasonry was feared by people because of human sacrifice, which was against culture. On the other hand, the Carnivore practices were against the established way of life during lent. 

New literature 

The Cask of Amontillado was written at a time when America was undergoing great cultural change. The American literature writers had been challenged by writers in Europe and Sydney, who indicated that nobody could bother reading American literature. The writers in America resolved to produce worthy literature. 

It was in this very time that the madness of the carnivore that began in Europe was at its climax in America. The wealthy families were also involved in questionable rituals and this new cultural setting provided a perfect environment for new literature to develop.

Conclusion 

The Cask of Amontillado is written at a time when culture and religion were undergoing compromise due to other non-traditional practices that were quickly taking root. The most prevalent was freemasonry and the carnival festival that seemed to change the traditions of the lent season. Today’s college students can find the book useful for literature analysis. The action by Montresor against Fortunato, who trusted him, displays the greatest level of conspiracy against a fellow mason. 

Author’s Bio:

Vendy Adams is someone you would easily take notice of because of her outstanding work in the field of writing. She’s been instrumental in the success of a new writing service agency that offers professional writing services to students and a book publishing firm that has produced some of the best works in the recent past.