The Cask of Amontilladoby Edgar Allan Poe

Cultural Literacy

and

Background for Understanding

(Presentation assembled by Brooke Allen)

“…but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.”

“The Cask of Amontillado” is the narrator’s account of his ability

to carry out a chilling plot of revenge against his offender.

The author’s precise use of time, place, and setting serves as a

vehicle for the plot.

Carnival

Carnival

• Carnival is a secular holiday, but it evolved from the Christian observance known as Lent.

• Lent is a solemn forty-day period of fasting prior to Easter.

CARNIVAL

• Traditionally, the fasting during Lent involves abstaining from eating meat.

• Modern interpretations of fasting may involve abstaining from anything one enjoys.

Carn + Val

FLESH (Meat) + FAREWELL

In anticipation of the solemnity of Lent, the celebration of Carnival evolved.

Participants engage in excessive and extreme behavior to bid farewell to meat-eating (and merriment).

What happens during Carnival?

• Carnival is a time of EXCESS and INDULGENCE.

• BINGEING upon food and alcohol is common.

Partying in the streets and masquerading are enjoyed.

The combination of alcohol and costumes creates an atmosphere where people tend to let down

their inhibitions.

European Carnival traditions survive in the United States in

the form of Mardi Gras.

“The Cask of Amontillado” is set during the “supreme madness” of

Carnival.

In such a riotous atmosphere, it is easy to see how a crime could go

unnoticed.

Lifestyles of the Rich

Circa 1700-1800

The wealthy class enjoyed indulgences such as

• Gemmary

Painting

Palazzos (mansions)

•

Fine Wine (vintages)

The narrator plans for his revenge to take place in the

catacombs beneath his estate.

What are catacombs?

Catacombs: Cities of the Dead

At a certain point in European history, catacombs, underground burial chambers, became a viable

alternative to cemeteries.

Catacombs are characterized by extensive tunnels leading to

chambers or recesses where the dead repose for eternity.

The wealthy could opt for family catacombs beneath their estates.

Masons

Definition of – 1: a skilled worker who builds by laying

units of substantial material (as stone or brick)

– 2: widely distributed secret order having for its object mutual assistance and the promotion of brotherly love among its members.

The narrator of “The Cask of Amontillado” carries out his

revenge within the catacombs beneath his palazzo.

The narrator is able to lure his victim into the catacombs with the promise of amontillado, a

fine sherry wine.(The l’s are pronounced like the

l’s in tortilla.)

The “supreme madness” of Carnival aside, why doesn’t the suggestion of a journey to the catacombs for a taste of wine seem odd or suspicious to the

victim?

The Storage of Wine

For wines to maintain their best quality, they need to be stored at

fairly cool and constant temperatures.

During the time period in which the story is set, modern electric refrigeration was not available.

To protect wine collections, connoisseurs adopted the practice of storing wines under the ground where temperatures remain ideal

year-round.

Behind the Story

• Poe had a real fear of being buried alive• After reading Poe’s work, a Russian

inventor created a device that allowed “deceased” to ring a bell so that live people above ground would know the buried person was not really dead

• Think about this as we read “Cask of Amontillado”

Sources

Coil, Suzanne M. Mardi Gras (photos by Michael Osborne). New York: Macmillan, 1994. France: A Culinary Journey. San Francisco: Collins, 1992. Poe, Edgar A. “The Cask of Amontillado” Literature. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1998. “Underground Paris: The Catacombs.” www.triggur.org.