Author: Edgar Alan Poe Main Characters

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Reading Log 
Title: The Cask of Amontillado 
Gothic Fiction 
Author: Edgar Alan Poe 
Main Characters: 
Montresor, who is also the narrator, and Fortunato, the victim. 
Setting: "The Cask of Amontillado" begins at a carnival, or festival. Fortunato is 
already quite intoxicated when Montresor meets him there, and his judgement is 
thus impaired. Montresor utilizes this knowledge of the man and then exploits his 
pride in wine connoisseurship to lure him away to the Montresor family's 
catacombs. 
Plot: The Cask of Amontillado" opens with the narrator Montresor addressing 
someone unknown. It might be the reader, but it might be someone close to 
Montresor because he mentions that the addressee knows his soul well. Montresor 
begins by referring to the many ways Fortunato has injured and insulted him. 
Montresor vows revenge, but he also says he hasn't given Fortunato any reason to 
suspect they are anything but friends. 
Montresor recounts how he runs into Fortunato on the street during carnival 
season. Fortunato is dressed in motley (the traditional costume of a fool or jester in 
commedia dell'arte, an old form of Italian theater) and has been drinking. Fortunato 
is proud of his knowledge of wine, so Montresor tells him he has a cask of 
something that he's told is Amontillado (a type of sherry). Montresor says he's not 
sure, though, so he's going to see a mutual acquaintance named Luchesi to ask him 
to test it. Fortunato is excited by the idea that Montresor has managed to buy some 
Amontillado and scoffs at the idea that Luchesi might know wine better than he 
does. Fortunato insists on going to test the wine right away. 
Despite Montresor's protestations that Fortunato must have a previous engagement 
and that he appears to have a cold that will be worsened by the damp of his vaults, 
Fortunato pulls his mask on and urges Montresor to take him to see the 
Amontillado. Montresor leads him to his home. It is empty because the servants 
have gone to carnival. Montresor takes two torches from the wall and leads 
Fortunato down into his family catacombs. 
Drunk Fortunato wobbles and coughs as they walk. However, when Montresor 
expresses concern for his health and says they should go back, Fortunato brushes it 
away, insisting it's nothing and he won't die from it. Montresor agrees and opens a 
bottle of wine from his wine cellars for Fortunato. They toast one another. 
Fortunato drinks to the dead around them; Montresor drinks to Fortunato's long 
life. 

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They walk on, talking about Montresor's family, its coat of arms, and its motto. 
Montresor points out all the dust and seepage on the walls and suggests again they 
go back to protect Fortunato's health. Fortunato again insists they continue. They 
do and Montresor opens another bottle of wine for them. Fortunato makes a 
gesture that Montresor does not understand. He repeats it, then explains it is a sign 
so Masons can recognize one another. He says Montresor must not be a Mason, but 
Montresor says he is and shows Fortunato a trowel. Fortunato thinks it is a joke 
and nudges his host to lead on to the Amontillado. 
They walk on, arm in arm, until they reach a dark crypt full of human bones. 
Montresor verbally goads Fortunato once more by mentioning Luchesi. When 
Fortunato steps further into the crypt, Montresor chains him to the wall. He 
continues to talk to Fortunato as if he were there voluntarily, asking him one more 
time if he won't leave to preserve his health, then pretending Fortunato has again 
refused. Fortunato is so confused by the change in events that he keeps asking 
about the Amontillado, making it seem for a moment like the two men are both in 
the same false reality. 
Montresor moves some bones to expose bricks and mortar. He begins to brick up 
the opening to the crypt. As he does, Fortunato finally realizes the situation. He 
cries out, then goes silent, then shakes the chains as Montresor methodically puts 
row after row of brick in place. When the bricks reach the level of Montresor's 
chest, Fortunato screams. This scream upsets Montresor enough that he draws his 
sword and pokes around the crypt for a while, but the strength of the crypt walls 
reassures him. He screams back at Fortunato, and louder, until Fortunato goes still. 
Montresor goes back to bricking up the entrance. When he has just one stone left to 
put in place, Fortunato speaks again, as if the whole incident has been a prank, in 
an attempt to be lighthearted while imploring Montresor to let him go. Montresor 
plays along but does not let him out. Fortunato begs Montresor to let him out, "For 
the love of God," and then goes silent. Montresor calls his name two more times 
then puts the final brick in place. He puts the bones he moved off the bricks back 
in place and leaves. That was 50 years ago, Montresor notes in closing, saying in 
Latin, "Rest in peace!" (In pace requiescat!). 
Problem: The main conflict in the story is between Montresor and Fortunato. 
Montresor, our narrator, believes that Fortunato has “inflicted a thousand insults,” 
upon him. It is because of these “insults”, which are not named in the story, that 
Montresor begins to execute his plot for revenge. 
Solution: 
The conflict is resolved when Montresor kills Fortunato by walling him up 
alive inside the Montresor family catacombs.