Untitled Essay Research Paper Words 2469

Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Words = 2469

Thesis: The Cask of Amontillado is about revenge.

I. Introduction

II. Psychoanalytical Criticism

A. Poe s Revenge

1. Father

2. Mother

III. New Criticism

A. Irony of Revenge

1. Controlled

2. Structured

IV. New Historicism

A. History s view of Revenge

1. Poe s Time

2. Critic s Time

V. Comparison of New Criticism and New Historicism

A. Text s view similar to Poe s

B. Text s view contrasts with Critic s

VI. Reader Response

A. Response to Justification

B. Response to Success

C. Response to Confession

VII. Conclusion

Nemo me impune lacessit (Poe 21), Latin meaning no one assails me with impunity. In this one line Poe characterizes The Cask of Amontillado. It is a story of the perfect revenge and why it is unattainable. The main character, Montresor, executes a plan, which he hopes will punish [Fortunato, the wrongdoer,] with impunity (18). The short story discloses that the act of revenge is not successful if retribution overtakes its redresser and if the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong (18). This story revolves around those requirements. The idea of revenge has played a major role in history and even today influences our culture. Through Psychoanalytic Criticism the ramifications of revenge will be explored, through New Criticism the story s viewpoint on revenge will be revealed, through New Historicism history s view of revenge will be discussed with a comparison to that of the text, and through Reader Response the critic s reactions to the story will be expounded.

The storyline for The Cask of Amontillado is presented as a memory. Montresor is recalling a dark secret, which has been hidden for half a century, and is confessing his crime to an unknown, silent listener. The crime is the taking of a man s life in an act of revenge. The vividness of the storyline shows the importance of the memory to Montresor, for even after fifty years he still recalls such minor details as Fortunato s eyes being two filmy orbs that distilled the rheum of intoxication. This memory embodies Montresor s desires, which looking from a Freudian perspective could be the removal of the father and the taking of the mother. Fortunato could be seen as Poe s father, John Allan. Poe describes Fortunato as a rich, respected, admired, beloved (20). Through the biographies on Poe and from Silverman, it is learned that John Allan is a Scotsman who is very wealthy and respected by many. He was a member of the Masons and had a particular fondness for wine (316-317). These facts about John Allan mesh with the character of Fortunato very well. It is also interesting to note that the Montresor s creed Nemo me impune lacessit is Scotland s national motto and probably would remind Poe of his father. The idea of Poe seeking revenge on his father figure can be understood from his biography. Poe and John Allan never got along well and usually were arguing. When Poe had amassed a large debt, Allan refused to pay it off for him and their squabbles over money lasted through John s death (Fagin 31-32, 183, 195, 227-28). John Allan left a fortune close to a million dollars and Poe was not even mentioned in his will (Carlson, 7-8). This in itself could inspire the revenge, but the whole idea can take on new meaning when the setting is considered.

The setting for the majority of the storyline is in the catacombs under the house of the Montresor family. The catacombs are a very dark long tunnel and can be seen as a symbol of the womb from a Freudian perspective. By entering the catacombs with his father figure and slaying him there, Marie Bonaparte believes that Poe is fighting for his mother figure s affection and destroying his rival for that affection (224-25). During Poe s life he lost his real mother at an early age and then lost his foster mother eleven years later. It is easy to see how in Poe s mind that a link between death and the love of his mother could be formed. The catacombs being a place of death are the yonic symbol for his mothers, which are dead. This coupled with the phallic symbol of the puncheons, which support the catacombs, gives way to the idea that the story represents Poe s innermost desires for revenge against his fathers and the love of his dead mothers. This Psychoanalytical reading differs from that of the New Criticism.

A New Critic s reading on The Cask of Amontillado focuses on the text itself for the meaning instead of bringing in the author s biography. In this type of reading the pattern the storyline follows helps us to arrive at the meaning. The act of revenge is still at the center of our attention, but now the focus lies on its pattern. In this story the act of revenge is circular. It begins with the thousand injuries of Fortunato I, [Montresor,] had borne (Poe 18), progresses to the planning of the punishment, proceeds to the execution of the plan, continues with conclusion of the design, and starts over with the sting of failure. The story accomplishes this circularity through irony. There appear to be two types of irony taking place throughout the story. The first type is the obvious ironies that Montresor creates and controls, while the second type of irony

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