THE PLOT. Montressor has
decided to enact vengeance upon an old adversary, Fortunato, for some undetermined
offense. The story takes place at an unnamed location (probably 18th or 19th century
Italy) during the carnival season. Montressor encounters Fortunato, who is ironically
dressed in the costume of a court jester--a fool. Montressor tells Fortunato that he has
a rare bottle of Amontillado (a Spanish sherry) that he would like to have tasted for
evaluation; Montressor knows that Fortunato, a wine lover, cannot resist this
offer--even though there is no bottle of Amontillado. Montressor leads Fortunato deep
into his family catacombs, which doubles as a wine cellar. When they finally reach the
deepest and farthest corner of the tombs, Montressor suddenly thrusts a chain around
Fortunato and "fettered him to the granite" floor. Montressor then proceeds to wall up
his unfortunate victim, laying a wall of bricks around him. After completing the last
tier, he leaves Fortunato to die alone. Montressor relates at the end that after "half
of a century, no mortal has disturbed them." Montressor has enacted his revenge, and it
is a perfect crime.
THE
THEME. The dominant theme of the short story is that of revenge or
vengeance. Montressor never tells the reader what crime Fortunato has committed against
him, but his well-planned plot works to perfection. He punishes Fortunato "with
impunity" and without the chance of being caught himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment