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f leather 8raclCurd
English lOh
Ms. Gibson
6 May, 20m
Montresor's Manipulation: A Cunning, Meticulous Plot for Revenge
"At the 1110st remote end of the crypt there appeared another less spacious. Its walls had
been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacomhs
of Paris ... From the foulih the bones had heen thrown down, and lay promiscuously upon the
earth ... "( Puc g 19). This passage is one of'the many in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of
Amontillado." \\ hieh graphically portray Montresor's merciless revenge on the connoisseur,
Fortunato. The talc begins with Montresor prolCssing his intentions to take Fortunato's life at
any cost, and he carries each detail of his manipulative plan through to the very end. With this
extreme determination, Montresor cautiously develops an intricate and exhaustive scheme to
deceive the ignorant Fortunato. Since Montresor faces little resistance, his ingenious succeeds,
and Fortunato
IS
len buried alive in the depths of the catacombs. "The Cask of Amontillado" by
Edgar Allen Puc clearly demonstrates Montresor's manipulation ofF011unato through his
attention to
C\lTY
detail in his preparations, his understanding of the human mind, and his ability
to manipUlate pCllple.
First ill the short story, Montresor pledges revenge against Fortunato for a past insult
which deeply ullsettled him. Montresor hrags, "I continued as was my wonL to smile in his face,
and he did not perceive that my smile now \\ as at the thought of his immolation" (Poe 816). He
wastes no time
wants
reven~L'
III
admitting his intention
(tIlLI
has no shame in his uesires; Montresor knows he
\\ hich can only be achieved with Fortunato's blood. ThroughoLlt the development
of the plot, Munlrcsor never wavers in his ultimate desire and boldly carries his scheme through
to the assured destruction of Fortunato. 1\!1canwhi1c, Fortunato is completely ignorant to a series
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ofspecitic clues dropped by Montresor in the grand plot leading to the inevitable; this
demonstrates his self-absorbance and a lack of attentiveness which blinds him II-om realizing the
unavoidable truth.
Throughout the progress of the conspiracy, Montresor very cunningly employs
Fortunato '5 weakness to his advantage. This is revealed as Montresor utili/es the bottle of
Amontillado to exploit Fortunato's passion l'or connoisseurship and Masonry as he leads the
victim
t~l1ther down
into the catacombs and towards his impending death (Plati7ky 207). By
cleverly C\ploiting Fortunato's weakness, Montresor is capable of successfully deceiving him
when there is no real bottle of Amontillado. Continuing with this theme, an excerpt from
Masterpieces of American Romantic Literature agrees, "Although he gives Fortunato warnings
that arc not what they seem, many of them arc conveyed in tern1S that sound innocuous,"
(McFarland Pennell (1). Montresor has a firn1 awareness and insight of the human race and an
in-depth understanding of the way people make decisions which allows him to influence
/
everyone to comply with his underlying wishes. His personality type enables him to convince
people into believing anything he states since he is a man of great power, respect, and fortune.
Continuing towards his ultimate goal, Montresor masters his control of'people's actions
through his extremely wise and subtle deception of everyone he encounters. His convincing tone
and relaxed personality create a trustworthy image which contributes to his persuasive ability. As
Joseph Kishel stated in "Poe's Cask of Amontillado," "Much of the remarkable power of 'The
Cask of Amontillado' lies in its elliptical subtlety," (KisheI30). Montresor never directly
answers Fortunato's nagging questions; he continues to maintain that the Amontillado is just a
little further into the catacombs. This conccpt is further dcmonstrated by Walter Shear as he
describes Poc's characters as disciplined minds that sec the situation as a problem to be solved
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and are quite convincing in the process (Shear 276). Fortunato has no doubt of Montresor's word
and
f~lils
to recognize the irony with the connection to the absence of Amontillado and
lVlontresor's continuous vague answers to his inquiries. Montresor continues to exert complete
control
0\
cr the situation and smoothly handles any subject Fortunato discusses.
,\nother underlying factor in l'v1ontresor's success is the reverse psychology he utilizes
right rrom the beginning, To begin he claims to possess a bottle ol'rare Amontillado and then
con[nluollsly doubts the true identity of the wine. Once Fortunato is determined to certify the true
identity o['the wine, Montresor tries to persuade him to stay because of his poor health which has
no etTect in deterring Fortunato" (Poe 817l.Montresor's skillful approach of the subject enables
him to elTeclively direct Fortunato in this quest for the Amontillado. Through this deep
understanding of Fortunato's desires and personality, he knows the exact phrases and key
concepts to arouse Fortunato's interest through his understanding of psychology. He achieves
success
;IS
a direct result of this subtle mental manipulation in his efforts to finish Fortunato.
Also, Montresor goes through great detail to scheme his revenge. Even small particulars
like tile presence of his attendants arc planned for as Montresor reveals, "I had told them that I
should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the
hOllse," (Poe 817). He is capable or "manipulating his servants with divine indirectness" which
goes completely unnoticed by everyone (St. John Scott 83). His conception of mankind leads
him to believe the servants will immediately disobey his orders and evacuate the premises;
Montresor once again effectively employs reverse psychology in his manipulation throughout the
short story. Without his cunning instinct. l'v1ontrcsor cannot accomplish an infamous murder
mystery and remain innocent [or [i [ty years.
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Another contributing quality is i\lontresor's ability to gain Fortunato's trust and respect
by utili/ing those things that arc very ncar to Fortunato's heart. He identifies with Fortunato by
referencing the Masons, a fratemal brotherhood, which results in a tight bond among the
members. Mentally, this connection brings secure and trusting feelings with this reference.
According to an article published ahollt Poe's insight into the human mind, "Poe has a genuine
umlcrst<lllding of unconscious processes and imaginative powers," (Shulman 245). This concept
ot'manipulating emotions is etTectively employed in building Fortunato's trust to lure him into
the depths ol'the catacombs. He never visibly rebels against the seemingly never-endingjoumey
to the Amontillado as a result of Montresor's clever associations.
Ironically, there are several points when Montresor subtly reveals his intentions only to
put his own mind at ease. This includes drinking to Fortunato's long II fe and infom1ing him of
how precious his health is due to his social status (Poe 818). As stated previously through
Montresor's perception, Fortunato is extremely ignorant to the world around him; so, Montresor
docs not actually expect Fortunato to eumprchend the intentions and foreshadowing behind these
statC'ments. This is his way of waming or preparing Fortunato for the subsequent course of events
which f· ortunato can now avoid since he has been indirectly cautioned on their joumey through
the catacombs. Montresor now has the peace of mind to silence his secret for a half century after
the inCident.
Conversely, a popularly accepted explanation for Montresor's actions is calling him
insane. To demonstrate this point, "Unable to find a logical explanation of Montresor's hatred for
Fortunato, most commentators conclude that Montresor is insane," (Harahan 47). However, this
is nut the case since Montresor is in a completely sound state of mind Being insane interferes
with his ability to thoroughly strategi/e Fortunato's death; conversely, Montresor makes great
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ellorh to plan for and then successfully conceal the murder. The average person cannot
accomplish the ingenious feats that Montresor does in "The Cask of Amontillado" therefore
\eri fying his sanity of mind. Accomplishing an infamous murder and being insane requires
L'\treme genius even beyond that \vhich Montresor possesses; thercCorc, it is unlikely that
insanity is the logical explanation.
Edgar Allen Poe's "Thc Cask of Amontillado features the mischievous plans of
i\lontresor in his mission to repay I'ortunato lor the actions taken against Montresor. From the
\ery beginning of this short story, Montresor hints to Fortunato's impending fate through his
numerous foreshowing comments \\hich go undetected by the ignorant Fortunato. To prepare for
this
d~lY,
Montresor ensures every detail works perfectly as there is much conniving put into the
formation of his explicit plan. Montresor has an in-depth understanding of human behavior as
demonstrated by his influence on Fortunato, his ability to predict his servants' betrayal of him,
~lI1d
his subtle delivery of lies. This ability to manipulate anyone into anything demonstrates
Montrcsor's cunning in understanding human psychology and bcha\"ior; as stated by Montresor
himself, "A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser," (Poe 816).
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Works Cited
Baraban, Elena V. "The Motivc for Murder in "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar AlIen Poe."
Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature. 58 ..2 (.2004): 47-62.
Kishel, Joseph F. "Poe's The Cask 01' Amontillado." The Explicator. 4 1.1 (1982): 30.
McFarland Pennell, Melissa. Mastet])ieccs in American RomantIc Literature. Santa Barbara, CA:
2006 Greenwood Publishing Group. 59-62.
Plati/ky. Roger. "Poc's The Cask of Amontillado." The Expliclto[ 57.4 (1999): 206-209.
Poe, Edgar AlIen. "Cask of Amontillado." Connections: Literature for Composition. Ed. Qucntin
Miller and Julia Nash. Boston, MD: 2008 Houghton Mirtlin Company. 815-821.
Shear, Walter. "Poe's Fiction: The Hypnotic Magic of the Senses." Midwest Quarterly. 47.3
(2006): 276-289.
Shulman, Robert. "Poe and the PO\\crs of the Mind." EHL. 37.2: .245-262.
St. .1ohn Scott, Graham. "Poe's The Cask of Amontillado." The Explicator. 62.2 (2004): 85-88.