TRIVIA

He was prolific

He created a new profession

He married his teen cousin

Edgar Allan Poe, (born January 19, 1809, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.—died October 7, 1849, Baltimore,
Maryland), American short-story writer, poet, critic, and editor who is famous for his cultivation of
mystery and the macabre. His tale “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) initiated the modern
detective story, and the atmosphere in his tales of horror is unrivaled in American fiction. His “The
Raven” (1845) numbers among the best-known poems in the national literature.

How did Edgar Allan Poe contribute to romanticism?

He was able to access the darker and potentially more malevolent nature that existed as part of the
human condition. Poe affects American Romanticism because he taps into the Germanic Romanticism
that explored philosophical and metaphysical condition.

Analysis to his work

The Cask of Amontillado

The narrator begins by telling us that Fortunato has hurt him. Even worse, Fortunato has insulted him.
The narrator must get revenge. He meets Fortunato, who is all dressed up in jester clothes for a carnival
celebration − and is already very drunk. The narrator mentions he’s found a barrel of a rare brandy
called Amontillado. Fortunato expresses eager interest in verifying the wine’s authenticity.

So he and the narrator go to the underground graveyard, or “catacomb,” of the Montresor family.
Apparently, that’s where the narrator keeps his wine. The narrator leads Fortunato deeper and deeper
into the catacomb, getting him drunker and drunker along the way. Fortunato keeps coughing, and the
narrator constantly suggests that Fortunato is too sick to be down among the damp crypts, and should
go back. Fortunato just keeps talking about the Amontillado.

Eventually, Fortunato walks into a man-sized hole that’s part of the wall of a really nasty crypt. The
narrator chains Fortunato to the wall, then begins to close Fortunato in the hole by filling in the opening
with bricks. When he has one brick left, he psychologically tortures Fortunato until he begs for mercy –
and we finally learn the narrator’s name: Fortunato calls him “Montresor.”
After Fortunato cries out Montresor’s name, he doesn’t have any more lines. But just before Montresor
puts in the last brick, Fortunato jingles his bells. Then Montresor finishes the job and leaves him there to
die. At the very end, Montresor tells us that the whole affair happened fifty years ago, and nobody has
found out.

Theme other related elements of his work

Edgar Allen Poe is an old master of mystery, suspense, and horror, and his command of the literary
Gothic style is well-known. His short stories often contain themes about death and decay, as well as
mental instability and emotional crisis.