Assumption Polytechnic College of Southern Mindanao

Prk. 4, Sta. Marina, Brgy. Tigatto, Davao City

Tel No. 225-0720 – 23 local 2011 Agdao Campus, 2013 Tigatto Campus
apcsm.tigatto2013@gmail.com

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

S.Y. 2022-2023

WRITTEN REPORT ON
The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allan Poe

In Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements of the subject

C9- 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Submitted to:

Ms. Jenny-ssel R. Sarino

Subject Teacher

Submitted by:

Ashlie Amin
Ivan Vicada
Angela Jamago
Alexa Agbayani
Rich Lorenz Lubon
Charlyn Carmelotes
Kylene Claire Batausa
Zairra Kye De Guzman
Martin Jickey Balonquit
Maria Sarah Stella Alojado
HE, ICT & HUMSS

March 31, 2023

I. ACTIVATING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

To introduce the literary piece "The Cask of Amontillado," let's play a quick
game of "Two Truths and a Lie." I will give you three statements, and you
have to guess which one is false.

1. "The Cask of Amontillado" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe.

2. The story is about a man who takes revenge on his friend who has
insulted him.
3. The story takes place in a castle in France.

Can you guess which one is false? The answer is number three. "The Cask of
Amontillado" takes place in an unnamed Italian city during Carnival season.

In this juncture you will play a game called mafia game. A mafia game
is played by a group of individuals. Mafia game includes killer, detective, and
doctor but were going to change it by using the character’s name Fortunato
and Montresor. If you pick Fortunato then you are going to play as a victim
and if you pick Montresor then you're going to play as a killer. After picking
your character you must keep it confidential to the other player.

Now that we have a basic understanding of the story let us dive into it.

II. PRESENTATION OF THE TOPIC

Biography of the Author:

 Edgar Allan Poe

 Born: January 19, 1809 (Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.)
 Alma mater: University of Virginia United States Military Academy.
 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.
He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United
States, and of American literature. He was one of the country's earliest
practitioners of the short story, and is considered the inventor of the
detective fiction genre, as well as a significant contributor to the emerging
genre of science fiction. He is the first well-known American writer to earn
a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and
career.

EDGAR ALLAN POE'S SIBLINGS

●Older brother: William Henry Leonard Poe (1807-1831)
●Younger sister: Rosalie Poe (1810-1874)

EDGAR ALLAN POE'S PARENTS

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 ●David Poe Jr. (1784-1811)
●Eliza Poe (1787-1811)

Edgar Allen Poe was orphaned at an early age when Poe’s

father and mother, both professional actors, died before the poet was
three years old. John and Frances Valetine Allan raised him as a foster
child in Richmond, Virginia, and his relationship with his foster family was
strain to say the least. Poe’s work was likely inspired by his own tragic
childhood; both of his parents died while he was very young, and his foster
mother passed away when he was 20.

After a short stint in the army, Poe self-published a book entitled

Tamerlane and Other Poems; it was to be the start of a brilliant career that
included classic poems such as The Raven and the sinister short story
The Cask of Amontillado.

HIS WIFE
●Edgar Allen Poe then moved to Baltmore where he met and fell in love
with his cousin. Yes, cousin. Incest was probably the norm back then.

●Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe was only 13years old when she married
Edgar who was 26years old then.

●In 1842, Virginia became ill with tuberculosis. She died of the disease
on January 30, 1847, at the age of 24.

Another reference in Poe’s stories to his life is alcohol. Towards

the end of his days, Poe began to spiral in to depression and madness.
He drank more and more heavily. The stories he wrote in the last years of
his life often included an alcoholic character. For instance, “The Back Cat”
was published in 1845, 4 years before Poe died.

“The Cask of Amontillado” was published in 1846. It was also

written in first person view like “The Black Cat.” In this story, however, it is
the victim (Fortunato), not the murderer (Montresor), who is drunk.
Fortunato’s intoxication is what allows Montresor to chain him to a stone
and trap him forever in the catacombs. It is a different version of the theme
of alcohol, but it still includes a drunken person.
In short, Poe’s life was rather awful, and it is apparent in many of
his stories and poems that the events in his past had a huge impact on his
writing. In fact, if life hadn’t been so cruel to him, Poe may have not written
his classic tales we’ve come to know and love.

Poe’s death is surrounded by mystery and controversy; some

believe that alcoholism was his ultimate undoing, while others are
convinced that he was murdered. Over a century and a half later, Poe’s

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obsession with dark themes still enraptures readers today. Drinking was in
fact to be the bane of his life. This gave rise to the conjecture that Poe
was a drug addict, but according to medical testimony he had a brain
lesion.
a hopeless alcoholic, Poe died at age 40, drunk in a gutter in Baltimore, a
victim of his debauched lifestyle. Those legends abound, and they are
apocryphal. Poe likely died of rabies. Poe had been seen in a bar on
Lombard Street, disheveled and delirious, but it is well established that he
died in the hospital.

Outline of the Story:

The narrator, Montresor, opens the story by stating that he has

been irreparably insulted by his acquaintance, Fortunato, and that he
seeks revenge. He wants to exact this revenge, however, in a measured
way, without placing himself at risk. He decides to use Fortunato’s
fondness for wine against him. During the carnival season, Montresor,
wearing a mask of black silk, approaches Fortunato. He tells Fortunato
that he has acquired something that could pass for Amontillado, a light
Spanish sherry. Fortunato (Italian for “fortunate”) wears the multicolored
costume of the jester, including a cone cap with bells. Montresor tells
Fortunato that if he is too busy, he will ask a man named Luchesi to taste
it. Fortunato apparently considers Luchesi a competitor and claims that
this man could not tell Amontillado from other types of sherry. Fortunato is
anxious to taste the wine and to determine for Montresor whether it is truly
Amontillado. Fortunato insists that they go to Montresor’s vaults.

Montresor has strategically planned for this meeting by sending

his servants away to the carnival. The two men descend into the damp
vaults, which are covered with nitre, or saltpeter, a whitish mineral.
Apparently aggravated by the nitre, Fortunato begins to cough. The
narrator keeps offering to bring Fortunato back home, but Fortunato
refuses. Instead, he accepts wine as the antidote to his cough. The men
continue to explore the deep vaults, which are full of the dead bodies of
the Montresor family. In response to the crypts, Fortunato claims to have
forgotten Montresor’s family coat of arms and motto. Montresor responds
that his family shield portrays “a huge human foot d’or, in a field azure; the
foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.”
The motto, in Latin, is “nemo me impune lacessit,” that is, “no one attacks
me with impunity.”

Later in their journey, Fortunato makes a hand movement that is

a secret sign of the Masons, an exclusive fraternal organization.
Montresor does not recognize this hand signal, though he claims that he is
a Mason. When Fortunato asks for proof, Montresor shows him his trowel,
the implication being that Montresor is an actual stonemason. Fortunato
says that he must be jesting, and the two men continue onward. The men
walk into a crypt, where human bones decorate three of the four walls.
The bones from the fourth wall have been thrown down on the ground. On
the exposed wall is a small recess, where Montresor tells Fortunato that

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the Amontillado is being stored. Fortunato, now heavily intoxicated, goes
to the back of the recess. Montresor then suddenly chains the slow-footed
Fortunato to a stone.

Taunting Fortunato with an offer to leave, Montresor begins to

wall up the entrance to this small crypt, thereby trapping Fortunato inside.
Fortunato screams confusedly as Montresor builds the first layer of the
wall. The alcohol soon wears off and Fortunato moans, terrified and
helpless. As the layers continue to rise, though, Fortunato falls silent. Just
as Montresor is about to finish, Fortunato laughs as if Montresor is playing
a joke on him, but Montresor is not joking. At last, after a final plea, “For
the love of God, Montresor!” Fortunato stops answering Montresor, who
then twice calls out his enemy’s name. After no response, Montresor
claims that his heart feels sick because of the dampness of the
catacombs. He fits the last stone into place and plasters the wall closed,
his actions accompanied only by the jingling of Fortunato’s bells. He finally
repositions the bones on the fourth wall. For fifty years, he writes, no one
has disturbed them. He concludes with a Latin phrase meaning “May he
rest in peace.”

SYMBOLISM

"The Cask of Amontillado" is full of symbolism, which adds depth

to the story.
 Montresor family's coat of arms- shows a human foot crushing a
serpent to death. Meaning that someone may try to harm the family
but the family will kill whoever tries. This is exactly what Montresor
does to Fortunato.

 Wine- It represents foolishness. Fortunato was drunk and did not

think twice about following Montresor into the catacombs and was
eventually too inebriated to fight back against being entombed

 Clown's hat- When Fortunato was wearing the clown's hat, it was
symbolic because he was a fool, falling right into Montresor's trap.
A fool was a common term for clowns in that time.

 Catacombs- It represents evil and death. Montresor, plans his

revenge to take place in the catacombs beneath his palace.
Underground areas where people are buried.

 Vault- underground graves or burial chambers. Fortunato is getting

closer to imprisonment, where his freedom will be taken away from
him when he dies.

 Trowel- This trowel is a symbol of Montresor's plans for revenge

and his use of deceit in carrying out the revenge. The reader first
sees the trowel appear when Montresor is trying to prove to
Fortunato that he is a mason- (builds a wall to kill his "friends").

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  Carnival- represents energy and life. Typically, the carnival is a
time of excess, both in food, drink, and behavior, and it is in the
midst of celebration where Montresor discovers Fortunato, already
intoxicated.

 Motley- symbolizes his fate. foolish Fortunato miss clue after clue
because of his ego which leads to his horrifying fate being
entombed alive by his secret enemy.

 Black mask- Symbolizes darkness, anger, and revenge. Montresor

on the other hand wears a black mask and cloak. This gives the
reader a mysterious vibe from him. He would wear this cloak and
mask because he was onto something more sinister.

 Fortunato- means "the fortunate one" in Italian. Fortunato meets

an unfortunate fate as the victim of Montresor's revenge.

 Montressor- means "my treasure" in French. The treasure the

nature owns in this case is the understanding of perfect revenge for
what Fortunato has done to him

 Luchesi- it represents Fortunato's weakness and arrogance. He is

a rival wine taster of Fortunato's. When telling Fortunato of the
Amontillado and asking him to come to taste it Montresor offers to
have Luchesi come along to ensure the wine is authentic.

 Jingling bells- bells are played to represent time, and the “tinkling”
of bells occurs several times in the story. While Fortunato’s hood
bells are ringing, his time and his life are coming to an end. These
bells describe the culminating moment when Montresor quickly
chains Fortunato to the wall.

 The cask of Amontillado- is in itself a symbol of the unresolved

issues that apply to Montresor's plan to seek salvation through
revenge.

Deepening of the Topic:

The story raises questions about revenge, betrayal, and the

nature of evil. It is a cautionary tale that warns against the dangers of
letting our emotions control us. Revenge is not the answer, and it only
leads to more pain and suffering.

The "VISION" of APCSM, which states that "the cask of

amontillado" should be a person with technical, vocational, and
professional skills, faith-motivated compassion for the poor, and socially,
ecologically, and ecumenically engaged, it is somehow relevant to the

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 story because In socially engaged, Montressor and Fortunato re-
acquainted themselves at the carnival, but little did we know Montressor
had already planned—and this is where it all started—the revenge of
Montressor on Fortunato that led to Fortunato's death. Maybe if Montresor
were faith-motivated, he couldn't do such a thing to Fortunato; maybe he
will forgive Fortunato and tell him that he didn't like how Fortunato insulted
and injured him repeatedly.

The "MISSION" of APCSM has nothing to do with "The Cask of

Amontillado," which is a story about murder, treachery, and retribution,
hence it is not related to the plot. Rather than being Christ-centered and
mission-focused, Montressor lacks that. He is a cold, cunning, and spiteful
man; he did not consider fleeing to murder Fortunato.

The story does not relate to the APCSM's "GOALS," because

Montresor's objectives were to devise a plan of revenge and entice
Fortunato into his home by promising him a priceless bottle of wine.

The CORE VALUES of the APCSM state that everyone should be

Christ-centered, Self-discipline, Stewardship, Excellence, and Simplicity,
but the story doesn't live up to those expectations because it is all about
retribution, deceit, guilt, and murder. I suppose "The Cask of Amontillado"
has nothing to do with these core values.

III. INTEGRATION OF CRITICAL APPROACHES

Psychoanalytic Approach:

The first approach is the psychoanalytic approach since this

approach focuses on the analysis of the unconscious mind and its
influence on human behavior. In "The Cask of Amontillado," the main
character Montresor's behavior can be interpreted as the result of his
repressed desires and impulses. He is motivated by his need for revenge
against Fortunato, who has insulted him in an unspecified way.
Montresor's desire for revenge can be seen as the manifestation of his
unconscious anger and aggression, which he is unable to express in a
socially acceptable manner.
Moreover, Montresor's obsession with his family motto, "Nemo me impune
lacessit" (No one provokes me with impunity), can also be analyzed from a
psychoanalytic perspective. His fixation on this motto may reflect his
unconscious fear of being vulnerable or powerless, as well as his need to
assert his dominance and control over others.

Feminism Approach:

The second approach is the feminism approach because it

focuses on the analysis of gender roles and power dynamics between
men and women. Although the story does not have any female characters,
the theme of male dominance and aggression is present. Montresor's

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 behavior can be interpreted as an example of toxic masculinity, as he
seeks to exert power and control over Fortunato, who is presented as a
weaker and more vulnerable character. Montresor's use of violence to
resolve his conflict with Fortunato can also be seen as a reflection of the
patriarchal system, in which violence is often used as a means of
asserting dominance.

Marxism Approach:

We choose Marxism approach because the story can be analyzed in

terms of class struggle and exploitation. Fortunato represents the
bourgeoisie, or the wealthy ruling class, while Montresor represents the
proletariat, or the working class. Montresor's revenge can be seen as a
form of resistance against the bourgeoisie's exploitation of the proletariat,
with Montresor taking control of the situation and asserting his own power
over Fortunato. There are also clues in the story that suggest Fortunato's
wealth. For example, he is described as wearing "a tight-fitting parti-
striped dress" and which would have been expensive items of clothing in
the time period in which the story is set. He is also shown to be a collector
of rare wines, including the fabled Amontillado that Montresor uses as bait
to lure him into the catacombs. Montresor's family name is said to be "an
old and well-respected" one, but there is no mention of his personal wealth
or possessions. He is depicted as being cunning and calculating, but not
necessarily wealthy in his own right.

IV. CHECKING OF UNDERSTANDING

To check your understanding of the story, please answer the following

questions:

1. Who is the narrator of the story?

A. Edgar Allan Poe
B. Montresor
C. Fortunato
2. Edgar Allan Poe was born on…?
A. January 19, 1809
B. January 30, 1847
C. October 7, 1849
3. When has Edgar Allan Poe died?
A. 1831
B. 1809
C. 1849
4. Who was the wife of Edgar Allan Poe?
A. Eliza Poe
B. Rosalie Poe
C. Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe
5. What is the title of the wine that Montresor lures Fortunato into the
catacombs to taste?

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 A. Chianti
B. Merlot
C. Amontillado
6. What is the cause of Montresor's desire for revenge against Fortunato
in "The Cask of Amontillado"?
A. Fortunato insulted him
B. Fortunato betrayed him
C. The reason is not specified
7. What is the setting of "The Cask of Amontillado"?
A. A carnival in Venice
B. A funeral procession in London
C. A royal banquet in Madrid
8-10. What are the 3 approaches that can be connected to the story?

ESSAY:

 Could this happen in real life? How? /Why?

 What is the main character's motivation for seeking revenge?
 Is it ever acceptable to take revenge on someone, even if it
involves committing a heinous act against them?

V. REFERENCES

 Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Cask of Amontillado." 1846.

 Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide.
Routledge. (2015)

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