History Literature / TheCaskOfAmontillado

* LuredIntoATrap: Montresor as he leads Fortunato to his death in the vault.

* UnreliableNarrator: Montresor claims that the insults he's borne from Fortunato were grave enough to justify chaining him behind a wall to die slowly of starvation or suffocation.

* TheBadGuyWins[=/=]DownerEnding: It's hard to imagine what kind of offence Fortunato might have committed that would justify Montresor's [[DisproportionateRetribution horrific revenge]], so Montresor is most likely a VillainProtagonist. And he not only kills Fortunato, [[KarmaHoudini he gets away scott free]].

''The Cask of Amontillado'' is one of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's best-known short stories.

* ReversePsychology: Montresor has made sure his servants leave his mansion for the night by explicitly telling them ''not'' to stir from the house in his absence, and he persuades Fortunato to keep going deeper into the cellars by telling him that he will just ask Luchresi instead, a man Fortunato feels is an inferior connoisseur of wines.

* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Fortunado suspects nothing of Montressor largely because he is drunk.

* AristocratsAreEvil: Montressor is the scion of an ancient noble family.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Montressor claims that he patiently bore a "thousand injuries" from Fortunato until Fortunato finally went too far. Of course Montressor may not be the most reliable narrator.

* TheCakeIsALie: Clearly there is no pipe of Amontillado; Montressor is lying to lure him there.
* DesignatedHero[=/=]DesignatedVillain: Intentionally invoked. The designations are made by a very UnreliableNarrator. Montressor repeatedly muses on Fortunado's OffscreenVillainy, but never gets into the specifics of what he actually did, and the guy appears to be harmlessly affable (but then so does Montressor if you don't have access to his thoughts). Meanwhile our narrator, who goes out of his way to assure the reader he is MostDefinitelyNotAVillain, is the one very carefully planning murder. Not even a quick and clean death either, but a pretty nasty AndIMustScream scenario.

* DrugsAreBad: Fortunato is already drunk at Carnivale before he is lured to his doom by the prospect of taste-testing a cask of valuable wine. As he and Montressor walk deeper into the catacombs (used doubly as a wine-cellar), Fortunato is given more and more to drink, slowing his reactions to the revenge awaiting him.

* NoodleIncident: Just what ''did'' Fortunato do that made it necessary for Montressor to take such a revenge? He never says.[[note]]While the full nature of the "insult" may never be known, Poe scholars have narrowed it down to being related to class conflict. Montressor is the scion of an ancient noble family, while Fortunato appears to be "new money." Arrogant, vulgar, and ignorant of the manners of high society, Fortunato inadvertently slighted Montressor's family honor in such a way that could only be redressed through violent retribution. Some have even theorized that Fortunato made his money by fleecing Montressor or one of his fellow ancient noblemen.[[/note]]

%%* TheBadGuyWins[=/=]DownerEnding

* BuriedAlive: Fortunato is walled up a alive in a catacomb.

* DrugsAreBad: Fortunato was clearly drunk at the festival.
%%* IronicName: Fortunato.

Montresor lures Fortunato by telling him he has obtained a pipe of Amontillado sherry. He mentions obtaining confirmation of the pipe's contents by inviting a fellow wine aficionado, Luchesi, for a private tasting. Fortunato goes with Montresor to the wine cellars of the latter's house, where they wander in the catacombs. Montresor keeps giving Fortunato drinks to keep him drunk, finally arriving at a niche, where Montresor tells his friend that the Amontillado is within. Fortunato enters drunk and unsuspecting, allowing Montresor to chain him to the wall.

Montresor then proceeds to wall up the niche, entombing his friend alive. Fortunato sobers up faster than anticipated, though, and begs Montresor to release him. Montresor ignores him and continues, eventually walling him in completely.

In the last few sentences, Montresor reveals that in the 50 years since that night, he has never been caught, and Fortunato's body still hangs from its chains in the niche where he left it.

* PretentiousLatinMotto: "Nemo me impune lacessit" as stated by Montresor, which translates out to "No one insults me with impunity". He made that clear when buried a very intoxicated Fortunato alive.

The story's narrator, Montresor, tells the story of the day that he took his revenge on Fortunato (Italian for "lucky"), a fellow nobleman, to an unspecified person who knows him very well. Angry over numerous injuries and some unspecified insult, he plots to murder his friend during Carnival when the man is drunk, dizzy, and wearing a jester's motley.

Montresor lures Fortunato into a private wine-tasting excursion by telling him he has obtained a pipe (about 130 gallons[=/=]492 litres) of what he believes to be a rare vintage of Amontillado. He mentions obtaining confirmation of the pipe's contents by inviting a fellow wine aficionado, Luchesi, for a private tasting. Montresor knows Fortunato will not be able to resist demonstrating his discerning palate for wine and will insist that he taste the Amontillado rather than Luchesi who, as he claims, "cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry"[[note]]even though Amontillado is a kind of sherry[[/note]]. Fortunato goes with Montresor to the wine cellars of the latter's palazzo, where they wander in the catacombs. Montresor offers wine (first Medoc, then De Grave) to Fortunato in order to keep him inebriated. Montresor warns Fortunato, who has a bad cough, of the damp, and suggests they go back; Fortunato insists on continuing, claiming that "[he] shall not die of a cough." During their walk, Montresor mentions his family coat of arms: a golden foot in a blue background crushing a snake whose fangs are embedded in the foot's heel, with the motto "Nemo me impune lacessit ("No one insults me with impunity").

At one point, Fortunato makes an elaborate, grotesque gesture with an upraised wine bottle. When Montresor appears not to recognize the gesture, Fortunato asks, "You are not of the masons?" Montresor says he is, and when Fortunato, disbelieving, requests a sign, Montresor displays a trowel he had been hiding. When they come to a niche, Montresor tells his victim that the Amontillado is within. Fortunato enters drunk and unsuspecting and therefore, does not resist as Montresor quickly chains him to the wall. Montresor then declares that, since Fortunato won't go back, he must "positively leave".

Montresor reveals brick and mortar, previously hidden among the bones nearby, and walls up the niche, entombing his friend alive. At first, Fortunato, who sobers up faster than Montresor anticipated he would, shakes the chains, trying to escape. Fortunato then screams for help, but Montresor mocks his cries, knowing nobody can hear them. Fortunato laughs weakly and tries to pretend that he is the subject of a joke and that people will be waiting for him (including the Lady Fortunato). As the murderer finishes the topmost row of stones, Fortunato wails, "For the love of God, Montresor!" to which Montresor replies, "Yes, for the love of God!" He listens for a reply but hears only the jester's bells ringing. Before placing the last stone, he drops a burning torch through the gap. He claims that he feels sick at heart, but dismisses this reaction as an effect of the dampness of the catacombs.

In the last few sentences, Montresor reveals that in the 50 years since that night, he has never been caught, and Fortunato's body still hangs from its chains in the niche where he left it. The murderer concludes: In pace requiescat! ("May he rest in peace!").

Montresor lures Fortunato into a private wine-tasting excursion by telling him he has obtained a pipe (about 130 gallons[=/=]492 litres) of what he believes to be a rare vintage of Amontillado. He mentions obtaining confirmation of the pipe's contents by inviting a fellow wine aficionado, Luchesi, for a private tasting. Montresor knows Fortunato will not be able to resist demonstrating his discerning palate for wine and will insist that he taste the Amontillado rather than Luchesi who, as he claims, "cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry"[[note]]even though Amontillado is a kind of sherry[[/note]]. Fortunato goes with Montresor to the wine cellars of the latter's palazzo, where they wander in the catacombs. Montresor offers wine (first Medoc, then De Grave) to Fortunato in order to keep him inebriated. Montresor warns Fortunato, who has a bad cough, of the damp, and suggests they go back; Fortunato insists on continuing, claiming that "[he] shall not die of a cough." During their walk, Montresor mentions his family coat of arms: a golden foot in a blue background crushing a snake whose fangs are embedded in the foot's heel, with the motto "Nemo me impune lacessi"t ("No one insults me with impunity").

Montresor lures Fortunato into a private wine-tasting excursion by telling him he has obtained a pipe (about 130 gallons,[1] 492 litres) of what he believes to be a rare vintage of Amontillado. He mentions obtaining confirmation of the pipe's contents by inviting a fellow wine aficionado, Luchesi, for a private tasting. Montresor knows Fortunato will not be able to resist demonstrating his discerning palate for wine and will insist that he taste the Amontillado rather than Luchesi who, as he claims, "cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry"[[note]]even though Amontillado is a kind of sherry[[/note]]. Fortunato goes with Montresor to the wine cellars of the latter's palazzo, where they wander in the catacombs. Montresor offers wine (first Medoc, then De Grave) to Fortunato in order to keep him inebriated. Montresor warns Fortunato, who has a bad cough, of the damp, and suggests they go back; Fortunato insists on continuing, claiming that "[he] shall not die of a cough." During their walk, Montresor mentions his family coat of arms: a golden foot in a blue background crushing a snake whose fangs are embedded in the foot's heel, with the motto "Nemo me impune lacessi"t ("No one insults me with impunity").

%%* KarmaHoudini: Montresor. [[DeathByAdaptation Some adaptations remedy this.]]

* UnreliableNarrator: Montresor claims that the insults he's borne from Fortunato were grave enough to justify chaining his nemesis behind a wall to die slowly of starvation or suffocation. Then again, he also thinks '''[[CruelAndUnusualDeath burying someone alive]]''' is an appropriate response to being insulted.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Fortunato gets buried alive by the narrator for some unknown insult.

* MakeSureHesDead: Montresor calls Fortunato's name twice to make sure he's dead. He also drops a burning torch into the gap left where he soon after places the last of the stones.

* DeathCryEcho: Fortunato's "''For the love of God, Montresor!''"

* BuriedAlive: Fortunato is sealed in a wall in one the most famous examples of the trope.
* DeathCryEcho: Fortunato's famous "''For the love of God, Montresor!''"

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Montresor claims that he was apparently bore a "thousand injuries" from Fortunado until he went too far. Montresor may not [[UnreliableNarrator the most reliable of narrators]]. though...

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Montressor claims that he was apparently bore a "thousand injuries" from Fortunado until he went too far. Montresor may not [[UnreliableNarrator the most reliable of narrators]]. though...

%%* KarmaHoudini: Montressor. [[DeathByAdaptation Some adaptations remedy this.]]

* TheAlcoholic: Fortunato, obviously.
* TheBadGuyWins[=/=]DownerEnding

* IronicName: Fortunato.
* KarmaHoudini: Montressor. [[DeathByAdaptation Some adaptations remedy this.]]

* PretentiousLatinMotto: "Nemo me impune lacessit." as stated by Montresor, which translates out to "No one insults me with impunity". He made that clear when buried a very intoxicated Fortunato alive.
* ReversePsychology: The Narrator has made his servants have left his mansion for the night and persuades Fortunato to keep going deeper into the wine by telling him that he'll just ask Luchresi instead, a man Fortunato feels is an inferior connoisseur of wines.

Montresor lures Fortunato into a private wine-tasting excursion by telling him he has obtained a pipe (about 130 gallons,[1] 492 litres) of what he believes to be a rare vintage of Amontillado. He mentions obtaining confirmation of the pipe's contents by inviting a fellow wine aficionado, Luchesi, for a private tasting. Montresor knows Fortunato will not be able to resist demonstrating his discerning palate for wine and will insist that he taste the Amontillado rather than Luchesi who, as he claims, "cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry". Fortunato goes with Montresor to the wine cellars of the latter's palazzo, where they wander in the catacombs. Montresor offers wine (first Medoc, then De Grave) to Fortunato in order to keep him inebriated. Montresor warns Fortunato, who has a bad cough, of the damp, and suggests they go back; Fortunato insists on continuing, claiming that "[he] shall not die of a cough." During their walk, Montresor mentions his family coat of arms: a golden foot in a blue background crushing a snake whose fangs are embedded in the foot's heel, with the motto "Nemo me impune lacessi"t ("No one insults me with impunity").

* OhCrap: It takes Fortunato a good long moment to sober up and realize that Montresor isn't just fooling around with. The realization hits him hard just before the last brick is mortared into place.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Montressor claims that he was apparently bore a "thousand injuries" from Fortunado until he went too far. Montressor may not [[UnreliableNarrator the most reliable of narrators]]. though...
* BuriedAlive: Fortunado is sealed in a wall in one the most famous examples of the trope.
* DeathCryEcho: Fortunado's famous "For the love of God, Montresor!"
* DisproportionateRetribution: Fortunado gets buried alive by the narrator for some unknown insult.
* DrugsAreBad: Fortunado was clearly drunk at the festival.
* IronicName: Fortunado.
* LuredIntoATrap: Montressor as he leads Fortunato to his death in the vault.
* MakeSureHesDead: Montressor calls Fortunato's name twice to make sure he's dead. He also drops a burning torch into the gap left where he soon after places the last of the stones.
* OffscreenVillainy: What Montressor claims Fortunado did, anyway.
* PretentiousLatinMotto: "Nemo me impune lacessit." as stated by Montressor, which translates out to "No one insults me with impunity". He made that clear when buried a very intoxicated Fortunado alive.
* ReversePsychology: The Narrator has made his servants have left his mansion for the night and persuades Fortunado to keep going deeper into the wine by telling him that he'll just ask Luchresi instead, a man Fortunado feels is an inferior connoisseur of wines.
* UnreliableNarrator: Montressor.
* VisualPun: Fortunato asks if Montressor is a Mason (of the Freemasons). Montressor doesn't understand, but says he is. Fortunato asks for proof. Montressor shows him his trowel.

* MakeSureHesDead: Montressor calls Fortunato's name twice to make sure he's dead.

* UnreliableNarrator: Montressor

* DisporptionateRetribution: Fortunado gets buried alive by the narrator

* OffscreenVilliany: What Montressor claims Fortunado did, anyway.