The Cask of Amontillado

                              THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO

                                                     Edgar Allan Poe

Biography

Edgar Poe (January 19,1809 Boston, Massachusetts - October 7,1849 Baltimore, Maryland U.S.A.)

American writer, was also editor, literary critic, best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and macabre. His stories captured the imagination and interest of readers around the world.  Regarded as a central figure of romanticism in American literature. He is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and contributed in science fiction.

Poe had a difficult life and career because he was the first American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone.

Worked in several journals and periodicals and was known for his own style of literary criticism.

In 1845 published his poem "The Raven" to instant success. For years he had been planning to produce his own journal The Penn, then changed the name to "The Stylus", but he died before it could be produced. The cause of his dead is unknown but was attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis among others.

His  work influenced literature in the United States and around the world. Appears throughout popular culture in literature, music, films and television.

                                                          

His works "The tell-tale Heart" and "The fall of the House of Usher", became literary classics. In late 1930's published Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, a collection of short stories. His innovations in literature earned him the nickname "Father of the Detective Story". He won a literary prize in 1843 for "The Gold Bug", a story of secret codes and hunting treasure. 

Historical Background

Poe was the second child of two actors, his father abandoned the family in 1810 and his mother died the following year. Orphaned, the child was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia. Although they never formally adopted him, Poe was with them well into young adulthood, then attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money and enlisted in the Army in 1827, at this time, his publishing career began with the anonymous collection "Temeriane and Other Poems" (1827). He learned that Frances Allan was dying of tuberculosis, but when he back to Richmond she had already passed away. 

In 1844, he moved to New York, where he published a news story in the New York Sun about a balloon trip across the Atlantic Ocean. 

Some aspects of Poe's life, like his leterature, is shrouded in mystery and fiction.

Expectation and Prediction

When I heard the title of The Cask of Amontillado, I thought it was a story of soldiers during the First World War, but then I imagine a story like Count of Monte Cristo (by Alexandre Dumas), trying to escape from a prison. I was far from thinking that it was a brandy.

Summary

This story is told in first person, begins when Fortunato hurts Montresor, he felt insulted and must get revenge. 

Montresor met Fortunato, who was very drunk and mention to him that he found a barrel of a rare brandy called Amontillado. Fortunato expressed interest in it.

So they went together to the graveyard of the Montresor family saying to Fortunato that there he kept his wine. They went deeper into the catacomb, and Montresor gave to Fortunato two blottles of wine and got drunker. Fortunato kept coughing and Montresor said that he was too sick to be down the crypts and should went back, but he said no and continue talking about the Amontillado.

Suddenly Fortunato entered into small room that was part of a wall, Montresor chained him to the wall and began to close him in the hole by filling in the opening with bricks. When he had one brick left, he tortured Fortunato until he begged for mercy. Montresor had finished his work and let Fortunato there to die.

Genre

Short story.

Did you confirm your predictions?

My predictions were far from being what I thought the story was about. I was thinking in wars or a prison, a man trying to be free, but never thought in a wine or in a revenge.

References

Edgar Allan Poe-Wikipedia,la enciclopedia libre

https://es.wikipedia.org/Wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe

 Edgar Allan Poe Biography - Biography.com

https://www.biography.com/people/edgar-allan-poe-9443160

Edgar Allan Poe/Biography & Facts/ Britannica.com

https://www.britannica.com/briography/Edgar-Allan-Poe

A short biography of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) - Poestories.com

https://Poestories.com/biography.php