1. Course Title: Introduction to Literature
Course Code & NO.: LANE 341
Course Credit Hrs.: 3 per week
Level: 5th Level
“The Cask of Amontillado”
Edgar Allen Poe
Nov., 25th , 2013
Dec., 2, 2013
8-9: 20 AM
Instructor: Dr. Noora Al-Malki
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2. Session Content
- Unit Learning Outcomes
- Poe as poet and short story writer
- Dark Romanticism (and the Gothic)
- Publication of “The Cask of
Amontillado”
- Plot
- Setting
- Dark Romantic and Gothic Elements
- Themes
- Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The
Birthmark” : General Remarks
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3. Unit Objective:
In this lecture, we are going to read “The Cask of Amontillado” by E. A. Poe and comment on the
major ideas and themes explored in this short story with special reference to the horrific and Gothic
in Poe’s writing. We will also consider Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” as a Faustian allegory
in comparison to Poe’s story.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
-Analyze Poe’s short story focusing on plot elements, themes, and literary style.
-Reflect on the Faustian themes in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” with reference to the Dark Romantic
aspects of the story
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4. Plot
The story is told by Montresor, who hates Fortunato for an “insult” that
is never named in the story. Montresor invites a drunken Fortunato to
taste a cask of Amontillado--a wine that Montresor has just bought. He
led him through a series of chambers beneath his palazzo with the
promise of tasting the infamous wine cask. When the two men reach
the last underground chamber, Montresor chains Fortunato to the
wall, builds a new wall to seal him in, and leaves him to die.
Listen to a reading of the short story
Watch this vid for a reenactment of the story
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5. Setting
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6. Gothic And Dark Romantic Elements
 “The Cask of Amontillado” is a Romantic text; it is part of the Romantic
subgenre of the gothic,
 a Gothic tale of horror which describes a setting that is usually full of
dungeons, catacombs, and corpses.
 Poe perfected this sub-genre because he did not concentrate on the
horror of the setting being described but on the horror of the soul.
 Poe was a pioneer in writing psychological fiction, often representing
extremely neurotic, if not abnormal, personalities.
 He also was an early advocate of art for art’s sake; unlike his
contemporary, Nathaniel Hawthorne, he did not write moral allegories.
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7. Gothic and Dark Romantic Elements
•
•
"The Cask of Amontillado" is a classic Gothic horror tale. Poe uses many tropes of
Gothic stories, including dark imagery, underground chambers, and violent revenge.
Poe's longtime fear of being buried alive is depicted in this story. Although this itself
is not directly a feature of the Gothic tradition, it plays well into other elements,
including the underground chambers.
As Montresor takes his revenge, the wine-cellar becomes almost a medieval torture
chamber instead of a repository for wealthy wine collectors; the torches on the walls
sputter instead of shining brightly, and the walls are not clean and dry but covered by
nitre, which adds to the claustrophobic mood.
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8. Gothic And Dark Romantic Elements
•macabre and dark story
•aristocrat in old house as main character
•scenes underground and in dark places
•set in an old, crumbling, antiquated place
•old crime buried from sight
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9. Themes
"Nemo me impune lacessit."
No one "cuts" (attacks) me with impunity
REVENGE as a major theme
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10. The Main Character:
The Unrepentant Murderer
Montresor
Montresor is the "I" who narrates the story, telling an unseen listener or reader about his killing of
Fortunato fifty years before. Montresor is a wealthy man from an established family, who lives in a large
"palazzo'' with a staff of servants. He speaks eloquently and easily drops Latin and French phrases into
his speech. He has been nursing a grudge against his friend Fortunato, who has committed several
unnamed offenses against him, and has been coldly planning his revenge. Meeting Fortunato in the
street one evening, Montresor takes this opportunity to lure his friend into the deepest catacombs
beneath his palazzo, and there he chains Fortunato to the wall of a small alcove, seals him in behind a
new brick wall which he builds even as Fortunato begs for mercy, and leaves him to die. Montresor's
coldness sets him apart from many murderous characters and many Poe protagonists. Even as he tells
the story fifty years later, he reveals no regret for his actions, and no real pleasure in them. This lack of
feeling made Poe's early readers uncomfortable, and led some to accuse Poe of immorality in creating
such a character.
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11. The Birthmark
Main characters: Aylmer- Georgiana- Aminadab
Aylmer is undoubtedly the Faustian man who is never satisfied with his own limitations
In the nineteenth century, many understood science as the ultimate cure for the problems of the world.
Ordinary nature is never good enough to fulfill his idealistic aspirations, and like both Christopher Marlowe’s and
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust, he is entranced with the Greek ideal of perfect beauty.
One unforgivable sin: intellectual pride
“The Birthmark” argues that the artistry of nature, even when imperfect, surpasses any art created by humankind.
As a result, idealistic endeavors that aspire to an art more beautiful than what nature offers are morally flawed.
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12. Questions to Consider
- Discuss the major theme in Poe’s story?
- Poe’s story is an example of the gothic tale. Explain this statement with enough
illustration.
- Describe the character of the Montresor.
- Write a short note about the plot of “The Birthmark”.
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13. Have a super day….
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