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The Cask Of Amontillado Literary Analysis

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Edgar Allan Poe practices literature within use of the intrinsic qualities that possess the many definitions assigned to the word ‘literature’. Poe is an artist of words. He uses aesthetic, creative works of fiction to tell stories of drama and often horror. Poe’s’ literary genius is translated most commonly through his ingenious poetry and short stories. Consequently, it is his tendency to lace parts of his own personal life and views into his story-telling that causes critics to downplay the true art of the work by Poe. In this essay, the short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” will be analysed to make the argument that Poe is a serious writer through his use of proper literary aspects.
In his short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe tells the story of a man, Montresor, who is ridiculed and belittled by what initially appears to be the villain of the story, Fortunato. Poe is not often taken seriously as a writer because of his tendency to include his personal characteristics, experiences and feelings into his works. Thus, the expression of the man who “vowed revenge” REF appears to mirror vulnerability of that of an orphaned Poe. He uses this raw vulnerability to

Sheedy 2 enhance his story with the venomous actions of the scorned Montresor using his literature as a self-reflexive …show more content…

In his ‘Amantillado’, he uses the foregrounding and integration of language to accentuate the themes and issues of his story, while also enticing an audience with the fascinating mentions of revenge and sinister ideas by addressing the “weak point” REF of Fortunato. He creates his sense of intrigue with the inner monologue of Montresor REF before then reverting onto the actual situation and interaction between characters in this story. Poe plays with irony by contrasting the prior mentioned weak point to the “respected and feared” aspect of Fortunatos’ personality. Poe’s work is in fact literary as clarified by his interesting, complex language

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