At carnival, Montresor leads a drunk friend down into his family catacombs with the promise of a rare wine, and walls him in.
A story of about twenty-three hundred words that you can read in ten minutes, and one built on small ironies that pay off on a second read. The narrator never names the insult, and that is the point to argue about. It is short and non-graphic on the page, though the subject is a killing. Four and a half out of five (my opinion).
Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.
A full-spoiler Cask of Amontillado summary read in the order of the story, with each irony cited by paragraph, a depth map of the walk into the catacombs, what Montresor says against what he means, and word counts. Project Gutenberg text, counted by us.
This is the full text of Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado (1846), read aloud word for word in about 15 minutes. The video highlights each word as it is spoken, so you can follow the original wording, and adds a…
The Cask of Amontillado is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. During carnival, the narrator Montresor tells his friend Fortunato that he has a pipe of what may be Amontillado in his family vaults, and leads him down into the catacombs. It is in the public domain, and we read it in Project Gutenberg ebook 2148, The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 2 (the Raven Edition), where it is one short story among many. Paragraph numbers on this site count every block of text, including single lines of dialogue.
Below you’ll find a close read in the order of the story, with each irony and clue cited by paragraph, a depth map of the walk down, a list of what Montresor says against what he means, and word counts made from the text. The page has full spoilers, since the whole story is covered.
A story of about twenty-three hundred words that you can read in ten minutes, and one built on small ironies that pay off on a second read. The narrator never names the insult, and that is the point to argue about. It is short and non-graphic on the page, though the subject is a killing. Four and a half out of five (my opinion). Read it if: you want a classic you can finish in one sitting; you like unreliable narrators and dramatic irony; you are studying it and want the clues cited by paragraph; you want to know what the missing insult means. Skip it if: you want a story that explains the villain's reasons; you dislike dark stories about revenge and killing; you want a long, slow read.
A full-spoiler Cask of Amontillado summary read in the order of the story, with each irony cited by paragraph, a depth map of the walk into the catacombs, what Montresor says against what he means, and word counts. Project Gutenberg text, counted by us. Summary: The Cask of Amontillado →
Montresor, who says he has borne a thousand injuries from Fortunato and then an insult, lures him at carnival into the family catacombs with the promise of a pipe of Amontillado. He chains him in a niche and walls him in, and the narrator says that for half a century no one has disturbed the bones.
The story never says. Paragraph one mentions a thousand injuries and then an insult, and gives no detail. In our reading, that makes the reader judge the method of the revenge instead of the reason.
The motto is the Latin Nemo me impune lacessit, usually translated as no one attacks me with impunity. Montresor gives it in paragraph forty-nine of our count, and it echoes his own rule in paragraph one that he must punish with impunity.
In our reading, no. We have only his account of the injuries, he describes his smile and his friendship as part of the plan, and he tells the story about fifty years later to an unnamed you. That is an opinion, and the story allows other readings.
Fourteen times by our count of the story text: ten in narration, three in Montresor's speech and once in Fortunato's own words about Lady Fortunato. Amontillado appears sixteen times and Luchesi six.
Project Gutenberg ebook 2148, The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 2, the Raven Edition. The story is a short part of that volume. Paragraph numbers on this site count every block of text, including single lines of dialogue, and give eighty-nine.
