What are the similarities and differences between Montresor and Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Both of the characters of Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Cask of Amontillado," share several similar traits. They are both wealthy and come from families of longstanding influence. They both show an interest in wine; Montresor uses Fortunato's weakness for Amontillado to lure him into his family's vast catacombs, which doubles as a wine cellar. They are apparently old acquaintances, and Fortunato considers Montresor a friend. However, to Montresor, Fortunato is his mortal enemy. Montresor is far colder and more detached than the jovial Fortunato who, though drunk, appears in the carnival costume of a court jester. Fortunato is obviously much more trusting than Montresor; Fortunato willingly follows him into the cellars, never considering that his friend has ulterior motives. Montresor, meanwhile, lies to his servants, telling them that he will be absent from the house; he knows they will take advantage of this and head to the carnival festivities. Montresor's coldness and lack of trust continues for the next half century: During his retelling of the story, he shows no hint of remorse, and he relates that he has never disclosed the story to anyone.

What are the similarities and differences between Montresor and Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Presumably the protagonist and antagonist of Edgar Allan Poe's Gothic tale, Montresor and Fortunato are apparently victimizer and victim. While there exists an ambiguity regarding "the thousand injuries" committed by Fortunato against Montresor, it is clear that Montresor has planned redress against his perceived enemy.  With the motif of disguise, Montresor feigns a friendly invitation to Fortunato to taste his recently-acquired Amontillado.  Priding himself on his expertise in judging wine, the fatuous Fortunato, who considers himself a connossieur, agrees to accompany Montresor to his catacombs where the wine is stored because he wants to prevent his rival Luchesi from having this honor. But, there he is victimized.

While pretending solicitude for Fortunato's cough and health, Montresor lures the inebriated Fortunato through recesses covered with niter and filled with skeletal bones, giving him more libation.  He argues that Luchesi can come instead, and the enraged Fortunato counters with dramatic irony,

"Enough...the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me.  I shall not die of a cough."

Speaking in double entendres, Montresor displays his family coat of arms and declares himself a mason.  Finally, having seduced Fortunato far enough into the catacombs, Montresor fetters his victim, who is "too astounded to resist." Fortunato screams. It is at this point that the horror of what he has done strikes Montresor. He replies to the screams of his victim; the low laugh of Fortunato "erected the hairs upon [his] head" and he bemoans that the voice behind is not that of "the noble Fortunato." After Montresor finishes walling in Fortunato, the victim suggests that Montresor may be jesting with him, and laughs,

"He!he!he!...yes, the Anomtillado. But is it not getting late?  Will they not be awaiting us at the palazzo...Let us be gone....For the love of God, Montresor. 

In a reversal of meaning, Montresor repeats, "Yes,...for the love of God."  His "heart grew sick" and he hastens to make "an end of [his] labor." Ironically, it seems that Montresor has also become victim.  For, he realizes that the real horror lies within himself for what he is capable of doing.  Ironically, then, Montresor has meant to victimize and terrorize Fortunato and has done so; however, at the same time he has also terrorized himself. In her essay, "'The Cask of Amontillado': Duplicity and Doubling," Cynthia Bily writes,

When they reach the end of the final passageway, Poe presents a flurry of twos: two men in ‘‘the interval between two of the colossal supports’’ confronted with ‘‘two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet.'' But as soon as Montresor fastens the padlock on the chain around Fortunato's waist, the two are one.

The two become dopplegangers as the redressed becomes also a redresser and vice versa.

What are the similarities and differences between Montresor and Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Montresor reveals more about himself in "The Cask of Amontillado" because he is the narrator. He is obviously intelligent, as we can see from the way he expresses his thoughts and feelings. He is proud, as shown by the coat of arms he describes: a human foot crushing a snake, and the motto proclaiming in Latin, "No one injures me with impunity." He exhibits a wry sense of humor. He is lonely, gloomy, vindictive, envious, sinister, and cunning. He has suffered many personal losses, as he confesses to Fortunato, and is chronically hard up financially. This last is illustrated in several ways, including his comment about his servants to whom he gave explicit orders not to leave the palazzo all night, knowing they would immediately abscond to partake in the carnival. They have no respect for him, probably because they see his poverty and because there are times that he can't pay them.

Fortunato, on the other hand, is as prosperous as his name suggests. When they are underground, Montresor tells him:

"You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy as once I was."

Poe uses Fortunato's carnival costume to characterize him:

The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress and his head was surmounted by the conical caps and bells.

This costume, specially tailored for the occasion, may characterize Fortunato as something of a fool, but Poe's main purpose is to show that he considers himself a jester. People usually choose masquerade costumes that represent what they would like to be. Fortunato, in contrast to Montresor, is loud, flamboyant, egotistical, overbearing, happy-go-lucky, and hedonistic. He likes to drink. He is a connoisseur of wine because he consumes so much of it. As Montresor says:

He had a weak point--this Fortunato--although in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship of wine.

This is a weak point because it causes him to be an alcoholic and  enables Montresor to entrap him. But "he was a man to be respected and even feared." He demonstrates this when he is chained to the wall and in desperate fear for his life. He says:

"Ha! ha! ha! -- he! he! -- a very good joke indeed -- an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo -- he! he! he! -- over our wine -- he! he! he! . . . . But is it not getting late? Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady Fortunato and the rest? Let us be gone."

Fortunato shows his intelligence and cunning. He is giving Montresor a plausible excuse for letting him go if he can plant a fear in his captor's mind that people might come searching for him that very night and that they might come directly to Montresor's palazzo. He suggests that people must have seen them together on the streets and assumed they were heading for Fortunato's home. His words carry many suggestions, including the assurance that they will remain good friends, that Montresor will be welcomed into the bosom of his family, and also that a great many people are expecting Fortunato that very night.

But Montresor established early on that Fortunato was not expected anywhere. He knows that if he were gullible enough to release his captive now, Fortunato would be sure to get his revenge by having him murdered--possibly even murdered in the same horrible manner in which he is presently preparing to murder Fortunato. His captive is a powerful man with many friends. He is "a man to be respected and even feared."

Who are the protagonist and antagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

A protagonist is a character who is at the center of the conflict, driving the story.  The antagonist is the person or force working against that character.

The protagonist of this story is Monstresor.  First of all, he is the narrator - it is his story that he is telling.  That doesn't always make the narrator the protagonist, but it often does.  Secondly, he is the only character with any depth.  Fortunato is a flat character, given little background and no opportunity to "grow" or expand.  He does not drive the conflict - he does not even feel the conflict.  For him, everything is fine, up to the moment he realizes he's being buried in a wall.  The lack of detail about Fortunato - and about the supposed "insult" that he gave to Montresor - makes him too unimportant to be the protagonist.

It would seem that the antagonist is Fortunato, however.  In Monstresor's mind, it is the force working against him, insulting him.  Therefore, Monstresor must act out against Fortunato, as he does in murdering him.  However, as said above, no detail is given about Fortunato's "insult", and readers are left with the impression that it either didn't happen or wasn't that serious.  That makes Montresor his own antagonist - his resentment towards Fortunato, whatever the cause, is what is causing him to be conflicted and to act out in such a violent way.

Who are the protagonist and antagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

An antagonist is a character (or group of characters) that opposes the protagonist either directly or indirectly. Edgar Allan Poe penned the story "The Cask of Amontillado" in 1846. The protagonist in this story is Montresor. The story is told from his point of view, as he describes his experience with his enemy, Fortunato. The story is a description of Montresor's plot of revenge, and his execution of this plot. Fortunato is the antagonist of this story. 

Montresor never gives details about what Fortunato did to antagonize him, but he does divulge that Fortunato has insulted him. In the opening lines of the story, Montresor explains: 

"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled--but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity."

Montresor's family motto is "No one insults with impunity," meaning that no one will be able to insult them and get away unpunished. Although we don't know the specific nature of the insult, we know that Montresor has been offended and is not going to put up with it. He has bided his time, weaving an intricate plot of revenge in order to punish Fortunato for the wrongs he has committed against him. 

Who are the protagonist and antagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

This is a very interesting question actually, because "The Cask of Amontillado" is a classic example of a villain protagonist in fiction. The main character, Montresor, is the kind of character you would expect to see cast as an antagonist when you consider that the story is about him misleading Fortunato with the intention of burying him alive. He is clearly the villain in the piece. Furthermore, this story is told in first person perspective by Montresor, which further complicates the picture because we see this entire story from the viewpoint of the murderer. We hear his thoughts and impressions and see events through the lens of his own, ultimately warped perspective. Taken as a narrator, Montresor is deeply unreliable—that should be considered in any analysis or reading of the story.

Who are the protagonist and antagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

There are only two characters in Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story "The Cask of Amontillado"--Montressor and Fortunato. But which one is the protagonist? By normal definition, the protagonist is the main character of the story, in many cases considered even heroic, but nearly always it is one that receives empathy or emotional support from the audience or reader. Technically, Montressor would be the protagonist, although most readers would not consider him heroic or a character worthy of their moral approval. This would leave Fortunato, by default, as the antagonist--the adversarial character in main opposition to the protagonist. However, most readers probably sympathize with Fortunato's fate--a response usually reserved for the protagonist. The ambiguity of the two characters is just another example of the brilliance of both the story and its writer.

Who are the protagonist and antagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

There is some debate about Montresor's being the protagonist since he is

1. an unreliable narrator who alludes to "a thousand injuries"; however,these unnamed injuries may only be such because of Montresor's point of view.
2. vindicative in his punishment, which far exceeds what may have been done to Montresor.
3. a murderer.

Suffering at the hands of Montresor, Fortunato may well be the protagonist.

Who are the protagonist and antagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

I agree that we often look for the good guy and label him/her the protagonist.  In truth, the protagonist is the main character.  Some main character are not good guys.  The Cask of Amontillado is a perfect example.  We tend to think of the antagonist as the bad guy, but again that's not really accurate.  The antagonist is nothing more than an obstacle for the protagonist.  This character is placed directly in the path of the protagonist.  The protagonist must then overcome the obstacles offered by this character.  Usually, this character reveals the qualities of the hero, but, in this case, the antagonist reveals the true horror of the protagonist's character.  

Who are the protagonist and antagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Montressor is, indeed, the character who does every major action in the story: he sends the servants away, setting up the scenario for an empty house; he lures Fortunato to his cellar; he walls Fortunato in; and he is thrilled to have kept this secret for more than fifty years. No other character in the story does much of anything except react to Montressor's actions. This is a perfect example of a story in which the protagonist cannot be defined as "the good guy," which is  how so many people define it, and the antagonist cannot be defined as "the bad guy." 

What are Montresor and Fortunato's opinions of each other in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Montresor, of course, hates Fortunato. Otherwise he wouldn't be planning to murder him. He states his opinion pretty fully in the third paragraph of the story. He says that Fortunato "was a man to be respected and even feared." He acknowledges that Fortunato is a true connoisseur of wines but "In painting aand gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack." Evidently the two men make money by trading in expensive merchandise such as oil paintings, jewelry, and gourmet wines.

Fortunato considers Montresor a friend, but not an important friend. He considers him a competitor but also a potential partner in business deals. They are really "friendly enemies." Fortunato has a similar relationship with Luchesi, who is only named but does not appear in the story. Fortunato obviously has little respect for Montresor's taste in wines.

What are Montresor and Fortunato's opinions of each other in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Almost everything we know about how Montresor feels about Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe can be found in the first paragraph of the story:

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length  I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled--but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.

So here is what we know. Montresor feels wronged by Fortunato because of some insulting remark or action Fortunato made toward him. We do not know precisely what it is, but it is evidently much, much worse than a "thousand injuries" which he was able to endure.

We also know that Montresor intends to take revenge on Fortunato rather than forgive him, which he could just as easily do. This revenge will be the perfect kind of punishment, in which Fortunato will know exactly who is punishing him and why, and for which Montresor will remain unpunished.

One other thing we know about how Montresor feels about Fortunato is evident in the method he chooses to lure Fortunato to his home during Carnival season. Montresor clearly thinks Fortunato is too vain, for he uses that excessive pride to create a scenario where Fortunato is coming to check out Montresor's unlikely purchase of Amontillado because he is a better judge than Luchesi. In this Montresor may be right, since the strategy works. Though it is clear that Montresor is not completely sane, he does seem to understand human nature, at least a little. Not only does his ruse work on Fortunato, but Montresor's trick to clear the servants out of his house worked because he knew their natures, as well. This does not mean, of course, that we can accept Montresor's judgment in all things.

Whatever the insult, it must have been awful for Montresor to go to such elaborate lengths to avenge himself--or else Montresor is not sane and has created a mountain out of a molehill, so to speak. The evidence suggests the latter, since Fortunato does not seem to have any ill feelings at all toward Montresor; in fact, even at the end Fortunato does not seem to understand what could be prompting Montresor's odd (and deadly) actions. It is likely that the relationship between them was friendly enough, but one day something in Montresor just snapped and he allowed himself to be wounded by some careless remark by Fortunato. 

Are the characters in Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" flat, round, dynamic, or static?

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," Montresor is the main character, as well as the narrator of the story; his victim is Fortunato, who Montresor believes has insulted him in some way. To identify the kind of character these men are, consider the following definitions.

The static character does not undergo any significant change from the beginning to the end of the story. Change does not relate to circumstances, but a change within the character: beliefs, philosophies, etc. On the other hand, the dynamic character does go through a significant change within the course of the story.

Based upon the definitions above, Montresor must be a static character. The fact that he is insane is indisputable: he has planned Fortunato's murder for some time and goes about luring his drunken companion into the catacombs beneath Montresor's house with unfailing purpose. Once there, Montresor gets Fortunato even more drunk than he was when they set out. Montresor displays dark humor and irony when Fortunato states that a cough will not kill him, and Montresor agrees:

“Enough,” he said; “the cough's a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.”

“True—true,” I replied; “and, indeed, I had no intention of alarming you unnecessarily—but you should use all proper caution. A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps.

Montresor's stoic demeanor remains much the same until he has walled Fortunato up in a small room he has built, leaving him to die. This makes him a static character. Fortunato is also a static character: the change that he goes through reflects only an alteration in circumstances: he is entombed and sober, but has shown no inner change.

E.M. Forster notes that a round character is realistic, multifaceted, and capable of "emotional and psychological development." A flat character is exactly the opposite: he lacks dimension or depth, but:

...exhibits strong defining characteristics, speech habits, and the like, but still falls short of the complexity of a round character.

With regard to the story, Montresor is not a round character. While he may be realistic in measuring the depth of a madness, once again he is stoic and shows little indication of emotional or psychological depth. For one moment, it seems that Montresor's madness might pass, but it is simply a spark in the darkness of his soul, and he finishes his deadly task:

My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so. I hastened to make an end of my labour. I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up.

However, Montresor seems much more a flat character in that he has "strong defining characteristics." When he meets Fortunato, he is cordial. He is manipulative in luring Fortunato to taste the non-existent amontillado by inferring he will ask Luchesi instead. He continually demonstrates a pretense of concern for Fortunato's health. He has planned this murder extensively, and shows himself to be insane—no doubt—but also precise, careful and patient.

Fortunato hardly seems a flat character, showing no strong characteristics, but he also does not exhibit indications of being multifaceted, and he does not show any emotional or psychological development. He may be a stock character, offering no surprises or changes at all.

Additional Sources:

http://www.k-state.edu/english/baker/english320/cc-static_vs_dynamic_characterization.htm

http://narrative.georgetown.edu/wiki/index.php/Flat_character

Are the characters in Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" flat, round, dynamic, or static?

Are the two main characters (Montresor and Fortunato) in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “flat” (that is, simple) or are they “round” (that is, complex)? Are they “static” (that is, are they pretty much the same at the end of the story as they were at the beginning) or are they “dynamic” (that is, do they develop as the story progresses)?

Montresor seems reasonably complex. He wants revenge, but he will not openly reveal this motive to Fortunato until he thinks the time is right. He thinks that his revenge will not be complete unless he can make Fortunato aware that the latter has suffered revenge. Montresor therefore plots a fairly complicated revenge. He doesn’t merely push Fortunato off a cliff when the two are alone, nor does he arrange for Fortunato to have an “accident” at someone else’s hands. Instead, Montresor wants to design and carry out the revenge himself, and his need to tell the unnamed “you” at the very beginning of the story about the plot – and about its success – again contributes to our sense of the complexity of his character.

The story would not really need to exist if Montresor were not complex to some degree, and part of the fascination of reading the story involves the chance to “get inside the head” of such a person. Montresor is complex, as well, in the sense that he is capable of deception, of playing a part. He knows how to lie, entice, manipulate, and say just the right things to make Fortunato himself insist on visiting the vaults where he will die. Montresor has cleverly made certain that no servants will be home, and his conduct never raises a single suspicion in Fortunato. Compared with Montresor, Fortunato is a far simpler, less complex character.

Montesor seems a somewhat dynamic character in a special sense. Although his basic plan of revenge does not change, he becomes more and more brazen, more and more self-consciously ironic and risky as the story develops. He also becomes more cruel, and perhaps more mentally unhinged. By the second half of the story he is dropping so many hints to Fortunato and playing so many mind-games with him that Montresor seems more complex in the second half of the story than he had seemed in the first half. Thus, when Fortunato asks to be reminded of the design of the Montresor family’s coat of arms, Montresor replies, without hesitation, as follows:

"A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel."

Clearly Montresor realizes the appropriateness of this reply, but he confidently assumes that Fortunato is still the same stupid person that he was when he first entered the story.  In other words, Montresor correctly assumes that Fortunato, at least compared to himself, is an undynamic character. Fortunato does become a bit more complex and dynamic as he becomes less drunk and as he begins to realize what is happening to him, but he never seems as complex or dynamic as Montresor. The last indication of Montresor’s relatively dynamic and complex nature comes in a single sentence:

My heart grew sick -- on account of the dampness of the catacombs.

Does Montresor feel a momentary twinge of conscience? Is his sickness a fang embedded in the heel of his vengeance? Poe leaves the ending ambiguous, thus contributing a bit more complexity and dynamism to Montresor’s character.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," compare and contrast Fortunato and Montresor. What are some of their actions and utterances to prove this evidence?

Fortunado and Montresor are both very prideful men, who are willing to go to great lengths to maintain their honor and reputation.  Montresor reveals his wounded pride from the get-go, as he states that he had borne a "thousand injuries" from Fortunado, and that he would, as a result of insult, "punish with impunity" to defend his honor.  Then, he enacts his evil plan of revenge, going to great lengths to get rid of the insulting Fortunado.  Montresor also shows pride in himself  when he brags about how his family name has been around for ages, and how they are "a great and numerous family."  He goes on to proudly explain his family's coat of arms.

Fortunado is also a very prideful man bent on maintaining his reputation.  For him, it is his reputation as a fine wine expert that he must defend.  And, it is that pride that leads to his death, because it prompts him to follow Montresor deep into the catacombs, egged on by Montresor's threats to take his wine to another man (Luchesi) to be tasted.  He refuses to turn back, insisting that he must taste the Amontillado for himself, refusing to admit that Luchesi might have a "taste that is a match" for his own skill.

Both men are also wine-experts; Montresor states,

"I was skilful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could,"

comparing himself to Fortunado in skill.

The differences between the two fall mainly in personality traits.  Fortunado is a bit of a light-hearted, harmless fellow who is filled with goodwill and a bit of obtuseness.  Poe emphasizes his rather absurd character by having him wear a jester's hat, and by having him be a bit drunk.  It is hard to believe that Fortunado, with much forethought, purposely and maliciously insulted Montresor.  He seems like an easy-going guy overall.  Montresor is sinister, malicious, cunning and clever.  He sets up the entire scene, plans it out, cleverly prompts Fortunado on and on, and has the evil intent to kill him. He is much more harmful and dangerous than the bumbling Fortundado.

I hope that those thoughts help; good luck!

How are Montresor and Fortunato alike in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

In "The Cask of Amontillado," there are some similarities between Montresor, the narrator of Edgar Allan Poe's short story, and Fortunato.

One similarity is that they both considered themselves to be connoisseurs of wine.

"In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack, but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him materially--I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could."

Fortunato and Montresor are also alike in social status. They are both noblemen, evidenced by their coats-of-arms and the fact that they call each other friend. People tended to socialize within their class at the time this story is set. Montresor invites Fortunato to his "palazzo," which is Italian for a palace.  

Another similarity they have is that they are both prideful. Fortunato considers himself superior to Luchesi, saying Luchesi can't tell amontillado from common cooking sherry. He also proudly lords it over Montresor that he is a member of the Freemasons, and it is indicated that Montresor is not, since he doesn't recognize the gesticulations of Fortunato. Montresor is prideful in that he will not stand for Fortunato insulting him without exacting his revenge.  The fact that his revenge is carefully thought out and heinous shows the depth of his pride and arrogance.  

And finally, they are both attending carnival, which implies that they are culturally aware and interested in the social aspects of the time period in which they are living. 

What do Montresor and Fortunato have in common in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

There are several strong indications that Montresor and Fortunato both earn their livings by dealing in things that appeal to wealthy buyers. Montresor mentions Austrian and British millionaires in the highly suggestive second paragraph of the story. Both these men refer to Montresor's imaginary Amontillado as a "pipe." This is a barrel containing 126 gallons. Montresor would never buy 126 gallons of a gourmet sherry for private consumption, and neither would Fortunato. That amounts to 500 quart bottles of Amontillado. Fortunato is only interested in it because Montresor says he got it at a bargain price. Obviously he must intend to bottle it and sell it off at a profit. He is anxious to get an expert opinion of the wine because he would like to buy more while he can still get a bargain. That is why Montresor pretends to be in such a hurry.

What these two men have in common is that they are sometimes competitors but often partners in business transactions. Many old Venetian aristocrats have to sell off family treasures in order to stay alive. They deal with men like Montresor and Fortunato who know the values of paintings, antiques, jewelry, and other one-of-a-kind luxury items and who know where to sell them. Montresor is a poor man and Fortunato is rich. Montresor must often ask Fortunato to go into partnerships with him, or borrow money from him, or collect finder's fees from him. No doubt the "thousand injuries" Montresor has suffered have been in business dealings. This would explain why Montresor maintains relations with Fortunato although he hates him. It could also explain why nobody knows about these thousand injuries. If people knew Fortunato had injured Montresor so many times, then Montresor would become a suspect after Fortunato disappeared--and Montresor wants to be above suspicion. So he continues to act as if Fortunato is his best friend, and he has conditioned himself always to refer to Fortunato as "my friend," "my best friend," "my good friend," etc., as he does many times throughout the story.

There is a symbiotic relationship between these two men. Montresor needs Fortunato for making money. Fortunato gets tips on potentially profitable deals from Montresor. For example, Montresor might know that a certain Venetian nobleman would like to sell an oil painting by an Italian Renaissance master. If the nobleman wants cash rather than having Montresor act as a broker, then Montresor might refer the nobleman to Fortunato, who could come up with the cash and resell the painting for a big profit. Montresor would expect a finder's fee, but he might often get a smaller fee than he thinks he deserves--or in some cases he might not get any fee at all. Fortunato wears a jester's costume during the carnival because he considers himself a clever jester. He may pull many dirty tricks on Montresor and laugh them off as clever jests. 

Both Montresor and Fortunato are connoisseurs. The sellers and buyers trust them to know about such things as authenticity and especially values. Money is the all-important factor in these men's relationship.

In what ways are Montresor and Fortunato alike in "The Cask of Amontillado"? How are they different? Compare and contrast.

Montresor and Fortunato are both Italian gentlemen of high social standing. They are friends, or at least were at some point in the past. Both enjoy wine, and it is this mutual love for the drink that Montresor uses to lure Fortunato into the catacombs. They are also both prideful; an imagined injury to said pride is why Montresor is bent on punishing Fortunato. Fortunato's pride as a wine connoisseur is what keeps him traveling through the catacombs, even when he is unsure of Montresor's intentions. This is where the similarities end.

Montresor is portrayed as cunning and sly, in contrast to Fortunato's rather bumbling drunkenness. He is also obsessed with revenge, revealing a dark side to his nature. Fortunato seems good-natured on the other hand, attempting jokes and seemingly intent on having a good time. He is also guileless and gullible, a bad combination for someone who has crossed Montresor. His jester's costume symbolizes that he will play a fool, while Montresor cape and mask of black silk reveals he will play the executioner.

Describe the persona of Montresor in Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado". Why might Poe have chosen him as the narrator?

Montresor, of course, is not a real person. Poe created a character who would have exactly the qualities he needed in a person who would commit the crime that his character will commit. Montresor is proud and vindictive. He is extremely intelligent and extremely cunning. He is sadistic. He is patient, willing to wait for a long time for the perfect opportunity to put his plan into effect.

Poe does not say so, but there is an implication from the way Montresor talks about Italians dealing with millionaires in art and jewels that both Montresor and Fortunato make their livings by trading in expensive merchandise such as paintings, jewelry, ceramics, antiques, and wines. The exact location of the story is not specified, but it can only be the port city of Venice, whose splendor is based on trade. The mention of palazzos helps to identify the locale.

One especially noteworthy aspect of Montresor's character is that he is poor. He is very sensitive about his poverty because of his family pride. Fortunato is rich. Since they are competitors, Montresor must have been beaten out of many transactions because Fortunato was able to outbid him. These are likely some of the "thousand injuries" Montresor has suffered at the hands of his "good friend." Fortunato entertains lavishly. Montresor must have suffered frequently from not being invited to certain gala affairs. Social snubs of various kinds would be among the "thousand injuries." Montresor is especially sensitive to social injuries because of his chronic financial distress.

Fortunato is interested in the Amontillado because Montresor says he got a bargain on a "pipe" of 126 gallons. Fortunato is thinking he might be able to buy a much larger quantity and make a lot of money. One good thing about wine as merchandise is that it doesn't deteriorate with age but only gets better if it is stored in wooden casks. Fortunato could take his own time about selling off the wine--but he has to make sure it is the real Amontillado.

It is impossible to read "The Cask of Amontillado" without thinking that Poe must have been projecting his own feelings into Montresor. Poe was adopted and then disowned by a wealthy man. Poe acquired upper-class tastes and then had to struggle to earn a living for himself, his very young wife, and her mother. He must have suffered a thousand petty injuries as he tried to maintain a position in society, and he had many enemies whom he might have fantasized about killing.

Montresor was Poe's creation. He was exactly the kind of person who could and would commit the crime he committed for the reasons he expressed.

In Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," how would one describe the persona created for Montresor? Why might Poe have chosen someone like Montresor to tell his story?

A persona in plays or literature is simply any character in the story. However, in psychology, a persona is defined as a mask or facade used by someone to satisfy the needs of a given situation. For example, someone might smile and act friendly during a party he doesn't want to attend. Although he is being nice and using good manners, he covers up his true feelings with a false persona. Similarly, the persona that Montresor presents to Fortunato is one of a humble friend who seeks a man's advice about wine. Internally, however, Montresor hates Fortunato and lures him to his death. For example, he greets Fortunato with his friendly persona as follows:

"My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking today!"

With such a warm greeting, Fortunato has no idea that Montresor is deceiving him. Secretly, though, Montresor's true feelings are vindictive as shown in the following lines:

"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge."

 This can happen in any social class of any society, but Poe chooses to make his main character a nobleman because he would have access to property such as catacombs and wine vaults as described in this story. As a result, Montresor has at his disposal the perfect place to commit an act of vengeful murder. Therefore, the ideal character to lure an enemy to a prolonged and agonizing death deep within ancient catacombs would be a nobleman who has the means and hidden personality to carry it out. 

In Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," how would one describe the persona created for Montresor? Why might Poe have chosen someone like Montresor to tell his story?

Poe wanted to write a perfect-crime story in which the perpetrator was never caught and punished. A contemporary story in which a murderer does not get caught--as the murderers do get caught, for example, in Poe's "The Black Cat" and "The Tell-Tale Heart"--would have been impossible to publish in his day because of certain unwritten literary conventions. Editors would have regarded such a story as a incitement to commit murder and a blueprint for how to do it without being punished. But Poe felt that a story about a perfect murder committed long ago and far away would pass censorship and not be too shocking for the reading public. His story "The Cask of Amontillado" was actually first published in a ladies' magazine. Montresor killed Fortunato at last fifty years earlier and in distant Italy. Montresor himself was probably dead by the time the manuscript came into the hands of Poe and he translated it into English. So Montresor had committed the perfect crime.

I am assuming that Montresor is not speaking to someone but that he wrote his story in his own language--either Italian or French--and sent it to a confidant or confidante by mail and that it was found among that person's papers after his or her death. Or possibly Montresor wrote such a letter but decided not to send it after all, so it was found among his own papers after his death. The style of the writing does not sound like someone speaking but like someone writing.

Since the crime was committed in Italy, Poe needed a first-person narrator who was living in that country. Poe could not write the story in the third-person because Montresor was the only person in the whole world who knew he had killed Fortunato, how he did it, and where he hid the body. Montresor comes across as a very angry, vindictive, cunning, and patient man. His name is French, which suggests that he is a relative newcomer to Italy and a permanent outsider to the best society. He sounds exactly like someone who would commit such a horrible crime. That shows the great genius of Edgar Allan Poe. Since Montresor is addressing someone whom he calls "You, who so well know the nature of my soul," he can leave out a lot of exposition and focus on the dramatic elements of the tale. This leaves many readers wondering about a lot of things. Some people even question whether Montresor really suffered the injuries and insult he claims motivated him to dispose of Fortunato as he did. Some readers think he must be insane--but it seems doubtful that an insane man could plan a perfect crime so meticulously and explain it so thoroughly to a third party. 

Montresor is a character who, like most characters in fiction, was hand-crafted to fit the role the author wanted him to play. He reveals in his dialogue that he was once a wealthy and socially prominent man but has fallen on hard times. This makes him hypersensitive--and it would seem that the "injuries" he speaks of included many cruel jibes from the wealthy and comfortable Fortunato. Montresor says to him:

“Come,” I said, with decision, “we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter." 

The fact that Montresor lives in a palazzo is not impressive. The palazzi of Venice were decaying and could be rented cheaply. All those bones in the catacombs are undoubtedly not the bones of Montresor's ancestors. They probably came with the palazzo and he had to put up with them because there was no place to move them to--and anyway, the landlord would never permit a tenant to dispose of all his ancestors' bones. Montresor is well educated and refined, but he is a poor man who lives from hand to mouth. He did not buy that "pipe" of Amontillado for personal consumption. A "pipe" of wine contains 125 gallons. He bought it because it was, as he said, a "bargain" and he could make some money by bottling and selling it by the case. The money would be important to him. If he paid, let us say, the equivalent of ten dollars a gallon and sold it for the equivalent of twenty dollars a gallon, he could make around the equivalent of twelve hundred dollars, which no doubt he badly needs. In those days he could live for a year or two on that much money. He has lazy and indifferent servants because he either pays them little or nothing at all.

Poe himself was adopted by a wealthy man and then subsequently disowned by him. Poe had to scratch out a living for himself his child-wife and her mother. He is secretly writing about himself in "The Cask of Amontillado." He made plenty of enemies as an often vitriolic literary critic, and "Fortunato" is probably a substitute for someone Poe would really like to kill. The story is like a dream. In dreams we often take real emotions and disguise them so completely that we ourselves cannot understand their real meaning. One of the functions of dreams is apparently to relieve ourselves of painful emotions through fantasy. When Montresor leaves Fortunato to die a horrible death chained to the rock wall, Montresor achieves "closure," and no doubt Poe obtained some degree of closure for himself by writing his story in the persona of Montresor.

How does the relationship between Montresor and Fortunato shift in The Cask of Amontillado?

Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" is all about who has power over who (at least in Montresor's mind, that is). At the beginning of the famous short story, we learn from Montresor, the narrator, that he feels Fortunato has crossed him many times in the past, but recently Fortunato has crossed the line and done something that Montresor cannot forgive.

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.

Before the story starts, Fortunato has the upper hand in their relationship being the insulter rather than the insulted, but it is clear that Montresor intends to change that (and he very well does). 

When they first meet up in the story, Montresor makes Fortunato think that they're still on good terms, complimenting him on his knowledge of wine, and never letting a hint drop that he's still seething about the unspecified "insult". As the story moves on, we realize that Montresor's revenge is trapping Fortunato in his catacombs to die. Montresor lets the false niceties fall away, and Fortunato can see his true nature: calculating, cruel, and possibly insane. 

So, their relationship shifts from that of false friendship (which might never have been real friendship in the first place, given how much Montresor hates Fortunato), to that of a revenger who has total power over his victim. 

Are the characters in "The Cask of Amontillado" flat or round?

A flat character is one that remains the same throughout a work of literature. In other words, this type of character does not experience any changes in his/her behavior, views, or goals. On the other hand, a round character develops as the story unravels, and undergoes changes in feelings, purpose, and/or approach to life.

Flat characters are usually a literary device that allows the writer to highlight the changes in round characters. Thus, flat characters are usually secondary or supporting figures.

However, in The Cask of Amontillado you are dealing with only two characters. A careful reading of the story will show you that, even if at face value one is a victim and the other an executioner, Montresor and Fortunato are alike in a number of ways, starting by their names, which refer to "my treasure" and "fortunate/fortune" respectively.

Montresor tells the story of his crime fifty years later. If the text shows you that he regrets what he has done, you could say that, to some extent, he is a round character. On the other hand, if you can read that Fortunato finally stops fighting his fate and defeats Montresor by refraining from begging for his life, you could say the same about him.

But you need to be very careful and remember that Poe included the idea of "the double" in many of his stories. If these two characters are a variation of the double, you need to make the same decision about both.

In what ways are Montresor and Fortunato alike and different in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Judging from the third paragraph of Poe's tale, both Montresor and Fortunato are specialists in art, "gemmary" (jewels), and other luxury goods, which would include expensive wines. This is how they know each other and how both of them know Luchesi, who is evidently not just a connoisseur of wine but someone who actually deals in it as an importer. These three men are evidently not members of the highest nobility who do not have to work to earn their livings. They are borderline upper-class traders. Venice at that date (the mid-nineteenth century) must have been full of aristocratic men forced to engage in some sort of trade to maintain their luxurious lifestyles, with palazzi and servants. If Fortunato had a title, Montresor would have addressed him by that title at least once. The same with Luchesi.

In what ways are Montresor and Fortunato alike and different in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

An interesting question. Montressor and Fortunato are alike in a number of ways. First and most simply—always start with the basics—they live in the same place and time. This allows them to engaged in odd behavior and excuse it by the idea that it is carnival time, and is essential for the plot. They share an interest in wine, and have highly developed senses of  pride. They share secrets. They are both masons, though this is somewhat of a pun (one is a literal mason; one is a Mason, a member of a secret society).

They differ in that Montressor narrates the story (again, start with the basics) and so we see his side of things, but never Fortunato's. After that, they differ in the type and nature of deception. Montressor deceives Fortunato regarding his intent, actively lying to him; if we believe Montressor, Fortunato pretends not to know he's given offense. Finally, of course, Montressor is a killer.

What are key aspects of Fortunato and Montresor's history in The Cask of Amontillado?

Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Cast of Amontillado," is the story of Montresor's revenge against Fortunato. It is clear from the text that Fortunato and Montresor have a history together, and that it's been a difficult relationship, at least from Montresor's perspective. 

In the opening line, Montresor, who narrates the story,  states: "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge." The reader is never told what injuries Fortunato has inflicted upon Montresor, but one can use other evidence from the text to determine the nature of insults Fortunato has likely made against Montresor.  

Later in the story, while the pair is in the catacombs, Fortunato makes a gesture that Montresor does not return. Fortunato makes the statement that Montresor does not comprehend, and this shows that he is not of the brotherhood. When Montresor replies yes, insinuating that he is a mason, Fortunato replies "You? Impossible! A mason?" This would have been insulting to Montresor. The Freemasons are a rather secretive society and an exclusive one. Anticipants, which is what a person wanting to join the organization is called, have to be recommended by someone in order to join. Often, one's family history is taken into account when a person is being considered. When Fortunato expresses disbelief that Montresor could be a part of the brotherhood, he is insinuating that he is not worthy to be a Freemason, either by his own virtues or because of his family's status, or both. Montresor insists that he is a mason. When Fortunato demands proof, he shows him his trowel. Fortunato is speaking of the secret society, and Montresor is talking about the profession in which one uses mortar and bricks or stone to build things. He is about to become that type of mason in order to exact his revenge on Fortunato. 

According to the Montresor, the two men must have been friends prior to Montresor's plot of revenge. Montresor says: "It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation." Montresor repeatedly refers to him as his friend throughout the text, both to his face and as part of the narration. This fact of friendship gives the reader questions as to the psychological health of the narrator, for what true friend carries out a plot of destruction as cruel as the one Montresor executes? 

If they were good friends, why would a mere insult cause Montresor to bury his friend alive? Aside from the questions of the narrator's psychological health, Montresor gives us one other clue as to his actions. Fortunato asks him about his family's coat of arms. Montresor describes it as an azure field with a huge human foot crushing the head of a serpent whose fangs are in its heel. Then Fortunato asks what the motto is. Montresor replies: "Nemo me impune lacessit." This is Latin for no one insults with impunity. Ironically, Fortunato does not see the connection between the insults he has hurled at Montresor and the family motto. Montresor has carefully hidden his true feelings from Fortunato. 

Another piece of textual evidence that points to the history of the two men is the dialogue between them at carnival about the Amontillado. Montresor knew Fortunato well enough to know that he considered himself a wine connoisseur and that if he told Fortunato that he'd go to Luchesi instead, Fortunato's interest would be piqued. He knew that Fortunato's pride would compel him to follow Montresor, and he uses the "carrot" of Luchesi to lure him deep into the catacombs to his doom. 

In "The Cask of Amontillado," how are the protagonist and antagonist alike?

Montresor and Fortunato, the main characters in Edgar Allan Poe’s story “The Cask of Amontillado,” are often seen as strong opposites, partly because the latter is killed by the former.  However, the two characters do share some similarities, including the following:

• Montresor claims that Fortunato insulted him. If this claim is correct, then neither man has much respect for the feelings of others. It’s important to remember, however, that everything we are told about Fortunato comes from the mouth of his enemy.
• Both men are apparently prominent and wealthy citizens of their town.
• Fortunato considers himself an expert about wines, and so, apparently, does Montressor, as this remark suggests:

He [that is, Fortunato] prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine. . . . In this respect I did not differ from him materially: I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could.

• When Montresor and Fortunato meet, Montresor says, “He accosted me with excessive warmth.” But then Fortunato comments,

I was so pleased to see him, that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand.

In other words, Montresor is just as happy to see Fortunato as Fortunato is happy to see Montresor (although their motives differ).

• Montresor  allows himself to be led by Fortunato toward Montresor’s house:

Putting on a mask of black silk, and drawing a roquelaire closely about my person, I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo.

Later, of course, it will be Montressor who will do the leading.

• Both Montresor and Fortunato regard themselves highly. Fortunato boasts about his expertise in wine, while Montresor, at the beginning of the story, boasts about his ability exact vengeance.
• Both assume that they are intellectually superior to others.  Montresor assumes this about Fortunato, and Fortunato assumes it about Luchesi, as when he remarks of Luchesi, “"He is an ignoramus.”
• Fortunato seems terrified when he realizes that he is being sealed behind the wall, and even Montresor seems momentarily frightened:

A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back. For a brief moment I hesitated—I trembled.

In short, despite their obvious differences, the two men do share some signficant traits in common.

How does Edgar Allan Poe develop the character of Montresor in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Although the character of Montresor in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" does not really change over the duration of the story, we do discover more details about him as we progress.

The story is written in the form of an address to an audience only referred to as "you." Some critics have suggested that this might be a final confession the Montresor is making to a priest before dying, a hypothesis supported by Montresor's statement that the listener "knows his soul".

The story opens with Montresor declaring the reasons for his seeking vengeance:

THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. 

Our first question about his character as readers is the degree to which we should believe that the vengeance is justified. Montresor reveals:

It must be understood, that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.

This revelation of his hypocrisy makes us as readers increasingly wary of Montresor; he begins to seem less a victim and more an evil person. As Montresor walks with his victim Fortunato, plying him with wine and flattering him to lull him into complacency, our sense of Montresor's duplicity strengthens. In the final scene, in which Montresor walls Fortunato up alive in a tomb, mocking him and seeming to delight in his agony, we are led to conclude that it is unlikely that the vengeance was justified by any real sequence of events (insults or injuries). Fortunato, who other than showing a certain weakness for wine and pride in his own palette seems a bit of a cipher, was simply a victim of the sadistic malevolence of Montresor. 

Compare the protagonist and antagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado."

The protagonist is Montresor. The antagonist might be said to be Fortunato for the sake of comparison, although the antagonist might also be the forces of the law which Montresor has to circumvent in order to obtain the revenge he seeks.

Fortunato is rich and has widespread family connections in Italy. Montresor is poor and alone in the world. Poe makes it clear that Montresor is of French descent and considers himself French though his family has lived in Venice for a long time. Montresor hates Fortunato but conceals his hatred behind a mask of friendship. It would appear that both men earn their livings by dealing in such expensive items as oil paintings, antiques, jewelry, and gourmet wines. Fortunato is witty and fun-loving. Montresor is serious and gloomy. He is capable of conceiving and committing a horrible murder. He may be somewhat insane. Both men are intelligent and shrewd. Both like to drink. Montresor claims that he has suffered a "thousand injuries" at the hands of Fortunato, but there has been much debate about whether these are real or imaginary.

Montresor entices Fortunato into his catacombs by telling him he has just purchased a large cask of Amontillado (Spanish sherry)  at a bargain price. The whole story deals with Montrsor's psychological and logistical problems in getting Fortunato to the place where he can chain him to the granite wall and leave him to die.