illustration of Fortunato standing in motley behind a mostly completed brick wall with a skull superimposed on the wall where his face should be

The Cask of Amontillado

by Edgar Allan Poe

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Characterization and Traits in "The Cask of Amontillado"

Summary:

In "The Cask of Amontillado," Fortunato is characterized as a wealthy, respected, and feared man, known for his connoisseurship of wine. His pride and arrogance, particularly regarding his wine expertise, make him vulnerable to Montresor's manipulation. Despite being depicted by Montresor as having committed "a thousand injuries," Fortunato appears oblivious to any wrongdoing, suggesting naivety or insensitivity. His extroverted, fun-loving nature, symbolized by his jester costume, contrasts with Montresor's dark intentions, leading to his tragic downfall.

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Describe Fortunato's character in "The Cask of Amontillado."

Fortunato appears to be an extreme extrovert. He likes to get drunk. He has a lot of money and evidently enjoys spending it on his own enjoyment. He is wearing a jester's costume when Montresor encounters him on the street. People generally choose costumes that represent what they think of themselves, how they would like others to perceive them, and/or what they would like to be. Fortunato would like to be thought of as a very funny fellow, but if he has really injured Montresor a thousand times, then he is the kind of "funny fellow" who likes to inflict pain. The court jesters of old were often cruel in their jests because they had the protection of a powerful patron. The grave digger in Hamlet says that Yorick, the king's jester, poured a bottle of wine over his head one time. That may have amused the king and his...

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guests, but the victim would not have been amused. King Lear's fool is constantly saying hurtful truths to Lear and to others. Many of the "injuries" Montresor suffered from Fortunato may have been painful digs that hurt his pride. Montresor describes Fortunato as "a man to be respected and even feared."

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All we know of Fortunato we learn through the very biased narrator, Montresor; therefore, everything must be taken in terms of the source from which it is learned.  We know that Fortunato is Italian and a lover and connoisseur of fine wine, which Montresor uses to lure him into the catacombs and the trap he has laid.  Fortunato is also referred to as a respected and feared man, which may lead the reader to the conclusion that the wrongs done to Montresor may have resulted from this power.  Little else is known of Fortunato, as there is little else that Montresor deems important to share with the reader.

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You have asked a really interesting question for a number of reasons. Firstly, remember the point of view of this excellent short story. We see everything from the perspective of Montresor, whom astute readers will realise may not be the most reliable of narrators. This therefore might cause us to doubt some of what Montresor tells us about Fortunato, especially the first paragraph, when Montresor protests how much Fortunato has wronged him:

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

It is hardly likely that Fortunato, if he had insulted Montresor so badly, could be so naive about trusting himself into Montresor's hands and delving deep into the Montresor catacombs with only his enemy for a companion.

However, apart from these debatable facts, we do know that Fortunato is a wine connoisseur:

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 in wine.

This of course, as the narrator observes, is his Achilles heel, and is used ruthlessly by Montresor to tempt his victim down into the catacombs and to meet his revenge. The cask of Amontillado of the title is what Montresor pretends he has brought and wants Fortunato to sample for him to test its worth. Note how Montresor tempts Fortunato to sample the wine for him by saying that he is going to another Italian noble to test it for him, Luchesi:

"As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If anyone has a critical turn it is he. He will tell me -"

This of course plays with the pride of Fortunato who considers himself an expert in wines such as Amontillado, and thus the trap is sprung and Fortunato is led captive to his fate by his one weakness - his knowledge of wine.

Note that Fortunato apart from this weakness is described as a "man to be respected and even feared". This description makes Montresor all the more remarkable for his ability to detect his enemy's weakness and plot how he can use it to bring about his downfall.

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Fortunado has a weakness, his vanity, when it comes to his belief that he is a connoisseur of fine wines. Because he is drunk, he is oblivious to the warning signs around him; the warnings that he will not return from the catacombs.  He seems to be unaware that comments he has made to the Montresor in the past have offended him greatly. So, I would say that he is not very sensitive when dealing with other people. His desire to sample and judge the wine before his competitor Luchesi shows arrogance.  He has a trusting nature, perhaps brought on by the festivities and his overindulgence in drink. His trusting nature leads him deep underground beyond where wine would be kept.

All in all, I would describe him as a weak character in terms of dealing with others.

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Dressed appropriately as a jester (or fool) in his gaudy carnival costume, Fortunato plays the part of unwitting victim in Poe's classic story of revenge. Fortunato has at some point in time insulted his friend Montressor, who has cunningly planned to take revenge in a most severe manner. Unable to resist Montressor's offer of a rare bottle of amontillado--a dry Spanish sherry--Fortunato willingly follows Montressor deep into the family catacombs where he is left to die a lonely death among the bones of his killer's ancestors. Fortunato's fate is to pay the ultimate price for his unnamed slight against Montressor.

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What type of character is Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

The reader's first insight into the character of Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe appears in the opening line of the short story. The narrator, Montresor, states,

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

It would appear from these words that Fortunato was a person capable of inflicting much pain over a long period of time and whose insults were so deep and personal as to drive a human being to an extraordinary type of revenge. However, Montresor never clarifies the extent of Fortunato's wrongdoing, leaving the reader with skepticism about his accuracy.

While the lack of specifics lead one to believe the "thousand injuries" suffered by Montresor might simply be injured pride, Poe does enlighten the reader with some direct evidence of Fortunato's character. From the manner of his dress to his questionable decisions, Fortunato is envisioned as somewhat of a fool. While relating his tale, the protagonist describes Fortunato's costume during the carnival festivities as one likely to be worn by a jester:

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

In fact, Fortunato plays the fool through the decisions he makes. For example, he fancies himself as a fine wine connoisseur, though it is possible that he has a false and prideful vision of himself. Knowing that Fortunato's weakness lies in his pride, Montresor tempts Fortunato to accompany him to his wine cellar to taste a very fine vintage amontillado. He tells him that if he does not come with him, he will ask Luchesi, another wine connoisseur. Fortunato, demonstrating his characteristics of pride and competitiveness, foolishly falls for the bait.

Fortunato is a man who appears to be opportunistic, avaricious, and materialistic by nature. He does not hesitate "to practise imposture upon the British and Austrian millionaires." Thus, it is his own unscrupulous and unprincipled character that allows him to apply poor judgment to the situation, ultimately leading to his demise.

Another example of Fortunato's character is exposed in the wine cellar, where he meets his end. Although he purports to be an expert in fine wines, his behavior is that of a drunken fool. He consumes his wine in gulps until he becomes intoxicated. This is very uncharacteristic of a wine connoisseur, which further demonstrates that he is pretentious and phony.

While Montresor's perception of Fortunato might be coming from the imagination of an insane man, Fortunato's character traits do appear to be at least somewhat consistent with Montresor's beliefs about him in the context of the story. Significantly, Poe named the fateful character Fortunato, which translates from Italian to one who is fortunate or lucky—which he clearly is not.

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How is Fortunato a flat character and what are Montresor's traits in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Fortunato is a man full of pride an basically stays the same throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Montresor is able to lure Fortunato into his wine vault, which are old catacombs, by appealing to Fortuanto's pride at being a wine expert. Fortuanto remains proud as he is unknowningly being led to his death by Montresor's comments that he can always ask Luchesi. Fortuanto, proud of his own wine tasting skills, keeps repeating, " Luchesi cannot tell Amonitillado fro Sherry".Fortunato never gets the fact that the reason Montresor wants revenge is that the prideful Fortunato insulted Montresor's family. He says, "Oh, I forgot, the Montresors were once a great and noble family, reinforcing the insult. He then pridefully gives the sign of a secret, exclusive organization called the Masons. When Fortunato doesn't understand, he says, rather sarcastically,..Oh..You are not of the masons. He doesn't understand Montresor's joke when Montresor takes out a trowel, a tool used by common masons, and implies he is a mason.Fortunato even goes into a small space in search of the Amontillado, which allows Montresor to chain him to the wall and then bury him alive. All the while,Fortunato keeps yelling "The Amontillado". He still has no idea that Montresor is angry at him for insulting his family and getting revenge.

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Describe the narrator's interactions with Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado."

Fortunado had somehow gone too far with his insults towards Montressor, and it finally drove Montressor over the edge.  In the beginning paragraph Montressor says that he would get his revenge.  "At length, I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled."

The reader must take the word of Montressor because we never read anything that Fortunado specifically says or does that would constitute "injury" or "insult."  The interaction they have begins on the streets during a carnival.  Montressor finds Fortunado completely drunk and lures him into his family's catacombs.  Previously, Montressor gets rid of his servants for the night, knowing his plan would require him to be alone in the house.  Fortunado is very willing to go check out Montressor's cask of Amontillado.  Montressor even uses reverse psychology to get him to commit and go with him.

"My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive you have an engagement--Luchesi...My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with which I perceive you are afflicted . The vaults are insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre."

The rest of the interaction between the two occurs on their journey deeper into the catacombs where he buries him alive. Most of that interaction involves his use of verbal irony.

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What are the narrator's feelings upon seeing Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado" and what does it reveal about his character?

When the narrator (a man named Montresor) first sees Fortunato at the carnival, he claims that he was so pleased to see Fortunato that he almost could not stop himself from shaking the man's hand, and he greets Fortunato with pleasant words. Throughout the whole story, Montresor is exceedingly polite to Fortunato, but he is also false; not only is he lying about having a cask of Amontillado, he is also falsely reluctant to interrupt Fortunato's partying at the carnival and falsely worried about Fortunato's health down in his vaults.

These actions tell us that Montresor is a very determined man and that he is willing to do whatever it takes to get revenge on Fortunato. He is not afraid to lie to the man who was once his friend, he is not afraid to manipulate the obviously drunk man, and he is not afraid to wall the man into a recess in the depths of his vaults, sentencing him to a slow death. He is also cunning enough to come up with this particular plan. So, because of his actions within the story, we can see that Montresor is a smart and tenacious man, who has no problem murdering a man for insulting him.

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Which descriptions of Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado" most shape your impression?

The third paragraph of “The Cask of Amontillado” contains, in its obvious implications, a great deal of information about Montresor and Fortunato, showing that Poe was acting in accordance with his own dictum: "In the whole composition there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design."

The first two sentences of the third paragraph tell a great deal about Fortunato:

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 in wine.

We know a lot about his connoisseurship, but it isn’t until the end of the tale that we see why Fortunato is “a man to be respected and even feared.” When Montresor has him chained to the wall, Fortunato tries using applied psychology to work his way out of the trap.

“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!”

 “The Amontillado!” I said.

“He! he! he -- he! he! he! -- yes, the Amontillado. 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 is pretending he thinks this is a jest. He does this in order to give his captor a pretext for releasing him if Montresor should change his mind about leaving him there to die. Fortunato is reminding Montresor that they are good friends and suggesting that they will be even closer in the future when Fortunato entertains him at his palazzo. Chances are that Montresor is rarely if ever invited to Fortunato’s home because of the difference in their social positions. (Such slights would be among those “thousand injuries.”) Fortunato knows his friendship is of value to Montresor, who would not have put up with so many injuries over a long period of time if he had not gotten something important in return.

The third paragraph of the story suggests that they both deal in luxury items such as paintings, statues, antiques, gemmary, and probably imported gourmet wines. No doubt Montresor has benefited financially from knowing Fortunato. They may have gone into partnerships on short-term acquisitions and sales of expensive items. Montresor might have even borrowed money from Fortunato and might have received finders fees for putting his friend onto lucrative investments.

Fortunato knows that Montresor’s greatest concern would have to be about being suspected of causing his disappearance. He is suggesting that people will remember seeing them together. When he asks, “Will they not be awaiting us?” he implies that a number of people have seen them together on the streets and assumed they were headed toward Fortunato’s palazzo. Also, in saying that Lady Fortunato and the rest are awaiting them,” he is doing more than implying that Montresor is to be welcomed into his family and elite social circle; he is suggesting that a search party of relatives, friends and servants might be organized that very night if Fortunato fails to turn up.

But Montresor took pains to establish that Fortunato was not "engaged" anywhere, so he won’t be missed until at least the following day when there will be empty streets and a cold trail. Montresor knows very well that if he released his captive now, Fortunato would probably have him murdered. Fortunato “is a man to be respected and even feared.”

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The appearance of Fortunado in a jester's cap with bells led to the reader assuming he was a fool. His drunkenness also added to that assumption. He frequently stumbled and lurched, coughing when he noticed the nitre on the walls. Montresor's references to Luchesi, Fortunado's rival in wine knowledge, spurred the man onward. Even when Montresor tried (ironically) to get him to turn back, his arrogance in his wine judging ability led him to his doom. Only when the unfortunate man was nearly entombed did the reader feel any sympathy for the man. Poe's choice of a name for this character was the ultimate irony. There was nothing fortunate about his demise.

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What is one character trait that describes Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

An easy way to answer this question would be to focus on Fortunato's obvious character trait as a heavy drinker. He is a connoisseur of wine, as Montresor states, but one does not become a connoisseur of wine without drinking a lot of wine over a long period of time. There is plenty of evidence in the story. When Montresor first encounters him on the street:

He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. 

Fortunato is already heavily drunk when they reach Montresor's wine vault under his palazzo.

He turned towards me, and looked into my eves with two filmy orbs that distilled the rheum of intoxication.

Montresor gives him a bottle of French wine which he consumes quickly. Then a short while later Montresor offers him another bottle.

I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave. He emptied it at a breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed and threw the bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand.

Fortunato must be a really heavy drinker to be able to consume two big bottles of wine "at a breath." The fact that Fortunato is such a heavy drinker works to Montresor's advantage. It is essential to the story's plot. It makes it easier for Montresor to fool his victim and lead him to the niche where he intends to chain him to the granite wall and leave him to die.

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What was Fortunato most proud of in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Montresor's nemesis is Fortunato, who is portrayed as a proud, arrogant man. After Montresor gives a vague reason for seeking revenge on Fortunato and elaborates on the importance of punishing his enemy with impunity, he offers a brief description of Fortunato's character. Montresor mentions that Fortunato is a respected and feared man who prides himself on his connoisseurship in wine. Montresor then admits that he is also skillful in the Italian vintages and proceeds to elaborate on how he lured Fortunato into his family's catacombs, where he finally avenged his enemy for causing him a "thousand injuries." Montresor uses Fortunato's pride in his connoisseurship of wine against him by mentioning that he has just purchased a cask of Amontillado but doubts its authenticity. Montresor is aware that Fortunato will volunteer to test its validity in hopes of purchasing his own cask for a cheap price before the merchant ship carrying the wine leaves the harbor. Fortunato unknowingly follows Montresor into the depths of his family's vaults, where he is shackled and buried alive.

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Although we know little about the "thousand injuries" that Fortunato inflicted upon Montresor in "The Cask of Amontillado," we do know that he loves to drink. Montresor understands this, knowing that he will be able to lead Fortunato anywhere he wishes because of his weakness for alcohol. Montresor does admit that Fortunato commands respect and even fear, but this one vanity is a weakness that will cost him his life.

He prided himself on his connoisseur-ship in wine.

Montresor considered Fortunato a "quack" when it came to several of his other interests, but when it came to old wines, "he was sincere." Montresor knew that the temptation of a rare bottle of Amontillado was too much for Fortunato to resist.

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The first show of Fortunato's pride is when he insists that his taste and talents as a connoisseur of fine wine is superior to others'.  Montresor says that he sees that Fortunato is engaged, and so he will find Luchesi to help assess his recent purchase of a pipe (126 gallons) of Amontillado, and when Montresor says that "'Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry,'" Montresor asserts that "'some fools will have it that his taste is a match for [Fortunato's].'"  This prompts Fortunato to say, "'Come, let us go," and return with Montresor to his vaults.  Further, he tells Montresor, "'You have been imposed upon.'"  Fortunato thus somewhat rudely insists that he is better than another local connoisseur, as well as Montresor himself.  His pride in his taste and discernment is, evidently, the "weak point" that Montresor exploits in order to put his plan for revenge into action.

Moreover, when Montresor and Fortunato are in the vaults, Fortunato seems to take great pleasure in outing his companion as one who is not a Freemason.  He performs some secret sign once, twice, and when he sees that Montresor doesn't comprehend, he proudly proclaims, "'Then you are not of the brotherhood."  His shock when Montresor insists that he is, in fact, a "mason," further indicates his sense of pride and superiority.

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In what ways does the narrator admire Fortunato in The Cask of Amontillado?

In trying to lure Fortunato to his tomb, the narrator uses a bit of reverse psychology on the man:

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.

Although Montresor proves himself to be an unreliable narrator, there seems to be at least a bit of truth in the words he uses to describe the man. After all, Fortunato seems to have a large personality (wearing a brazen costume to the festival where they meet) and enjoys life with an abundance of money. Fortunato seemingly believes the compliments as they further compel him to continue walking with Montresor in spite of his cough, which indicates that he is used to being complimented in such ways. This feels natural and comfortable to him.

Montresor also notes that Fortunato "[is] a man to be respected and even feared" even though his pride in being a great wine connoisseur stands as a weakness in his character.

These details combined indicate that Fortunato is a man with high social standing in their community. He seems to possess not only wealth but a sense of power. And even though he is often feared, he finds a large audience of people who admire and love him.

Montresor notes that Fortunato is happy as he himself once was. This begrudging sense of admiration makes readers question Montresor's motives in killing Fortunato and to consider what offenses the man has truly inflicted upon him—if any.

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