Who could Montresor be talking to fifty years after the murder in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

The story is published under the name of Edgar Allan Poe. This suggests to me that Poe is representing it as a translation of an old manuscript which was found among the papers of Montresor after his death or among the papers of the person to whom it was sent. Montresor might have written it as a letter one night when he was drunk and then decided not to send it the next morning. Poe did something similar with his story titled "Manuscript Found in a Bottle." I don't see how Montresor could be narrating the incident to anyone in person and then how Edgar Allan Poe got hold of it. That would spoil the verisimilitude Poe was trying to achieve. If Montresor was supposedly confessing to a priest, he should have sounded more contrite. Instead he seems proud of his accomplishment. As I see it, the manuscript would have been written in Italian, or French, or possibly even in Latin, and then translated into English by Poe, who knew nothing about it except what was in the letter.

What was Montresor's reason for confiding his crime after fifty years? He probably kept his secret completely to himself for all that time and then, when he felt completely safe, confided in the person he addresses as "You, who so well know the nature of my soul" because it is human nature to wish to confide secrets to someone. But Montresor seems to have been a heavy drinker, and it is also human nature to reveal secrets when we have been drinking. (In vino veritas.) Montresor may have written the letter late one night was he was feeling lonely and then never sent it because he was still playing it safe. If he hadn't confided in "You, who so well know the nature of my soul" in fifty years, why should he trust even that person now? If he didn't send the letter immediately, he could have kept it, thinking he might send it later. And then he might have forgotten about it. He must have been quite old when he wrote it. If he was forty when he committed the crime, he would have been ninety when he wrote about it. He might have been dying--and died before he could either send or destroy what he had written.

I can't see Montresor confessing to a priest, because he does not seem like the sort of man who would go to church and confess his sins to priests. If he is worried about being punished in the afterlife, there isn't any indication of that in the story. He doesn't sound like a man who is ashamed of what he has done to Fortunato. Rather, he seems proud of having committed the perfect crime and having fooled everyone. He wanted the perfect revenge, and he got the perfect revenge. He achieved "closure." 

If he is confessing to a priest, shouldn't he be confessing in Italian? Or Latin? Is Poe supposedly eavesdropping and translating the confession into English as it goes along? The narrative we read in English has got to be a translation from another language in order to preserve the fiction. Either Poe overheard the confession or found the original manuscript. In any case, a confession to a priest would not include so many fine details, such as Fortunato's prolonged coughing, for example.

Who could Montresor be talking to fifty years after the murder in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

No one really knows who Montresor is talking to in the story. We can only guess. I think he is talking to a priest. Montresor is obviously confessing his crime of so many years ago, and it appears that this is not the first time he is confessing the same thing. He is retelling, with some delight, the details of his murder of Fortunato. He goes into deep details about the crime. Montresor never gives a specific reason for the killing, just that he had taken all he could of Fortuanto.

"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."

In this quote, whomever Montresor is confessing to, knows him very well. When he states that this person knows the nature of his soul, makes one think he is confessing to a priest. When a person goes to confession, they know that whatever is said there, will stay there. We can only assume that he has confessed this type of crime before, and that is why the person knows his soul so well. 

Poe was the master of suspense. He created stories and characters that kept us guessing. He was so clever in the way that he weaved all of our senses into the stories. By leaving us guessing who Montresor is talking to, is just another way Poe makes us think of human nature. He makes us look at the core of who each of us truly are.

Who could Montresor be talking to fifty years after the murder in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Edgar Allan Poe gives the reader virtually no clue to whom the narrator is speaking in his macabre short story, "The Cask of Amontillado." We know it is about 50 years in the past:

For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them.

We also know that the narrator is speaking to someone very close to him:

You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however...

But these are about the only hints that the narrator gives us. Can it be the reader of the story? Can the narrator be talking to himself or writing in a diary? Or might it be written to a loved one as the narrator nears his death? Only Montressor (and Poe) knew for sure.

Who could Montresor be talking to fifty years after the murder in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Fascinating question. One possibility is that Montresor is on his death bed and wishes to confess all of his sins in order to be absolved, which would make his audience a priest. After all, confessions to a priest are protected. They have "confessional privilege." Mostresor begins his narrative by pointing out how often Fortunato had "injured" him and had even moved to insults, as though he is attempting to justify his murder. Additionally, Montresor's explanation of his coat of arms and his family motto (which amounts to "No one hurts me and gets away with it") served as warnings to the doomed man, but Fortunato did not listen. 

Another possibility is that Montresor's audience here is his child or grandchild--someone who will inherit his family home, completely with the catacombs and the fifty-years entombed man. This could explain some of the bragging tone of the narrative, as though Montresor isn't ashamed at all and may even expect his ancestors--who, after all, share his coat of arms and family motto--to do something similar, should the occasion rise. 

In "The Cask of Amontillado," who is Montresor's audience?

There is some evidence to suggest that Montresor might be speaking to a priest. In the beginning, he addresses someone who, he says, "well know[s] the nature of [his] soul." A priest, certainly, would be one to whom Montresor might have made confession in the past, and, in this way, such an auditor would absolutely understand Montresor and know him quite well.

Secondly, Montresor does seem to be confessing now. In the end, he says that the events of this story took place "half of a century" ago. This means that he is now an old man. If he was in his mid-twenties when these events took place, he'd be in his mid-seventies now. It is possible, then, that he is making his final confession to a priest before receiving his last rites. If he has held onto this information for so many years, it might have been weighing heavily on his conscience, though he only now confesses (when he's so near death) because he doesn't want to suffer any consequences for his actions. After all, he said in the first paragraph of the story that, in order to exact revenge, "[he] must not only punish, but punish with impunity." This means that he felt he had to punish Fortunato and also avoid punishment himself. Now, however, as an old man possibly about to die, he may want to get it off his conscience.

Finally, the Latin phrase at the end, "In pace requiescat!" (translation: rest in peace) makes it seem all the more likely that Montresor is Catholic and that he could be speaking to a priest. It is unclear whether Montresor is speaking of Fortunato or of himself when he says this. Maybe he speaks of both! If he is speaking of himself, then perhaps he hopes he can rest in peace because it is possible that he has not rested peacefully these fifty years with the weight of this murder on his conscience.  If he is speaking of Fortunato, maybe he now regrets what he did, or at least recognizes that he didn't get away with the murder without consequence. His guilt may have followed him all this time.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," who is Montresor's audience?

Readers are never told exactly who Montresor is telling this story to.  We do know that he is telling this story many years after having killed Fortunato.  The story ends with the narrator saying that it has been half of a century since the two men went down into that cellar.  

I do not think that Montresor is specifically telling readers about that night though.  I originally thought that Montresor is "speaking" to us (the reader) because he says "you."  It's like he is directly addressing me or any other reader; however, I no longer think that is true.  The full line that I am thinking of is the following line. 

You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. 

Montresor can't be talking to me or some other nameless reader.  He has to be talking to somebody that knows him.  I don't know Montresor at all, so I can't know the nature of his soul.  He must be talking to somebody that knows him well enough to know that Montresor is not somebody that announces his intentions to people.  Readers essentially get to eavesdrop on this conversation between Montresor and the other person. 

In "The Cask of Amontillado," who is Montresor's audience?

Poe is the original master of suspense, and this short story, "The Cask of Amontillado," is evidence of that fact.  The narrator talks to an invisible and unknowable audience (us), but there is someone else to whom he speaks.  He says:

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....

These few lines establish one clear fact:  the specific person to whom Montressor addresses these lines is someone who knows him well.  We simply get to listen in on the story.  The fact that he's telling this story fifty years after the fact suggests this is perhaps a letter or some other kind of written work, which means it could have been just about anyone who was at least somewhat familiar with the two main characters and this setting. 

 To answer your question, then, we can't be sure whom, exactly, Montressor is addressing.  We know it was someone who knew him well and would, therefore, presumably not be as shocked as we are to hear about this outrageous episode in Montressor's life. 

In "The Cask of Amontillado," who is Montresor's audience?

In the first paragraph of the short story, Montresor provides insight into who he is speaking to by saying, "You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat" (Poe, 1). One could assume that Montresor is possibly confessing to a Catholic priest by revealing his past sin of killing Fortunado. A priest would likely "know the nature" of Montresor's soul. Considering the fact that Montresor is telling his revenge story some fifty years after it was committed, one could hypothesize that this may be a death bed confession. However, given Montresor's apparent gleeful tone throughout the story, one can assume that he is not truly seeking redemption for his past sin. If this is the case, Montresor may be speaking to his wife or a close family member. One can be assured that whoever Montresor is speaking to is a close confidant of his.

To whom could Montresor be talking, fifty years after the murder, and for what reasons?

We get a few clues with which to answer your question. In the first paragraph, Montresor says that his auditor is one who "so well know[s] the nature of [Montresor's] soul." What kind of person would understand the nature of someone else's soul? My thinking is that a priest, to whom one routinely makes confession, would be just about the only person about whom one could make such a claim. This story is set in Italy, a country whose citizens are primarily Catholic, and people who practice this faith do go to confession and confess their sins to their priests.

Montresor provides another clue at the end of the story when he says,

For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed [the bones].

Therefore, it's been fifty years since the events of the story took place, which makes Montresor a pretty old man. If we can assume that he was, say, thirty years old when he decided to murder Fortunato, that makes him eighty years old now. It seems possible, then, that this is a very old man on his deathbed, and a Catholic would make a final confession to and receive last rites from his priest. Thus, the timing of Montresor's confession provides another clue as to who his auditor is.

Finally, the last line of the story says, "In pace requiescat!" This means "rest in peace" in Latin, which is also in keeping with the possibility that Montresor's audience is actually his priest. It even seems possible—since this line is in italics when no other line is—that the priest actually speaks this line to Montresor (who, as I've explained, could very well be on his deathbed). If Montresor has just died, after his last confession, this is what a priest would say. Even if this is not the case and it is still Montresor speaking, he must be talking about Fortunato, using the language of Catholicism to do so, still supporting the idea that he is talking to his priest.

To whom could Montresor be talking, fifty years after the murder, and for what reasons?

The listener could be any kind of person imaginable, but Poe puts the reader himself in this role. In this way, he or she gets "involved," ready or not!

Poe used this kind of confessional narration in other famous short stories as well, for example "The Black Cat" or "The Tell-Tale Heart." The reader is considered a friend or a person of confidence (such as priest or doctor vowed to silence) to whom one can tell the darkest and ugliest secrets to!

With a stretch of the imagination, one could imagine Montressor telling the story to his next victim (perhaps already chained to the wall as Fortunado was) since the secret will die with him, too!

To whom could Montresor be talking, fifty years after the murder, and for what reasons?

If Montresor were only in his twenties at the time of his revenge against Fortunato, he would be in his seventies after "fifty years." So, there is no reason to not boast about his perfect crime since he is probably near death, anyway. (Few people lived past their seventies in Poe's time.) To whom he speaks is unknown, of course, but it may be someone of Montresor's ilk who would appreciate such a crime; that is, someone who also wishes to avenge himself.

Certainly, Montresor is quite proud of his undetected plan designed in order to avenge himself against Fortunato. Perhaps, not only does he wish to boast of his masterful and successful plan, but he may wish to instruct, as well, as he outlines his philosophy of why a wrong is "unredressed." Certainly, he seems to delight in proferring his strategic steps toward revenge and proving that he has successfully mastered these himself:

1. The plan must involve no risk.
2. The avenger must punish with impunity.
3. The retribution must not overtake the redresser.
4. The avenger must make himself known to the man who has wronged him

Who is Montresor's audience in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

This story appears to be written as a letter which Poe somehow finds and translates into English and publishes in a ladies' magazine. The original letter may have been in Italian or it might have even been in French, since Montresor is a French name. Montresor wrote the letter fifty years after walling Fortunato and leaving him to die. However, the letter that falls into Poe's hands might be much older than fifty years. Montresor obviously did a lot of drinking. (In fact, his guilt feelings after the crime may have motivated him to drink even more heavily.) There is a good possibility that he wrote his confession one night while intoxicated and decided against sending it when he thought about it while sober the next day. The letter might have been found among Montresor's papers after his death, or it might have even ended up in some museum's archives. There is also a good possibility that the confidant or confidante to whom the letter was intended never saw it but that Poe and his readers are the first to learn about Montresor's terrible crime. The whole business of the written confession to a trusted friend is just a literary device which enabed Poe to describe how a man could commit a horrible murder without ever getting caught and punished.

Who is Montresor's audience in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

We are actually told very little about the audience of Montresor's story. However, if we think about the story and the way that he is commenting upon a deed that he committed over fifty years ago, as the ending of the story makes clear, perhaps we can surmise that this story is something of a deathbed confession. Note what we are told of Montresor's audience in the first paragraph:

You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat.

The audience therefore knows Montresor intimately and profoundly, having knowledge even of "the nature of [his] soul." Perhaps we can speculate that Montresor, coming to the end of his life, feels the need to share his one terrible secret before he dies, and that he is sharing it with his family priest, who already knows Montresor through and through because of the sins he has revealed through confession. The declarative nature of the story would lend itself to this kind of conclusion.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," to whom is the narrator telling his tale of revenge?

This seems to be an end of life confession, perhaps made in writing rather than spoken.  He asks for no forgiveness and states that for half a century no mortal has disturbed Fortunato's bones.En Pace Requiescat which means rest in peace.

From this we can determine that Montresor committed the murder at least fifty years earlier.  At the time of the murder, Montresor has had time to rise in prominence and then lose the respect of others ("you are admired as I once was"). It would seem that at the very least, Montresor is 75-80 years old, if not more.  That makes it seem likely that it is an end of life confession.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," to whom is the narrator telling his tale of revenge?

We don't know because the listener is never identified, but the listener's identity is not important to the story. To whom Montressor is speaking is irrelevant. The significant element is that Montressor tells his story himself, thus revealing his character. As Montressor recounts what he had done so many years before, his madness becomes chillingly apparent and the horror of the story's conclusion is realized. The first-person point of view is most effective in creating the story's tone.

Who is Montresor's audience in "The Cask of Amontillado" and how is it evident?

This is a good question because it is not immediately nor obviously clear who Montresor is talking to. Note the second line of the story. Montresor says, "You who know so well the nature of my soul . . ." This is a pretty suggestive statement. We might think he is talking to a trusted friend or a spouse, an intimate friend, or someone he trusts. 

At the end of the story, Montresor reveals that it has been 50 years since he's killed Fortunato. So, he's clearly much older. One might question why he decides to confess his sin to someone so long after it has occurred. There are a lot of religious undertones in the story/confession. Montresor gives his warped version of the Golden Rule in the beginning of the story. "A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser." There is the notion that Fortunato's consumption of wine is his "last supper." Montresor concludes the story/confession with "rest in peace" (In pace requiescat). So, even though he doesn't seem very contrite or remorseful, this seems to be a confession to a priest. Montresor is fifty years older and therefore quite old at this point, maybe close to death. Therefore, he might finally feel inclined to confess. A priest who would know Montresor's sins would know the "nature" of his "soul" as a result. 

In the story "The Cask of Amontillado" to whom could Montresor be talking, fifty years after the murder, and for what reasons?

There are many possible responses to this question.  Montresor has lived with this secret for his entire life; indeed, after the murder, he indicates that "For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed" the bones of Fortunado, which means that no one discovered Montresor's evil murder of the man.  So, imagine carrying around that secret for 50 years, knowing that you had murdered someone, but to tell it would mean that you would go to jail for murder.  Because his confession would mean that he would go to jail for murder, I imagine one of several possible scenarios.

1.  He is on his deathbed, dying, and knows that confessing the tale will hold no repercussions because he's just going to die anyway.  Or, maybe he wants to get it out there so he can die with a "clean" conscience.

2.  He has found a trusted confidant, that he feels he can tell this tale without them passing it on to the authorities.

3.  He is burdened with guilt, and finally decides to unload the burden of his murder to a figure of authority, or someone who will listen and take the appropriate steps.

In my opinion, scenario #1 is most likely; if it is 50 years after the tale, Montresor has got to be very old.  When the tale was told he was old enough to have a house with servants, so, at the youngest, in his 20's.  Which would make him in his 70's when confessing the tale; it is very likely that he is on his deathbed.  I hope that those thoughts helped a bit; good luck!

In "The Cask of Amontillado," who could Montresor be talking to after 50 years and why?

I believe that Poe is presenting this story as a translation of an old letter that somehow came into his possession. Montresor would have been around forty years old when he committed his crime, so he would have been around ninety when he wrote the letter to the person he calls "You, who so well know the nature of my soul." He must be dead by the time Poe receives the manuscript. It was written in either French or Italian and was found among the papers of the recipient after his death. Either that, or Montresor wrote the letter one night while he was drunk but never sent it, for obvious reasons, so it would have been found among his own papers after his death. Although the letter was written fifty years after the crime, it could have taken another ten or twenty years before it somehow found its way into the possession of an American editor who translated it into English. The point is made that fifty years passed before Montresor decided to reveal his secret. This would only be to provide positive assurance that the murder had been perfectly successful. If no one has found the body in fifty years, then no one is ever going to find it. And even if someone did accidentally find Fortunato's skeleton, there would be no way to identify it, and no one would try to solve a fifty-year-old murder. Even if it were possible to solve the murder, Montresor would be dead and out of reach. We readers all know that Montresor was guilty of a horrible murder--but so what? We could even tell the authorities where to find the body--but so what? Montresor must be dead. He is probably one of those many skeletons he describes in the catacombs. 

I believe this story must be regarded as having been in writing and that it is not dialogue being overheard by a priest or someone else. A priest would ask questions. If Montresor were speaking to someone (other than Fortunato) there would have to be some slight clue that this was the case. An oral confession would not contain so many specific details.