Student Question
How does Montresor react upon seeing Fortunato on the street?
Quick answer:
Montresor reacts to seeing Fortunato on the street during carnival by enthusiastically shaking his hand, feigning happiness. His joy is not genuine, but stems from finding the perfect opportunity to execute his revenge. The carnival setting helps Montresor mask his intentions, as the festive atmosphere allows him to maintain the pretense of friendship, while also ensuring that Fortunato's disappearance might be attributed to the revelry, delaying any search for him.
In the fourth paragraph of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado," the narrator, Montresor, describes his reaction to seeing Fortunato on the streets during carnival season:
I was so pleased to see him that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand.
In other words, he was so happy to see Fortunato because he
knew it was such a perfect moment to exact his revenge that he couldn't stop
shaking Fortunato's hand. While he is not genuinely happy to see Forunato, he
is happy that such a perfect moment for revenge has arisen. Continuing to shake
Fortunato's hand added the extra benefit of putting Fortunato at ease, making
him believe that they truly are friends when the exact opposite is true.
The phrase "carnival season" most likely refers to the
Carnival celebrated all over Italy that starts during Epiphany, January 6th, and...
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lasts until the start of Lent. It is atime of revelry
and unrestrained celebration that dates back to ancient Roman times in
which the Roman god Saturnalia was celebrated to ring in the new year. The
Roman Catholic Church turned the pagan holiday into a time of celebration
before total abstinence from all worldly pleasures must be upheld during Lent,
six weeks of prayerful penance before Easter Sunday. Since the story is set
during Italy's Carnival, Fortunato appears dressed in motley, which means he is
wearing the multi-colored costume worn by court jesters and clowns.
Poe's choice to set the story during Carnival has significance
for three reasons. First, the time of celebration gives Montresor the
perfect excuse to feign delight at seeing Fortunato. Second, since it is during
Carnival, by the time anyone realizes Fortunato has gone missing, anyone
looking for him will attribute his disappearance to something having happened
to him due to his own drunken revelry. And, third, since Montresor is
murdering Fortunato through abandonment and starvation just before Lent, we
know Lent will absolutely not be a time of prayerful penance for Montresor.