“The Cask of Amontillado”

1. “The Cask of Amontillado” By Edgar Allan Poe

2. Catacombs • A network of caves, grottos, or subterranean place that is used for the burial of the dead • Etruscans used to bury their dead in underground chambers. Christians revived the practice because they did not want to cremate their dead due to their belief in bodily resurrection. Hence they began to bury their dead, first in simple graves and sometimes in burial vaults. • Have you seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?

3. Catacombs

4. Catacombs

5. In the days before electricity… …one would light up dark, damp catacombs with flambeaux.

6. What is a cask? • A wooden barrel or container • The word comes from the Spanish cáscara which means tree bark, in the sense that the bark surrounds and holds the tree in the way that a cask surrounds and holds wine

7. Amontillado… • a pale, dry sherry • named after the Montilla region of Spain where this style of wine originated in the 18th century

8. Fetters • a kind of physical restraint used on the feet or ankles to allow walking but prevent running and kicking • also called shackles or footcuffs

9. Retribution n.   Something justly deserved; recompense. Something given or demanded in repayment, especially punishment. Theology Punishment or reward distributed in a future life based on performance in this one.

10. Revenge

11. Impunity • Definition: exemption or immunity from harm, especially punishment or retribution, as a result of one's actions or words • Note the root word punity, which has the same origin as punished. When you add the negative im-, "not," impunity has the connotation of not being punished for what you say or do. • Examples: Freedom of speech enables people to say and do controversial and often disturbing things with impunity. • Crime is so rampant that it feels like criminals are terrorizing the city with impunity.

12. Edgar Allan Poe • Poe was born in America to theatrical parents in 1809; unfortunately, he was orphaned at a very early age. John Allan took young Edgar into his home and became Poe's godfather. In 1815 the Allans, with their now five year old godson, traveled to England. Edgar was placed in an English Classical Academy were he was to stay for the next five years. At the age of ten Edgar and the Allans returned home. For the next ten years, the young teenager spent his time between various schools and colleges, including West Point. He enlisted in the army, and published several successful poems.

13. By 1836, having published more of his works and spent time as the editor of a newspaper, Edgar Allan Poe was ready to marry.  In 1836, at the age of 27, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13 year old cousin. The Poes traveled to New York in 1845, where, in less than a year, Poe became proprietor of his own newspaper. For Poe 1846 was a bad year; his paper "The Broadway Journal" collapsed, and his wife Virginia was found to have contracted tuberculosis. Things turned from bad to worse; in 1847, as the result of tuberculosis, Virginia Clemm died and Poe turned to drink. He was able do  some important work in 1848 and 1849, but following a prolonged series of drinking sessions died in October 1849.

14. Poe’s story of REVENGE

15. Setting: Carnival Season in Italy • It is a festival season. • Occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February or March. • Involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus and public street party. • People often dress up or masquerade during the celebrations.

16. Carnival or Carnevale • Carnival is mostly associated with Roman Catholic and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Orthodox Christians. • The world's largest carnival celebration is held in Brazil but many countries worldwide have large, popular celebrations.

17. Carnival Costumes and Masks

18. The characters • Montresor and Fortunato- two good Italian names! This is Fortunato. Let’s remember to talk about the irony of his name when we’re finished reading!

19. Montresor’s Coat of Arms and family motto • “A human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel” (9). • “Nemo me impune lacessit” (9). • Latin meaning “No one attacks me with impunity.” No one attacks me without being punished.

20. Freemasons vs. Masons • Freemasonry is a fraternity, or brotherhood, that aims to make good men better and to support each other. • A mason is a person whose trade is building with units of various natural or artificial mineral products, as stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or tiles, usually with the use of mortar or cement as a bonding agent.