Edgar Allan Poes The Cask of Amontillado

Annotated Bibliography

Elhefnawy, Nader. Edgar Allan Poes The Cask of Amontillado. The Explicator, vol.7, no. 2, 2018, 103-105.

Nader Elhefnavi explores the Cask of Amontillado, emphasizing the importance of understanding Montresors motives. The retelling of the murderers events does not reveal what he felt or thought (Elhefnawy 103). This type of narration is not typical for a writer who, in previous works, is more interested in the causal relationships that led to the crime. In The Cask of Amontillado, Po pursues the goal of analyzing the characters motives but does not provide the necessary information (Elhefnawy 103). Edgar Allan Poe devotes a large amount of narrative not to the motives for the murder but to the description of the process itself.

The use of this article will help to analyze the internal motives of the characters. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe allows the reader to look at the literary work as a way to study human nature. The internal motives mentioned in the work of Nader Elhefnavi will complete the complete picture of considering the story as an analysis of the human soul.

Francisco, Jesusa C. To Live but Die Inside: A Lamentable State of Montressor in The Cask of Amontillado. OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra, vol. 15, no. 2, 2021, 126-140.

The article To Live but Die Inside: A Lamentable State of Montressor in The Cask of Amontillado touches upon new interpretations of Poes work. The themes identified by the author of the article include excessive self-esteem, prestige tendencies, envy, and love deprivation (Francisco 126). According to Jesusa Francisco, the topics raised by Poe are related to the basic needs of Maslows pyramid (Francisco 127). Thus, the failure to meet these basic needs led to tragedy.

The article can be used to search for new ideas that could remain undisclosed in the previous studies. Also important is a new interpretation of Poes idea that the characters thoughts and actions did not correspond to ethical behavior; so they were doomed from the beginning. Using the work of Jesusa Francisco will help analyze the story from a social and ethical point of view.

Waters, Charlene. The Color of Amontillado: The Influence of Blackface Minstrelsy in The Cask of Amontillado. The Edgar Allan Poe Review, vol.19, no.1, 2018, 39-52.

Despite the fact that many works have been devoted to the historical context of The Cask of Amontillado, Charlene Waters reveals another aspect: the influence of the blackface minstrel show. Montresor puts on the mask of black silk that represents the assignment of blackness to him (Waters 39). In addition, the hero uses the techniques of minstrels, a popular part of the show in the early 19th century. The use of minstrel techniques also speaks of Pos identification with the supernatural in his work (Waters 40). The author of the article offers a completely new perspective on the study of the popular story.

The use of The Color of Amontillado is beneficial to move away from the usual perception of Poes short story as a story about revenge. The author suggests looking at Pos work much deeper in order to analyze all the options for the historical context. Such a view will help to talk about the short story as a phenomenon, interesting from the historical, literary, and psychological side.