Gothic Elements in the Cask of Amontillado Essay Example

the other elements of Gothic fiction that make it a Gothic Fiction. Lets have a look at them one by one. Lets start with the Setting. The setting of this story is a perfect indicator of a Gothic story. This story takes place somewhere in Italy.

Its the time of the carnival. The whole city is enjoying the carnival. This gives an indication that there are less number of people in their houses and in the city. This story takes place at midnight. A perfect time for Gothic stories. They both meet somewhere outside and then go to Montresor's place. The rest of the story takes place in the catacomb. In the basement of the catacomb is a graveyard. The passageway is claustrophobic, dripping with nitre from its proximity to a water source, and always leads downward. Fortunato doesn't know this, but he is descending a stairway to Hell rather than to sample a rare wine.

They walk through the graveyard in the middle of the night. Not to forget that they are drunk and are getting more drunk. The room gets smaller and smaller and the cold keeps on increasing. It is gloomy and they only have 2 torches. This is a setting that has all the elements, a perfect gothic story would have. Next lets look at the atmosphere. In the story the purpose of Montresor is very clear and Fortunato is completely unaware of it. This creates an atmosphere of suspense, mystery and horror. It is dark, oppressiveness, and full of strange sounds.

Another element that Poe uses in his stories is the Psychology of the people. Montresor's motive

for murder is vague. He refers to thousand injuries but never gives a specific reason for doing so. It can be concluded that Montresor is insane but even this is questionable because of intricate details of the plot. In this story the intentions of Montresor hurting Fortunato is very clear. Though this is not directly implied in the story but with every passing minute it becomes even more clear. But what will be Fortunato's punishment is still not clear. And that makes the plot even more scary.

Next we will look at Fortunato's punishment. Thought this story is free from violence and blood, it still has an element of death. This is not the death that someone would consider Gothic. But if looks at the overall picture of a person bringing a friend down to his home and then locking him up in a small room and making him suffocate to death, I would consider it be very much gothic. The last Gothic element, or one of the most effective one occurs at the very end after Montresor has almost walled up Fortunato but has left enough of an opening to stick his torch through to see what Fortunato is doing.

After calling to Fortunato and getting no reply, Montresor looks in and says, "There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells. " This is a particularly horrifying detail when we recall that Fortunato is in the costume of a fool or court jester the juxtaposition of the costume with the reality of his situation is a great Gothic detail with which to leave Fortunato in his grave. All these

elements combined make The Cask of Amontillado a gothic tale. Edgar Allan Poe had written many such stories that replaces the supernatural element with the human psychology, keeping rest of the elements.