Character Archetypes Discussion

Character Archetypes Discussion “The Cast of Amontillado” Edgar Allen Poe’s short story thriller “The Cask of Amontillado” is truly a grim story full of suspense. Immediately from the beginning we are told of the speaker’s vast envy and disliking of the popular and knowledgeable wine connoisseur Fortunato. In this short story Fortunato can be classified as a Damsel in Distress archetype. Fortunato can also be seen as having Mentor qualities by our speaker asking for his consultation on the cask of Amontillado. He is seen as a Damsel in Distress by after losing consciousness from the dangerous mixture of wine and humidity that he has ingested & inhaled. Fortunato awakens only to find himself bound by chains and being walled in by the story’s antagonist, who is also the person telling the story. The story’s antagonist, the speaker, can be classified as the Devil Figure archetype. First we hear of his envy and want of revenge against Fortunato, then the speaker goes on to tell Fortunato of a Cask of Amontillado being deep within the catacomb vaults. With Amontillado being a prestigious imported wine, the speaker knew that Fortunato could not resist such a treat. He knew that Fortunato would follow him into the vaults regardless of his horrible cough and there in the vaults he could rid himself of Fortunato forever by strategically placing Medoc & De Grave wine, capturing him, trapping him and leaving him to die. Both characters, the speaker and Fortunato both can be seen as flat characters by way of the fact that neither one of their personality traits or intentions truly changed by the end of the story. What is truly troubling about this story is the fact that the speaker hated Fortunato so much that he would intentionally lead him into the caves to kill him. Although it is interesting that he would go through such lengths to rid himself of Fortunato though. I do find the speaker’s ultimatum a tad bit harsh however. For decades, I have been interested in Edgar Allen Poe’s writings. “The Cask of Amontillado” is one that I was actually unfamiliar with and I find it quite intriguing. It is a shorter story, however it still provides the perfect amount of suspense and detail to make it a good story. I feel that this story has a certain message to it. You should always be careful of those you trust, you may never know of their true feelings and intentions toward you. People seem like they are or want to be your friend but some of them might just be plotting to inflict harm against you.