What is the function of the setting in The Cask of Amontillado?

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2001

Answers

i am a student teacher in morris hilld regional district high school for an english class. we recently discussed the cask of amontillado and spent some time on the setting. the setting of the story greatly contributes to the mood of the work. the primary setting of the catacombs is dark, musty, erie, etc. this sets the mood and helps with the situational irony where fortunato could have left this dank place and lived, yet he chose to put himself in this miserable situation and had his life taken away because of it. the setting of the catacombs is also a stark contract with the alternate setting of a carnival in which fortunato was enjoying himself. he was dressed in motly and a conical cap, portraying him as a fool, and having fun at the festival. the catacombs are a dark, depressing place, yet they are where montressor finds comfort. he feels quite comfortable in a place overrun with bones and nitre. since montressor is the killer, it would be obvious that he feels comfortable in a setting that is dark, musty, and macabre. fortunato, however, being the fool, feels comfortable at the carnival, but he is removed from his element, so to speak, and must suffer the consequences and become part of setting of the catacomb, the place where fortunato feels most comfortable....the dark recesses of his own mind. if you would like to know more about the comparason of the catacomb to the mind of montressor, e-mail me and i will gladly explain in more detail.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2001

Italy. Euopean nobility, vendetta, decay and a place to bury all hoary history that is different to the pristine American setting. Typical Eurpoean Gothic seems to demand such settings and few of Poe's horror tales translate into an American setting even when he is vague. Notably the Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat is devoid of much setting since the murders are more openly crazed or passionate, not twisted and cold-blooded as in the Cask. Euro-decadence?

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2001

the setting of the story greatly contributes to the mood of the work. the primary setting of the catacombs is dark, musty, erie, etc. this sets the mood and helps with the situational irony where fortunato could have left this dank place and lived, yet he chose to put himself in this miserable situation and had his life taken away because of it. the setting of the catacombs is also a stark contract with the alternate setting of a carnival in which fortunato was enjoying himself. he was dressed in motly and a conical cap, portraying him as a fool, and having fun at the festival. the catacombs are a dark, depressing place, yet they are where montressor finds comfort. he feels quite comfortable in a place overrun with bones and nitre. since montressor is the killer, it would be obvious that he feels comfortable in a setting that is dark, musty, and macabre. fortunato, however, being the fool, feels comfortable at the carnival, but he is removed from his element, so to speak, and must suffer the consequences and become part of setting of the catacomb, the place where fortunato feels most comfortable....the dark recesses of his own mind.

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002