Unity of Effect: Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”
Have you ever read any of Poe’s work and felt nervous, scared or anxious at any point? If yes, you have experienced something called unity of effect. According to Edgar Allan Poe’s biography in Literature and its writers, Poe believes that unity of effect is the “most essential quality of all successful short fiction” (542). Poe based his writing on unity of effect to make the reader feel terror and horror. He does this to help push the reader to feel a more intense emotion about what is happening in the story. Using Poe’s ideas about unity of effect, apply specific ideas from it to his short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”. In what ways does “The Cask of Amontillado” exemplify unity …show more content…
It is ironic because according to Behind the Name, Fortunado means fortunate in Italian and this character is the exact opposite of that. Montressor, the main character, ends up killing Fortunado to make him feel the pain that Fortunado made him feel. Throughout the story Poe keeps writing in a way that makes it seem as though Montresor is concerned about Fortunado’s well being. Poe writes, “we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; … we will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible” (545). Poe chooses to place this piece of dialogue at a point in the story where the reader is already getting the gist that Montresor is going to make his move soon. Montresor‘s words imply that he cares about the well-being of Fortunado. It is critical to Montresor’s revenge strategy that Fortunado to believe he is extremely loved and important. Should Fortunado become suspicious, Montresor’s plan will be compromised. This shows unity of effect because the author is causing the reader to think why won 't Fortunado connect the dots and realize what 's going on. It also makes the reader scared for his well being that he fully trusts Montresor with and has no actual concerns about what might happen. Along with irony, Poe exhibits terror and horror with some of the symbols that he puts in the …show more content…
Poe writes, “ Putting on a mask of black silk, and drawing a roquelaire closely about my person” (544). These are symbols relating back to the idea of death and shows how “death” (the Grim Reaper) is slowly starting to work his way to Fortunado as Montresor is luring him into the catacombs with a “Cask of Amontialldo”. The final symbol is the Cask of Amontillado. The Cask symbolizes the object that is the main cause of Fortunado’s misfortune. Montresor mentions it when he says, “ ‘My dear Fortunado you are luckily met… I have revieved a pipe (a large cask or keg) of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts” (543). This statement intrigues Fortunado and he insists that he wants to go and see it. It shows horror because it is the point in the story where the revenge scheme is starting. It causes the reader to be nervous about what is going to happen to him and hope that he does not actually follow Montresor to his house. Sadly, Fortunado follows his friend into the catacombs to see this “outstanding” cask of Amontillado which, in all reality, is just the bait on the hook for Montresor to start his revenge scheme. Although the irony allows the reader to undergo a sense of fear, the biggest literary component Poe uses to display the feel of horror is his descriptions of the
Have you ever read any of Poe’s work and felt nervous, scared or anxious at any point? If yes, you have experienced something called unity of effect. According to Edgar Allan Poe’s biography in Literature and its writers, Poe believes that unity of effect is the “most essential quality of all successful short fiction” (542). Poe based his writing on unity of effect to make the reader feel terror and horror. He does this to help push the reader to feel a more intense emotion about what is happening in the story. Using Poe’s ideas about unity of effect, apply specific ideas from it to his short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”. In what ways does “The Cask of Amontillado” exemplify unity …show more content…
It is ironic because according to Behind the Name, Fortunado means fortunate in Italian and this character is the exact opposite of that. Montressor, the main character, ends up killing Fortunado to make him feel the pain that Fortunado made him feel. Throughout the story Poe keeps writing in a way that makes it seem as though Montresor is concerned about Fortunado’s well being. Poe writes, “we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; … we will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible” (545). Poe chooses to place this piece of dialogue at a point in the story where the reader is already getting the gist that Montresor is going to make his move soon. Montresor‘s words imply that he cares about the well-being of Fortunado. It is critical to Montresor’s revenge strategy that Fortunado to believe he is extremely loved and important. Should Fortunado become suspicious, Montresor’s plan will be compromised. This shows unity of effect because the author is causing the reader to think why won 't Fortunado connect the dots and realize what 's going on. It also makes the reader scared for his well being that he fully trusts Montresor with and has no actual concerns about what might happen. Along with irony, Poe exhibits terror and horror with some of the symbols that he puts in the …show more content…
Poe writes, “ Putting on a mask of black silk, and drawing a roquelaire closely about my person” (544). These are symbols relating back to the idea of death and shows how “death” (the Grim Reaper) is slowly starting to work his way to Fortunado as Montresor is luring him into the catacombs with a “Cask of Amontialldo”. The final symbol is the Cask of Amontillado. The Cask symbolizes the object that is the main cause of Fortunado’s misfortune. Montresor mentions it when he says, “ ‘My dear Fortunado you are luckily met… I have revieved a pipe (a large cask or keg) of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts” (543). This statement intrigues Fortunado and he insists that he wants to go and see it. It shows horror because it is the point in the story where the revenge scheme is starting. It causes the reader to be nervous about what is going to happen to him and hope that he does not actually follow Montresor to his house. Sadly, Fortunado follows his friend into the catacombs to see this “outstanding” cask of Amontillado which, in all reality, is just the bait on the hook for Montresor to start his revenge scheme. Although the irony allows the reader to undergo a sense of fear, the biggest literary component Poe uses to display the feel of horror is his descriptions of the