Importance of setting in “The Cask of Amontillado” The setting of a story sets the tone for the reader. In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe uses the setting of the story to create a picture in our minds. The beginning of the story takes place outdoors. The party taking place “during the supreme madness of the carnival season” emphasizes the happiness that Fortunato is a part of and Montresor is not (Poe 151). Poe uses this setting to contrast with the darker setting of the catacombs. When they travel down to the vault, Montresor asks Fortunato to “observe the white web-work” to indicate that the vault is old and damp (Poe 152). The spider webs emphasize the dark tone of the duo’s descent into another setting. As
