Here's a funny thing, when Fortunato keeps scoffing that Lechresi "cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry," well, that's actually somewhat ironic. You see, apparently Amontillado is actually a type of Sherry. It's darker and only had the slightest difference in structure and taste from other types of Sherry. In fact, some wineries only categorize Amontillados by a their difference in color. For your comparison, here's a basic glass of Sherry:
And here is a glass of Amontillado:
Only slightly darker. But, what bearing does that have on the story? Well, bear in mind it was intoxication that allowed for Fortunato to be lured to the chambers of his demise. His knowledge, his expertise in the field, his arrogance and chastising of others as such played into said doom. This could be a commentary on the futility of the "overcultured," those who have too much time to waste on frivolous things that breed arrogance about the pointless. I believe in some way, Poe (who had exposure to that kind of lifestyle) was trying to show that kind of lifestyle and mentality only leads to horrible and ironic doom. It just shows that a little knowledge (and too much wine) can sometimes be a dangerous thing.
thanks for looking that stuff up, i had no idea Amontillado was even a type of wine! (to tell you the truth i thought it was a type of brand and assumed it was made up.) reading your post made me want to look up other things like that which we might have missed just by reading the tale. in class we talked about the irony of Fortunato name (meaning roughly,fortunate which Fortunato obviously wasn't) but we didn't talk about the narrators name. (unless i stepped out during that conversation which, if that is the case, please excuse my ignorance.) turns out Montresor’s name “combines the words montrer (to show) and sort (fate)" i can't tell if that's ironic or just..blunt. i suppose if you look at it like montresor didn't really show Fortunato his fate as much as seal him to it (pun) that could be ironic but i'm not really sure.(i'd ask you what you think but i don't suppose we get credit for answering our reviews comments and no one need more work.)
ReplyDeletei do easily find it ironic however that Poe's Montresor, who is looking down on his victim for "having too much time to waste on frivolous things that breeds arrogance about the pointless" (good line by the way) is assumed to have once been that way himself. as he tells the poor fool "You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter." He use to belong to them, the same class of rich "over cultured" people that Fortunato is a product of. one wonders if Montresor not only use to care about pointless things but if it's Fortunato whom he blames for the loss of his own rich happy life style. of course it's totally possible his beef with Fortunato all began after his own fall from grace but i do beg the question. thanks again for the wine info!
We went over this in class last week, and I'm glad we did because I had a hard time grasping the story. Like Jessie, I didn't know what Amontillado was; I didn't even know what a cask was, haha. It seems like anything written in the first half of the 19th century or before I have a tough time understanding, but after reading this blog I see now that the story represented Fortunato's arrogance and his eventual demise because of it.
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