Edgar Allen Poe Playlist: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x_7PyOjBQdY.html TABLE OF CONTENTS: 0:00 Introductions 0:37 Publication Info 2:22 Summary 3:24 Analysis 13:20 Wrap Up and Ratings
I once read an analysis/theory that both characters are not separate characters but, in fact, represent the narrator’s split personalities. The story is far more psychological than people think. Poe struggled mightily with alcoholism, wavering between sobriety and drunkenness, and the theory is that the character being murdered in the story is actually the narrator conquering his own “alcoholic/destructive persona.” That’s why the narrator has no remorse 50 years later. He’s not a psychopath but actually a hero who conquered his inner demons-alcoholism.
Hi Guys, This is one of my favorite Poe stories. I felt the terror,and fear of being "Bricked Up" behind a wall,while people were outside enjoying themselves,and laughing. To think, that laughter is the last sound you hear as you are being left for dead (irony). I really enjoy your videos,especially since they deal mostly with short stories,something I rarely read these days,but thanks to your channel,I am now revisiting many Authors short stories (Joyce Carol Oats,O'Henry,Poe,and Kafka) Thank You !
🍷 This story has always creeped me out. Partly because of carnival - the noise in the streets, people in costumes having a good time, music, drinking, and all the time this calculated murder is taking place. Shiver! Deb
🍷 Enjoyed your discussion of this story. I never thought Montresor and Fortunato were friends. They seemed more like frenemies at best. I also liked how Montresor drinks to Fortunato's "long life."
To me, it always felt like Fortunato died the very moment before Montresor put the last brick in and thus robbed him of his revenge - Montresor wanted Fortunato to suffer, so he hoped that the man would still try and scream or cry when he finished his work, staying alive in his prison for some time so that Montresor wouldn't have to think about his death or anything. Instead, Fortunato dies in the very last moment, robbing Montresor of that pleasure and exposing him more to the murder, which shows that it shakes him up and makes him be in denial It's only when he's very old and maybe close to his death that he considers that they can both finally rest now
I first read this story in junior high school, and to this day, I still find its ending the most absolutely, viscerally chilling thing I’ve ever read. “For the love of God, Montressor!” 😬 The horror of the piece is generated by just how coolly calculated it all is, by how deeply Montressor’s actions are rooted in wounded pride - to think how one’s slighting or teasing or ridiculing of another could turn out for one at a later date.
Good conversation very interesting to hear yas perspective definitely close to what my thoughts are on the stories you both speak on. Definitely add to my ideas of the story also. Teaching new perspectives. I just found these commentary’s a few weeks ago and it brings me to the story’s I am now going back and reviewing. Or reading and enjoying your commentary on them. Definitely a subscriber now 🍷
I always used this story to teach irony, suspense, and the concept of the unreliable narrator. Not much literary value in this one (as is the case with most of Poe's stories), but you know what you're getting into almost every time you open up a work by Poe. Always a morbidly fun experience. I give this one a 7/10 as well.
I don’t know if I’ve ever considered Montressor as an unreliable narrator. That’s a really interesting idea. For someone who used to write diatribes about allegory, Poe sure does soak his stories in symbolism! He can be really hard to read, sort of in that Henry James mode where every sentence feels heavy and clunky: an overstuffed old house. I have generally considered the ending to be one of the most nihilistic visions Poe gives us. There’s a sort of black hole at the center of Montressor and no revenge can fill it. Great to see you guys on this one. Best, Jack
@@TheCodeXCantina Yep, you did. Krypto make the point. I watched the whole thing, but I guess I was typing when he said it -- apparently my ears dont work when I type. Probably because I subvocalize everything including what I am typing while I am typing it. Sorry.
🍷 I expected so much more ambivalence from you Una after all that build up in the tbr. This might be one of my least favorite short stories by him, I think I have read it twice and its never left a large impression or made me want to go back and pick it apart.
