Abstract
Poe’s story “The Cask of Amontillado” has been read as a story of a premeditated crime, of revenge and the protagonist’s ultimate pride in his well-executed crime. Readers are repulsed by the sheer evil of Montresor, the main character of the story. However, this paper argues that this reading barely scratches the surface of the depth and complexity of this story. It argues that the story is told in the form of a confession. The narrator, an elderly Montresor, is full of remorse, and in telling the story, he is seeking absolution. In its deeper meaning, “The Cask of Amontillado” is about death as the inescapable biological trap. This paper argues that the story is about death as the great antagonist of the text.
Keywords
Publication details
- DOI
- 10.53542/2522-2279.1481
- Journal
- Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 17(3), 52-64
- Publisher
- Sultan Qaboos University
- Open access
- Gold open access
- License
- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Cite this article
APA 7
Al-Lehaibi, M. S. (2026). Death: The Great Antagonist in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”. Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 17(3), 52-64. https://doi.org/10.53542/2522-2279.1481
MLA 9
Al-Lehaibi, Majed S. "Death: The Great Antagonist in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”." Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, vol. 17, no. 3, 2026, pp. 52-64. https://doi.org/10.53542/2522-2279.1481.
Chicago (author–date)
Al-Lehaibi, Majed S. 2026. "Death: The Great Antagonist in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”." Journal of Arts and Social Sciences 17 (3): 52-64. https://doi.org/10.53542/2522-2279.1481.
Harvard
Al-Lehaibi, M. S. (2026) 'Death: The Great Antagonist in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”', Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 17(3), pp. 52-64. doi:10.53542/2522-2279.1481.
Vancouver
Al-Lehaibi MS. Death: The Great Antagonist in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”. Journal of Arts and Social Sciences. 2026;17(3):52-64. doi:10.53542/2522-2279.1481
IEEE
M. S. Al-Lehaibi, "Death: The Great Antagonist in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”," Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 52-64, 2026, doi: 10.53542/2522-2279.1481.