Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Nemo me impune lacessit: revenge in Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A paper which considers the theme of revenge in Poe's Cask of Amontillado, and argues that Montresor's revenge does not conform to the motto of his family coat-of-arms, but rather invalidates it. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: JL5_JLamont.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Amontillado is the motto of Montresors family crest - "Nemo me impune lacessit", or "no-one attacks me with impunity". However, a fact which is often overlooked is that, as far
as the reader can tell, Montresors revenge does not conform to the motto at all; it effectively negates it. The image on the coat-of-arms is, we are told, a "huge
human foot dor, in a field of azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are embedded in the heel" (Poe, 1846). The message conveyed by this depiction is
clear: although the snake is being crushed to death, its killer is also about to die, from the snakes venom. Both sides, and neither, have won.
Montresors revenge on Fortunato, however, is deliberately calculated to ensure that this mutual destruction will not take place: there will be no opportunity for Fortunato to strike
back, as the snake does. We are never told what injuries Fortunato has done to Montresor, or the nature of the insult which has finally spurred him to bring about
Fortunatos death; however, as in The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat, we are given the strong impression that the narrator is not entirely sane. Montresor is quite obsessed with
the supposed "insult" which Fortunato has offered him; he vacillates between a hatred of the man and a reluctant admiration for his knowledge as a wine connoisseur; and his guile
in disposing of his servants and leading Fortunato into the depths of the vault demonstrates a kind of craftiness which clearly verges on madness.
There are numerous examples of irony in the course of the narrative: Fortunatos very name is ironic, as is his Fools masquerade costume. The reader is constantly aware, as Fortunato
...