The antagonist of the narrator of "The Cask of Amontillado, who (according to the narrator) mysteriously wronged the narrator years earlier. A lover of vintage wines and carnival attire, Fortunato appears as an eccentric character, suited to the eccentric city of Venice. His fate is sealed when the narrator tells Fortunato that he has bought a special case of Amontillado, a legendary wine. Fortunato's bizarre hyperactive nature is shown in his obsession with the word Amontillado, which he repeats like a chant, but as the narrator gains his revenge by walling Fortunato up into a living tomb in the deepest vault of the narrator’s house, Fortunato's laughter becomes tragic, and then he falls silent.
Fortunato Quotes in Poe's Stories
The Poe's Stories quotes below are all either spoken by Fortunato or refer to Fortunato. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Cask of Amontillado
Quotes
I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.
Related Characters:
Narrator (The Cask of Amontillado) (speaker), Fortunato
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Fortunato Character Timeline in Poe's Stories
The timeline below shows where the character Fortunato appears in Poe's Stories. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Cask of Amontillado
The narrator of "Amontillado" begins by telling us about his friend, Fortunato, who had ‘injured’ him many times over the course of their friendship, but had now...
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Fortunato was a wine connoisseur. For an Italian man, actual connoisseurship was rare – often it...
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...the price of a special vintage and is now unsure of its authenticity. He compliments Fortunato on his knowledge and says he was silly to buy the wine without his advice....
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...worry, that he is going to visit another expert, Luchesi, and he can tell that Fortunato is busy. Fortunato scoffs at Luchesi’s knowledge and responds that he himself is not busy....
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...the levels of the house, to the vaults below. As they walk toward the Amontillado, Fortunato begins to cough from the damp clinging to the walls. The narrator says they should...
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The narrator of "Amontillado" suggests they drink some Medoc to protect them from the elements. Fortunato proposes a toast to the buried remains that surround them in the vaults, and the...
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...bones and remains all around them, dripping with nitre. He suggests they take another drink. Fortunato empties the bottle and then lifts it in a strange symbolic gesture, which he explains...
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The narrator of "Amontillado"mentions Luchesi again, but Fortunato is determined to go ahead. He disappears with his torch into the recess and reaches...
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...there and he starts to build a wall blocking in the recess. As he goes, Fortunato begins to make sorrowful noises and the narrator knows that the man is no longer...
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...is just one brick to place, but as he begins to slide it into position, Fortunato emits a low laugh then speaks in a sad voice, complimenting the narrator on a...
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