I. Introduction Revenge is a dish best served cold. The perfect revenge is achieved only if it is accompanied by the emotional detachment of the avenger and the meticulous planning of the punishment. Perhaps one of the best connoisseurs of this particular dish is Montresor, the main character in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado"; one of Poe's many short stories that thrives on revenge and death as its main themes. Despite its perfect execution, Montresor's revenge in this story is one that is ultimately unsuccessful, yet leaves him with an unremorseful conscience at the end. In "The Cask of Amontillado," we are introduced to Montresor, a man who seeks to exact revenge on an acquaintance. Fortunato is this soon-to-be-ill-fated acquaintance, who earned this unfortunate honour by having previously insulted Montresor. The nature of this insult, however, is never revealed by Poe to the readers and thus remains vague and unknown. What doesn't remain unknown, however, is the gruesome murder of Fortunato that is carried out by Montresor. Through the narration of Montresor, the reader follows the events leading up to the crime. He lures Fortunato into the family vaults, pretending that he needs Fortunato's opinion on the genuineness of a pipe of Amontillado wine that he had recently acquired. As the two walk through the vast catacombs, Montresor continually insists on having Fortunato try different wines, rendering the latter intoxicated. They reach the end of the vaults, and in a remote niche of the crypt, Montresor fetters the drunk Fortunato to the wall and proceeds to brick him in. Fortunato, at first, is unperturbed by what is happening and takes it as a joke; later, he realises that it's far from a laughing matter. He cries out for mercy, and his cries are echoed by Montresor in cruel mockery. When he no longer responds to Montresor's calls, the latter hastens to finish the wall and leaves his victim behind it. Montresor continues with his life, and does not recount the story until half a century later. "The Cask of Amontillado" leaves readers with a chilling feeling, either from the act rendered in the story or the inability to sympathise with the murderous Montresor. The ironies in the story are plentiful and deeply entertaining. Because readers can perceive Fortunato's end while he can't, the story becomes all the more interesting and almost compels readers to side with Montresor ”provided they can understand the character." Fortunato's untimely demise just goes to show how one man's revenge can be another man's death. II. Discussion Montresor'