Analysis of Unity of Effect in The Cask of Amontillado

Unity of Effect is a literary theory proposed by Edgar Allan Poe, an American short story writer of the Romantic period. The theory holds that characters, setting, plot and theme of a fiction should serve to achieve the designed effect of the fiction. Edgar Allan Poe puts his self-invented theory into practice by applying it to his short stories. This paper focuses on the application of Unity of Effect in Poe’s short stories. As one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous short stories, The Cask of Amontillado is short but compact. Through textual analysis, this paper studies this book to prove that the characterization, plot and other relevant elements in The Cask of Amontillado are the embodiment of Unity of Effect while using Unity of Effect as the guiding theory. This paper firstly introduces research background and then the author as well as his theory. After that, it analyzes the embodiment of the Unity of Effect in The Cask of Amontillado, ranging from the character’s personality, plot to some artistic techniques.