Roman Fever/The Cask of Amontillado

Roman Fever was a story about two middle aged women who are visiting Italy with thier daughters. It becomes apparent that the women have known each other for awhile now, and because of this, the reader can sense certian issues between the two of them just by the way the narrator describes them individually. For example, "The smaller and paler," and the "Fuller, and higher in color, with a small determined nose supported by vigorous black eyebrows," (110) descriptions insinuate a sort of jealousy or competitiveness between the two which becomes more evident when the narrator continues to use words such as "The dark lady laughed again," (111) to describe thier conversation. Mrs. Slade, the beauty, and Mrs. Ansley happened to meet in Rome years earlier when they were very young. Mrs. Slade seems to be somewhat cold-hearted, by the way she talks about her friend Mrs. Ansley who she has known since childhood, It is almost as if she thinks she is better than her. As the story continues we discover that Mrs. Ansley had an affair with Mrs. Slade's husband who has since passed away and that there was a letter written. The women argue for awhile, and Mrs Slade puts up the defense by saying she feels sorry for Mrs. Ansley because she never got to have as this man in the same way as she did. In the end a bombshell is dropped, when Mrs. Ansley shoots back with "I had Barbara." Barbara being her daughter that is in Italy with them. It had to be like a slap in the face for Mrs. Slade, and it is definately a little ironic considering the way the narrator describes her somewhat cynical opinions about Mrs. Ansley before she even knew about this. Overall, the story was not the most interesting but I liked the ending. There could have been more things to catch the readers attention that had the same effect as the last paragraph.
The Cask of Amontillado was very good, but also a little creepy. I was confused as to why Monstresor wanted to kill Fortunato, but it had to be something previously planned and thought about for awhile. He knew that his attendants would not be at his palazzo when they arrived, and Monstresor proceeded to lead a drunken Fortunato deep down into the catacombs where he chained him up and left him in a crypt full of bones. To make it even creepier, he puts bricks up to block off the entry way into the crypt, and hides it with a pile of bones. Edgar Allen Poe adds in the end, "For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!" which means "May he rest in peace!" (128). I was wondering through the whole thing what Fortunato did to deserve this type of end, he seemed pretty innocent to me through the whole thing. The story was written in such a way that the author wanted you to feel bad for the victim but at the same time you have sympathy for the narrator as well, in the end it says, "a low laugh came from the niche that erected the hairs upon my head. It was suceeded by a sad voice-Ha! ha! ha!-he! he! he!-a very good joke, indeed-an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo over our wine-he! he! he!" It is his like his last attempt to convince the narrator to change his mind about leaving him there to die.