Masters: Poe in Italy

In Poe's "Cask of Amontillado," the setting of Italy is almost unnecessary. The only thing that could be seen in the text as signature Italian is the carnivale. It situated the setting as being that as Catholic, but the idea of catacombs in Venice really wouldn't work in a city that is constantly flooding. Also, it is not an Italian catacomb but Poe situates the catacombs as being Parisian. Poe here uses the idea of Italy as being carnal and hedonistic place (represented by Fortunato) where the figure of hyper-rationality is the only thing that can take on this grotesque version of Italian culture.