Examples Of Verbal Irony In The Cask Of The Amontillado

In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” it deals with how someone can turn a seemingly nice night into a horrible and tragic ending. Montresor lures an inebriated Fortunato to show him a rich wine. But in a twist, Montresor chains him up and suffocates him. It uses an exceptional amount of irony, verbal, situational, and dramatic irony. Edgar Allan Poe, author of “The Cask of Amontillado,” writes using three different variants of irony to create an eerie and suspenseful atmosphere within the plot.

The Cask of Amontillado is the story of and envious man by the name of Montresor who has devised a plan to kill one of his long term friends Fortunato. Montresor devised this plan in the beginning of the story after Fortunato had pulled one joke to many while at a party surrounded by many of their close friends. Montresor while at the party remained calm however while still laughing and cheering with Fortunato he started to develop his plot to get his revenge on Fortunato. In the story Montresor while plotting his crime says, “I had to keep my true feelings to myself for not only must I punish but punish with impunity” (Poe). While Montresor plans the murder of Fortunato, Fortunato is simply enjoying life and his wealth. During carnival Montresor sees a drunk Fortunato and ceases his opportunity. A drunk Fortunato walks over to Montresor and gives him a friendly greeting. Montresor sees this as an opportunity to take Fortunato away from the festivities by using both his weakness for wine and his pride against him. Montresor does this by tricking Fortunato into thinking that he had recently brought a cask of Amontillado and he needed Luchesi to distinguish if it was actually Amontillado. Fortunato, who feels that he is the best wine tester in all of Italy quickly replies, “Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry” (Poe) . Montresor knowing the pride and arrogance of Fortunato then says, “"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own." (Poe) . That

The Cask of Amontillado is about a man named Montresor who believes this other man named Fortunato insulted him. Montresor’s family motto is “no one insults me with impunity”, he feels justified in taking revenge on Fortunato. In the short story by Edgar Allen Poe, there are many examples of irony to convey Montresor’s crime, while using another layer of irony to undermine his revenge.

Most who have read Edgar Allen Poe’s poems, short stories, and other writings, would come to the general consensus that he has a very dark, cynical, mind. Not only is Poe known for his twisted texts, but for using many literary elements within his writing. One main element that he uses is irony. Irony is “a figure of speech which is a contradiction or incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs” (The 3 Types of Irony 1). There are also three types of irony, which includes verbal, dramatic, and situational. Poe offers multiple examples of irony in the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”.

Verbal irony is actually the most commonly used form of irony in “The Cask of Amontillado”. Verbal irony refers to the saying of one thing even when the speaker means something completely different. The purpose of verbal irony is to make the readers think harder about an existing situation in a story. For example, when Fortunato is first introduced, Montresor says to him, “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met.” In reality, Montresor really means that he is happy to see Fortunato because he will

Trust can crumble in the hands of anybody, even friends; once they have a hold of it, it can be easily extinguished. Trust is an extremely fragile being that you need to be careful who you allow to hold it. Montresor, the narrator, shows us this with his plan for revenge on Fortunato. The story takes place during an annual carnival in Italy. Montresor and Fortunato, the two main characters are “friends” except Fortunato insults Montresor causing him to want revenge.

In the short story The Cask of Amontillado there are multiple times when irony is used. The irony is a significant part of the story and it helps the author portray the theme of revenge. The irony also adds humor to what’s about to happen. The main character, Montresor who is the narrator has been insulted by Fortunato and he is planning on killing him by luring him down to the wine cellars. During the carnival season at night when Montresor first spots Fortunato he says “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met,”(). Montressor made that comment how he is lucky to see Fortunato, which isn’t the case and it is the beginning of Montresor's revenge plan to kill Fortunato. This quote is an example of verbal irony in the story since, Montresor meant

There are many examples of irony in “The Cask of Amontillado”. One example of irony includes when Montresor is telling Fortunato he is “luckily met”. However, in the previous paragraphs it states,“when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.” At this point the reader of the story knows not what Montresor will do to Fortunato. This moment of irony helps develop the story through the suspense of what will happen to Fortunato.

John Ruskin once said “ In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.” Fortunato, from “ The Cask of Amontillado”, became so immersed into his pride that he didn’t notice as it lead to one of his gravest mistakes resulting in his death. In “ The Cask of Amontillado”, Poe uses irony and imagery to reveal that pride leads to a man’s downfall.

Known as the “father of the American short story,” Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be the inventor of detective fiction. Orphaned at a young age, Poe suffered a hard life, which in turn has inspired some of his writing, such as “The Cask of Amontillado”, a short story with a powerful theme of revenge. As an author, poet, and editor, Poe believed that all good short stories achieve unity through having a single emotional effect on the reader. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe creates an atmosphere of horror, which builds to one powerful, sinister, overwhelming effect on the audience. Through the use of setting and irony, Poe effectively creates a sense of dread and menace, which is apparent throughout the story.

Poe approaches irony from the very beginning of the short story by introducing the protagonist, Montresor, and his greeting of Fortunato. Furthermore, Montresor’s opening lines in “The Cask of Amontillado” state, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe 1). Promptly, the statement allows the reader to understand that Montresor holds an underlying issue against Fortunato; however, the opposing character seems uninformed. In addition, Montresor states, “It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will” (Poe 1). In the previous statement, Montresor acknowledges that although his intentions are untrue, his appearance

Many people believe that revenge is an antidote for pain. Others may think that retaliation is the only way to prove somebody wrong. This idea is present throughout history and literature. In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe uses irony to convey a theme of vengeance being so powerful that it can determine one’s actions. For example, Montresor toasts to Fortunato living a long life, while already planning to kill him in the catacombs. Irony is also present as Montresor and Fortunato walk through the skeleton infested catacombs because Montresor is intending to add another set of bones. There is also irony in the fact that Fortunato wears the costume of a jester while Montresor plays this deadly trick on him.

The author Edgar Allen Poe was born in 1809, he is a well-known and spoken author, known for the portrayal of gothic and morbid writing techniques. Understanding the world view and living conditions Edgar Allan Poe experiences while writing the Cask of Amontillado, helps with the readers appreciation and understanding of the writing. According to, Biography.com, Poe had a hard life of trials but found joy in his writings also making most of his stories about personal life situations and hardships. Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “A Cask of Amontillado,” portrays foreshadowing through irony, Montresor leading Fortunato to the catacombs, and the trowel that Montresor kept in his coat.

Between the stories Of “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Poe, and “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Ernest Hemingway, the authors are able to control these stories through the use of irony, defined as a “contrast or incongruity between expectations for a situation and what is reality. This can be a difference between the surface meaning of something that is said and the underlying meaning” (http://www.literarydevices.com/irony/). Within these short stories, each author has been able to bring the reader into the story by giving them the opportunity to endure the thoughts and feelings of individual characters which include the taste for revenge, and the bitter truth of a marriage. The way irony is placed into the stories has given the chance to develop the overall theme for both; revenge.

“The Cask of Amontillado”, a gothic short story by Edgar Allen Poe, is about the vengeful, yet intelligent Montresor, who forms a nefarious plot to kill his alcoholic adversary, Fortunato. During Carnival, Montresor exploits Fortunato’s intoxication by luring him into the catacombs of his home, where he proceeds to bury Fortunato alive. Though Montresor never elucidates about why Fortunato deserves punishment, he offers that Fortunato causes him “a thousand injuries” until “[presuming] upon insult” (Poe). Ironically, Fortunato is essentially a mirror image of Montresor's personality, evident by Poe’s use of parallelism through their names. Montresor desires repression of this mirror image in order to gain salvation from his evil nature. Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolic irony of setting in which Fortunato is buried and the title of the story itself to develop his theme of a man represses in order to gain salvation.