How Does Poe Create Suspense In The Cask Of Amontillado

Throughout analysis of Edger Alan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” the readers are able to infer the intentions of the characters through Poe's use of irony. The character Montresor has been insulted by another character, Fortunato. As a result of Fortunato’s insult, Montresor vows to seek revenge on Fortunato by punishing him with impunity during the carnival season. To carry out his plot of revenge, Montresor creates a plan to sneakily rope Fortunato into examining a pipe of Amontillado because Montresor knows Fortunato prides himself on being a wine connoisseur. The Amontillado is supposedly located deep in Montresor's family vault which is where Montresor plans to bury Fortunato alive. Poe implements various examples of verbal irony throughout his story in order for the readers to see Montresor’s devious plan be carried out in a unique way.

In “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe tells a story of a man named Fortunato, a professional wine taster, who has foolishly brought death upon himself. Fortunato has managed to anger a man with the name Montresor who has hatched a plan of revenge during a great carnival. To help the reader fully understand Poe uses three different kinds of irony verbal, dramatic, and situational. The verbal being their conversation, the dramatical, when he jokes about his health, and the situational when he is dressed as a jester.

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.

On January 19th, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the most influential writers of all time was born. This person was Edgar Allen Poe and his works of literature would change the world of writing forever. Edgar Allen Poe was a master of creating a mood of suspense and exhibited this through two of his stories, “The Raven” and “Cask of Amontillado”, where there was much suspense built through many different methods. Poe creates suspense by using word choice, plot structure, and literary elements.

In “The Cask of Amontillado” Poe creates suspense through foreshadowing with words with strong connotations which creates anticipation in the reader. Within the short story there are multiple examples of foreshadowing throughout. The narrator “vowed revenge”(1) on Fortunato,but then further emphasizes his point by stating, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (1). One understands the speaker’s intensity to fulfill his desire, while being unaware of the process. Poe creates a very dark and heavy tone using words with strong connotation. It expresses the passion and commitment within Montresor to complete the deed. From this quotation one can understood that the speaker will release his revenge intensely as the quotation also represents

Irony plays a key role in the events that take place within “The Cask of Amontillado.” There are three different types of irony: verbal, situational, and dramatic. Verbal irony is when something has a different intended meaning then what is said. Situational irony is when what is expected to happen is different then what actually happens. Finally, dramatic irony is when the reader/audience knows something that a character in the story does not. Poe uses each of these types of irony in “The Cask of Amontillado.”

Edgar Allan Poe is an American author whose writing style, full of mysteries and macabre, has fascinated generations. However, his works are more than just thrillers and morbidities. The writings of this author often contain other themes such as companionship, family bonds, longing passion, and perhaps the strongest of these is revenge. “The Cask of Amontillado” and “Hop-Frog; or, The Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs” are two short stories that certainly demonstrate a recurring theme of revenge. Poe not only presents his signature pattern of cold fate in both works but also displays the struggle of a lower social class against the higher social class to the extent that it almost hints at a call for revolution.

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”.

Poe’s 1846 work, “The Cask of Amontillado,” details the manipulative and vengeful actions of the narrator, Montresor, including luring his victim, Fortunato, into his family catacombs with alcohol in order to bury him alive. Poe reflects his foster father as the murderer of the story, and shows the sardonicism of his life through dramatic and verbal irony. When Poe was in school, his foster mother died. She instructed her husband to wait until Poe returned home before her burial, but John Allan disregarded this and buried her before Poe returned. Although the real-life event is not as literal as Poe describes in his work, both his foster mother and Fortunato are prematurely buried. The exaggeration of his foster mother’s death is shown

In the short story Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe dramatic irony is uses countless times to improve the story. Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something that a character in a story doesn't, it creates a feeling of suspense. In Cask of Amontillado dramatic irony is used to foreshadow the inevitable death of Fortunato. The first time that irony plays a role in the story is when Montresor sees the Fortunato and exclaims to him "My dear Fortunato. you are luckily met" (Poe).

In the story “Cask of the Amontillado”, Written by Edgar Allen Poe, there are many different types of irony to be seen. He used Verbal, Situational, and Dramatic very liberally. Verbal Irony is shown in cask of the amontillado, Montresor says “And I [toast] to your long life.” This is just one of the many examples of Verbal Irony in this story, Along with “You are a man to be missed.” These two phrases allude to the fact that Montresor has something sinister planned, but of course this is not picked up by the intoxicated Fortunato, or any of the readers until It’s too late.

What type of irony does Edgar Allan Poe predominately use in "The Cask of Amontillado"? How does the irony affect the overall tone of the story?

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is a story full of irony. Irony is defined as a literary technique in which what appears differs radically from what is actually the case. In addition, irony can be divided into three groups: dramatic, verbal, and situational. Dramatic irony is when the readers notice something before the characters do. Verbal irony is when the characters say something that differs significantly from what they really mean. Situational irony is when the actual result is different from what was initially expected. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe combines all of these ironies to tell the story and to construct the personalities of the characters in an entertaining way.

In the “Cask of Amontillado” a short story by Edgar Allen Poe the protagonist of the story, Montresor, is a very clever man. For instance, the story is told from Montresor’s point of view and it begins with Montresor talking about how he’s going to get revenge on his friend, Fortunato. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge…I continued, as my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.” Here Poe uses dramatic irony to show the readers that Montresor is devising a plan to get revenge on Fortunato, and Fortunato isn’t aware of what Montresor is planning. Montresor then “coincidentally” sees Fortunato at Carnival.

Throughout “The Cask of Amontillado” Poe uses dramatic irony to show the revenge in its fullest. Dramatic irony can be defined as a plot device in which the audience or readers knowledge of events or individuals surpasses that of the characters (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica). Fortunato’s last words are “for the love of god,” with nothing said after that it signified his death and the revenge of Montresor being a success. Montresor has a precise plan ready to put into play. What Montresor knows is that Fortunato loves his wines and that he would not turn it down. Montresor uses this to get Fortunato hooked on the idea of going to get some of this amazing Amontillado. From this point,