The Cask Of Amontillado 'And The Gift Of The Magi'

Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

"Irony is a device that protects him (the artist) from the pain of his experience so that he may use it objectively in his art(Susquehanna. "New Critical")." In The Glass Menagerie, it is ironic how Tom speaks badly of his father and his leaving home but in the end he leaves home just like his father, the man "in love with long distances (Williams 30)''. The fact that Amanda wants what is best for her children is ironic because she worries so much over it that she doesn't realize what is best for them.

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.

In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” many examples of irony are used to explain Montresor’s crime and revenge process. The first case of irony Poe uses is Fortunado’s family motto, which is, “No one insults me [without being punished].” It is ironic due to the normal circumstance of if someone offends you, you avoid them. Poe’s second use of iron is the meaning of Montresor’s name. The true meaning of Montresor is “my treasure,” you would not expect a cruel person to be a treasure.

In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is a tale of revenge. Edgar Allan Poe uses many ironic elements throughout the short story like characterization by using name meaning, costume, and dialogue. Irony defined as a feeling, tone, mood, or attitude contrary to what is expected. The author often uses irony as a literary device to make readers emphasize a point in the story. Poe uses this the irony to categorize the character’s certain traits to predict the story.

Without doubt, Edgar Allan Poe’s story is one of the author’s masterpiece. The story is an exhibit of artistic genius with various literary features well incorporated. Among them, irony, defined as, “A figure of speech which is a contradiction or incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs”, is the most evident. Allan Poe demonstrates the use of various types of irony throughout the play, which he uses to pass the intended message to the audience.

The irony is detected by the use of his exaggeration. The symbolism by the objects it uses and how they are used. “’The cask of Amontillado’ is a creepy short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. The story is rife with examples of symbolism and irony. “ “Poe tells a tale of revenge and humiliation, the way the story symbolizes Poe’s work that has a mind-boggling ending. “ The story is full of examples of irony and symbolism to try to answer questions thrown at the reader in the short story. The narrator commences by telling us that Fortunato has hurt him in a way that he can’t be forgiven. Even worse, Fortunato has vilified him. The speaker must get vengeance. He meets Fortunato, who is all dressed up in jester apparel for a carnival celebration − and is already drunk. The narrator mentions he’s found a barrel of an infrequent brandy called Amontillado. Fortunato shows alacritous interest in verifying the wine’s authenticity. So he and the narrator go to the underground graveyard, mentioned as a “catacomb,” of the family. Ostensibly, that’s where the narrator keeps the wine. The narrator leads Fortunato deeper and deeper into the catacomb, getting him drunker and drunker as they proceed. Fortunato keeps coughing, and the narrator perpetually suggests that Fortunato is too ill to be in the damp crypts, and should proceed back. Fortunato just keeps verbalizing about the Amontillado just to tempt him with the wine. Eventually , Fortunato ends up chained up in a little opening

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.

Imagine there is an agent who works for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and he is one of their best agents. One weekend, the gets pulled over for speeding, and the police officer notices prescription drugs that are his in his car. The officer then conducts a search on his car and finds a plastic bag full of cocaine. This is an example of irony. Literary irony can be used to get the readers attention, to cause the reader to stop and think, and to emphasize the author’s main point or idea. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” has many instances of irony. These instances of irony are used as ensure the reader’s attention, to provoke thought, and the most important use is to emphasize the idea of how oppressive some marriages can be and how that oppressiveness can be a secret to other loved ones.

Irony is a language device in which the real intent is contradicted by the actual meaning of words in a situation. There are three types of irony: verbal, dramatic, and situational. Hawthorne was very successful when using this literary device to make the text more interesting. The verbal irony throughout the story is when Georgiana says that the birthmark on her cheek is “magical”. I believe that this is ironic because if it is magical it has a super power.

Not only can an ironic technique affect the theme of a story, but it can also effect the development of characters. We see this take place in “Rich For One Day”. Aline is girl who seems to be down in fortune, but seems to think otherwise. Aline misjudges her wealth when she remembers that she “ [is] rich today. She [has] eight dollars, a fortune.” (Suzanne 257). The fact that this economically unstable woman finds herself rich with eight dollars is ironic. She tries to convince herself that her own life is a life of luxury and comfort, although in reality, this is not the case. Aline tries to hide and stay away from the harsh truth when we see her “ Not quite awake and that she felt too rich today to give an answer” (Suzanne 257) to the designer calling her about a possible job offer. Considering that Aline is not doing well for herself, she should see to take this job, but instead she refuses to give an answer to the designer. The irony is seen when she says that she is deemed too rich to give an appropriate answer. If she were actually rich, then this statement would not be ironic, but considering she only has eight dollars in her bank account, then her saying that really tells the reader what kind of person Aline really is. Characters in a story are fundamental to a stories success. If an ironic technique is used effectively, the

In the short story "The Gift of The Magi" by O. Henry, the author uses irony to justify the significance of the sacrifices they made and their meaning in developing the plot for the story. The author says “Will you buy my hair?” so that Della could get the money to buy his husband a chain for his pocket watch (Henry 4). As for his husband, he sold his pocket watch to buy Della combs for her hair. They both sold their valuable possessions for each other that they bought to add to their prized possessions.

Poe’s use of verbal and dramatic irony in “The Cask of Amontillado” foreshadows the both the crime and the death of the characters in the story. Even before the story begins the use of irony is seen. In the title “The Cask of Amontillado” the word cask has a similar phonetic to the word casket, which is synonymous to the word coffin which leads one to believe that there will be a death in the story. One of the most ironic aspects of the story is the name that Poe gives the victim “Fortunato.” The irony sets in that he is very unfortunate to be fooled into such an obvious trap leading to his death, even with the name he was given and set intelligence he was supposed to have, but is blurred by the effects of alcohol.

Irony is defined when the events that happen are opposite of what is expected, that is what makes it effective because love and life are full of unexpected events. In the story, Della sold her hair for Jim’s watch chain, but Jim traded his watch to buy Della some hair combs. Jim explains this to Della, “let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep ‘em a while. They’re too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.” (4) The irony allowed the characters to understand that their prized possessions were not material objects but rather each other. Della and Jim were able to give selfless gifts because they loved in each other so much. Later in the literature, the couple is accused of acting foolish and then described as wise. O. Henry is concluding the story with an explanation, “And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children… let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest.” (5) The author meant that the characters made foolish decisions, but the decisions were made out of love and that is wise. Love is not taken lightly it is cherished, and the couple gave selfless gifts to cherish their

Poe continuously uses irony throughout The Cask of Amontillado to draw in and to scare. The ubiquitous irony even though sometimes under the surface elevates this story to a threshold seldom reached by authors. Because of the irony that lies under the surface it’s a story that can be read over and over always showing glimpses of information that may have not been seen before. Poe’s use of irony is magnificent and enjoyable which is why him and his stories are still so popular 150 years later.