The Cask Of Amontillado Irony Essay

The short story of "The Cask Of Amontillado" by Edgar Allen Poe is a riveting story of betrayal and death. Within the story Poe focuses on the protagonist, Montresor, who has a great disdain for a man named Fortunat. Although we don't know why Montresor hates Fortunato, we know that Montresor wants revenge, and thus conspires a plan to murder Fortunato. In contrast to the audience, Fortunato is unaware of his impending doom, which is a beautiful display of dramatic irony. Within "The Cask Of Amontillado", Poe uses irony, word choice, setting and various other literary devices to set the mood of the story.

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.

A type of dramatic irony in the story can be seen in Fortunato’s attire at the carnival. Fortunato was dressed as a jester, though it was actually Montresor who was laughed at and ridiculed. Professor Charles N. Nevi, of the department of English in Medford, Oregon, writes about the irony in Fortunato’s dress when he says, “Fotunato’s dress is ironic, for a jester is not just a man to be laughed at; he is a man who makes others laugh by being aware of the frailties of mankind and then ridiculing them, but Fortunato is aware of very little and who ridicules nothing. It is Montresor who came closer to the role of jester,” (Nevi par.8). Here Professor Nevi suggests that Montresor is the one who is actually ridiculed and should be a better fit in the jester dress. These examples demonstrate Fortunato’s ironic misfortunes that lead to his eventual death.

In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allen Poe uses several examples of verbal irony. Verbal irony is when one character says something but actually means something different. One example is on page 288 when Montresor says “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day.” This is verbal irony because he does not really mean that he is looking well, and this sentence starts the ensuing parts of Montresor luring the intoxicated Fortunato into the catacombs, which begins the start of the suspenseful reader waiting to see if Montresor will fulfill his mission.. Another example in the story of verbal irony is on page 289 when Fortunato has the cough, and Montresor insists on going back, saying that his health is precious, when he really means that he wants his health to decline and for him to die. “We will go back; your health is

<br>The way the narrator treats his enemy is one of the clearest examples for ironic elements. When the characters meet, Montresor realises that Fortunato is afflicted with a severe cold, nevertheless he makes a point of him looking "remarkably well". Montresor acts in the most natural and friendly way towards the man object of his revenge, and even praises his "friend's" knowledge in the subject of wines. Also upon their meeting, Montresor begins a psychological manipulation of Fortunato. He claims that he needs his knowledge to ascertain that the wine he has purchased is indeed Amontillado. Furthermore, he acknowledges that Fortunato is engaged in another business (i.e.: the celebration of carnival), so he would go to Luchresi, who, one is made to believe, is a competitor of Fortunato's. To these words, Fortunato is forced by his pride to accompany Montresor to the vaults (where the Amontillado is kept), dissipate his doubts and also to prove his higher status than Luchresi as a connoisseur of wine. In fact, during their way down under in the catacombs, the twisted mind of Montresor, dares to give Fortunato the chance to go back, due to the almost unbearable dampness and foulness rampant in the vaults and Fortunato's state of health. The narrator clearly knows about the stubborn nature of Fortunato, and is

“The Cask of Amontillado” is a unique story as it appeals to readers through the use of irony. There are several types of literary irony present throughout this story, such as situational, dramatic, and verbal. Irony can influence the portrayal of a character in a story. Irony can also add intrigue and excitement to the plot of the story. In Edgar Allen Poe’s story, he uses the literary element of irony to add to the plot and influence how the characters are portrayed throughout his story.

Edgar Allan Poe uses dramatic irony to create a disturbing mood for the readers. The story uses plenty of dramatic irony with Fortunato. He does not know his death is approaching with the person he least expected. Amontillados thoughts show us exactly what he’s thinking, “To smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (1). He pretends to be friends with Fortunato, he fakes his smile, yet all he can think of is way to assassinate him. Amontillado takes Fortunato to his home “There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in honor of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning” (2) Amontillado had sent everyone home on purpose because he did not want to be caught in the gruesome crime he was about to commit. Fortunato does not know that he is alone with Amontillado, for all he can think

"The Cask of Amontillado" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's greatest stories. In this story Poe introduces two central characters and unfolds a tale of horror and perversion. Montresor, the narrator, and Fortunato, one of Montresor's friends, are doomed to the fate of their actions and will pay the price for their pride and jealousy. One pays the price with his life and the other pays the price with living with regret for the rest of his life. Poe uses mystery, irony, and imagery to create a horrifying, deceptive, and perverse story.

The Vengeful Story In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” it is not only a suspenseful and thrilling short story, but it has a great amount of irony throughout the story as well. One of the main characters in the story is Montresor. Montresor uses verbal irony by saying one thing, but meaning something else. Ninth graders should always read “The Cask of Amontillado” because it is the most effective way to learn about irony, tone, and allusions.

Verbal irony is used throughout the short story to show how pride lead to Fortunato’s death. For example, ‘“My dear Fortunato you are luckily met”’(Poe 374). In the beginning when Montresor and Fortunato met at the carnival,it could be called parasitism because Montresor benefits from the death of Fortunato in the end,it was Fortunato who was harmed in the process. Fortunato’s encounter with Montresor was unlucky therefore, showing irony in not only his murder but also in the relation his name has with the meaning of the word fortunate.Verbal irony is also showed before you read the short story, in the title The Cask of Amontillado. An Amontillado is a rare wine that Montresor used to entice Fortunato,knowing that he would not give up the opportunity to taste it. Fortunato’s pride and curiosity resulted in him being buried alive. The cask is where Fortunato's body is buried and the word cask could mean similar to the word ‘casket’.Poe broadened his use of literary techniques and used metaphors to convey the events that occurred between Montresor and Fortunato.

In Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" there are several examples of irony. This story is one of revenge and hate. Not only is there irony but also word play and other subtle comedic aspects in this story to create a, slightly obvious, insane narrator.

Irony is desired in all kinds of writing styles. It is seen all troughout modern day literature. Back in 1846 Edgar Allen Poe published “The Cask of Amontillado”. Ever since its publishing date, readers from around the globe have been enticed to read the short story. “The Cask of Amontillado” is about a spanish man named Montressor who plans to take revenge on a former friend, Fortunado, by murdering him.

One must believe that at that very moment, he knew these actions would catch up to him in a major way. In "The Cask of Amontillado", the author uses irony to expand on his theme of a man who seeks freedom through revenge on another man. In this story, irony is seen when Montresor and Fortunato meet at the carnival event, on the descent into the vault, and when Montresor punished Fortunato and is also being punished in return. Montresor now knows his eternity will be in the gates of Hell as his punishment for seeking revenge and punishing Fortunato. The final sentence of the story is a statement made by Montresor, "In pace requiescat!" (240). This is translated to "May he rest in peace." This is the most ironic of all situations throughout the story because even though he hopes Fortunato rests in peace, he himself will have no such peace in

Poe’s main theme through out his story is that revenge can be unrewarding. At the beginning of the story the reader can begin

In pace requiescat, May he rest in peace (Poe) Darkness, terror, romance are all part of the Gothic genre in literature, but the most prominent characteristic would be the idea of death. Creating an atmosphere that supports that theme is used in many works of literature throughout the centuries, however one of the most famous Gothic authors is Edgar Allan Poe. Poe’s work “The Cask of Amontillado” is a great piece of Gothic Literature with one of it’s central ideas as death. This story seems to be told by a man who is speaking of a murder that he committed, the language that is used is morbid, contains a bit of insanity, and a tone of dissolution. “The Cask of Amontillado” is the perfect example of Gothic Literature’s common theme of death.