Theme Of William Blake And The Cask Of Amontillado

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.

“The Thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe 1). The first sentence explains the theme of revenge that is present throughout the story. One example

In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allen Poe skillfully integrates dramatic irony and portrays Fortunato’s ignorance as a way to engage the reader. He utilizes the power of human emotions and compassion to capture the audience’s attention. In the story, Montresor uses reverse psychology to coax Fortunato deeper into the catacombs and towards his own death. An example of dramatic irony occurs when Montresor says, “‘Come, (...) we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as I once was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchresi-’” (Poe 868). Only the reader and Montresor know of his plan to end Fortunato’s life. Through Fortunato’s point of view, it would seem that Montresor is trustworthy and worried about his health. However, Montresor could care less about Fortunato’s well being and is using this mask to hide his true intentions to complete his master scheme. At the end of this quote, Montresor sneakily mentions getting help from Fortunato’s rival Luchresi instead, knowing that Fortunato is extremely egotistic and greedy. Fortunato is the kind of man who thinks he is the finest and most sought after wine connoisseur in the area. He believes that Luchresi should not be trusted in the wine tasting business, especially with something as precious as Amontillado. This undesirable quality leads Fortunato to his death while the reader could do nothing to help. Unlike Fortunato, the reader can see Montresor’s tactics and can’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the victim. This emotional attachment intrigues the reader since they want to find out the result of the story and Fortunato’s fate. After taking another drink of Medoc, Fortunato performed a movement that symbolizes the Mason Brotherhood. Montresor did not understand what he meant by this unpredictable action. Fortunato got a little suspicious and said “‘A sign, (...) a sign.’ ‘It is this,’ I answered producing from beneath the fold of my roquelaire, a trowel. ‘You jest,’ he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. ‘But let us proceed to the Amontillado’” (868). At this point in the story, the audience knows

The short story “The Cask of Amontillado” is set in Italy around the 1800s during the carnival season. The story is based on how a character named Fortunato had done multiple things wrong, but when he insulted his friend which is also the narrator Montresor revenge is sworn. Knowing that revenge has been sworn the story progresses and Montresor and Fortunato have frequent conversations. One example of the irony and humor is when Fortunato is talking to Montresor, “ ‘I drink’ he said, ‘to the buried that repose around us.’ “ Montresor replies back, “ ‘And I to your long life.” At this point in the story they are down in the catacombs on their way to snag the Amontillado and Montresor if supposedly worried about Fortunato’s health. The strange concept though is that he keeps giving him different types of alcohol to Fortunato but it just allows him to become more drunk and less focused. This is proving the point that Montresor made in the second paragraph when he said, “ It must be understood, neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.” This seems to show that he is using the alcohol, which is something that Fortunato is obsessed with as a way to get hurt or kill him. Later in the story, Fortunato and Montresor are having another conversation about Montresor's family, his coat of arms, and the motto of his family. Montresor starts and says, “ ‘The Montresors,’ I replied, ‘ were a great and numerous family.’ “ Fortunato then said, “ ‘ I forget your arms.’ “ Montresor then replied, “ ‘ A huge foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.’ “ Fortunato then asked, “ ‘And the motto?’ “

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

The famous writer, Louis L’Amour once said. “Anger is a killing thing.” L’Amour points can relate to the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” and the poem “The Poison Tree”. The Cask of Amontillado is a story of revenge where a man buries his enemy alive. The Poison Tree is a poem also about revenge where man kills his foe with a poison apple. Both works show that foe and friendship co-exist with revenge through metaphors.

There are many uses of irony throughout “The Cask of Amontillado.” One example that Poe includes states, “I drink,” he said, “to the buried that repose around us. “And I to your long life.” (passage 3) This statement shows a use of dramatic irony because the reader knows that the narrator, Montresor, has no intention of cheering the life of Fortunato and has a careful plan to murder him. This quote also demonstrates dramatic irony because it shows how Fortunato genuinely believed in the good intentions of Montresor, which would eventually result in his demise. This use of irony helps build up the rising action and suspense of the story leaving the reader wondering when the narrator is going to strike and kill Fortunato. Overall this use of

The deranged, but brilliant Edgar Allan Poe once said “The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls...” Poe’s notions of the evil within are found in both “The Cask Of Amontillado” by Poe, and “A Poison Tree” by William Blake. The authors write about how revenge can create this insane creature within that will only settle for betrayal and destruction. For example, the speakers in both features are wronged by someone and their way of handling it is deceitful murder. The killers on the outside are characterized as calm people; while on the inside, they are characterized truly as people who enjoy watching those who “deserve it” suffer. Poe and Blake use characterization to convey a theme that man takes violent revenge when they are wronged.

The examples of irony were used to convey Montresor’s wrongdoing but also undermining his seek for retribution. Poe used dramatic, situational, and verbal irony to create images and meaning into readers mind. He helped create meaning through the story by helping us know more about what was happening than the characters by seeing their other sides and their dreams and passions. By using these three types of irony, it helped make the story more interesting and helped the readers see things in different perspectives. For example, in dramatic irony it creates suspense and foreshadowing for the readers. It also relates to a story or situation that the reader may be familiar with or that they will understand in a much better way. Basically, irony causes the readers to expect the unexpected, and shocks the readers and makes the plot more gripping and

The story “The cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe already starts with irony in the first sentence; “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge”. By using irony the author allows readers to have different interpretations of his story; for example Poe’s antagonist characters has the name of Fortunado. He is the one that is murdered in the end, thus demonstrating that he is not as fortunate as his name seems to indicate. Bella Wang and Amelia Tibbett exemplify this by saying, in her analysis of Poe’s story; “Poe gives the victim the name of Fortunato, which may mean "fortunate" in Italian, but adds an extra element of cynical humor to Fortunato 's jovial and unsuspecting character.” (Wang) and also “the word "luckily" also recalls the meaning of Fortunato 's name and is thus entirely unfitting for Fortunato 's fate.” (Wang). Moreover, in her analysis of the text, Amelia Tibbett confirms the fact that the reader has a kind of freedom in interoperating the story; Poe cleverly weaves this story so that he has perfect control over the narrative, all the while allowing the reader some freedom in their own interpretations. (Tibbett).

The Cask of Amontillado, a story by Edgar Allen Poe, and A Poison Tree, a poem by William Blake, both focus on a character who wishes vengeance on another who has wronged them in some way. They tell of how two people have been said to have been wronged one too many times and felt the need to do something about it. In order to express their wrath felt towards these people, they both go as far as to successfully murder them. These two pieces of writing portray a similar message about those who seek revenge on others, showing the effects it can have on people. Blake and Poe use the literary device of conflict and figurative language to convey the theme that after a betrayal, a desire for revenge can bring out the worst in people and negatively impact the lives of themselves and others.

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”.

Within Edgar Allen Poe’s work “The Cask of Amontillado” a man essentially murders his friend over jokes that were more or less aimed towards him. We as readers were never completely told what Fortunato did to warrant his untimely death, but we do know whoever the narrator was retelling this ‘account’ to, they steadily become aware that what Montresor was taking as insults most likely were fallacious and erroneous claims and most likely were small jests. From the very beginning, we know that Fortunato did not of his ‘wrongdoings’ which makes the happy jingling bells on his cap even more sorrowful and the story continuation from that point is even darker. The way the narrator tells this story is not in the least bit reliable, but his style

Did you know that you can use only three literary elements to get your point across? Edgar Allan Poe, James Hurst and O. Henry all used conflict, foreshadowing, and irony in their stories to send the reader different meanings. In Edgar Allan Poe’s story, The Cask of Amontillado, he uses three main literary elements: conflict, irony, and foreshadowing to convey his message of humility. Poe wrote, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.

“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.