Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” is the narrative of a man named Montresor who seeks vengeance against a man named Fortunato. Fortunato insults Montresor. Next, Montresor meet Fortunato at a carnival, eventually luring him into the catacombs of his home to bury Fortunato alive. Moreover, different types of irony are portrayed in this short story. Dramatic irony consists of the character in the story knowing less about his or her situation than the reader. Verbal irony involves a character saying one thing, and meaning another. Situational irony consists of what is expected to happen, and what actually happens. Three types of irony found in Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado”, are dramatic, verbal, and situational irony.
In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” irony is applied throughout to help foreshadow future and give more of an insight to the readers, all while adding some humor. Irony is divided into three main types: dramatic, situational, and verbal.
Any fan of the medieval and Victorian eras knows that there are many stories centered around the rectification of lost or sullied honor through varying means of revenge. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is no exception. The story’s protagonist, Montresor, feels that his friend, Fortunato, has insulted his family’s honor and decides to take revenge during a nighttime carnival by luring Fortunato into the Montresor family crypt and sealing him inside to die a slow death. Through the use of irony and symbolism, Poe reveals to readers an intense theme of revenge.
Mood is what draws a reader’s emotion to a story. The mood sets the scene for a story to play out on. In “ The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe there is a strong mood that drives the story. The mood is dark, angry, and mysterious. Key details and scenes help illustrate the mood. Visuals and word usage help convey the mood in the scenes where it is the strongest.
Edgar Allen Poe wrote many great stories in his lifetime including “The Cask of Amontillado” which is a suspenseful story about a man named Montresor getting revenge on a jester named Fortunato for insulting him and ruining his family name. Montresor got revenge by leading Fortunato to his family catacombs and trapping him in the wall for all eternity, by using suspense, verbal irony and foreshadowing Poe brought us to this climactic point in the story.
Irony can clearly be stated as the use of words that mean the opposite of what we think it means. An example of a story that uses irony is The Cask of Amontillado. Which 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 countless examples of irony to convey Montresor’s unlawful act, while applying an additional layer of irony to sabotage his revenge.
In The Cask of Amontillado, the narrator, Montresor, lures Fortunato into his wine vaults in order to murder him. The reason behind it is never clearly stated in the text. Montresor merely says, “A thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” (Poe 1108) Montresor never reveals the exact nature of the insult, nor the multitude of injuries that he had supposedly borne. The audience cannot even be certain that the insult ever occurred. Perhaps the slight is only in Montresor 's mind. Fortunato seems blind to Montresor 's true intentions, meaning he is either completely oblivious and insensitive to those around him, or, what Montresor has deemed a horrible crime punishable by
Verbal irony occurs when what is said is different from what is meant. In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” an example of verbal irony is the final line of the story when Montresor, the protagonist, has just killed Fortunato by walling him up in a tomb in the catacombs beneath Montresor’s palazzo. Montresor says, “In pace requiescat!” (214) which in English translates to “May he rest in peace!” This is verbal irony because, as Montresor has just murdered Fortunato, the reader can infer that Montresor does not wish Fortunato to rest in peace, though that is what he said. Poe carries verbal irony throughout the rest of the story, as well; Montresor refers to Fortunato as “my friend” in many instances, however, the reader knows
Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” and Browning’s “My Last Duchess” both revolve around revenge. We are introduced to men who swear vengeance on other characters. Yet, the mindsets of these men are, in some aspects, very different. To truly comprehend a story, we have to understand why authors make their characters behave the way they do in addition to the message being presented. In the case of “The Cask of Amontillado” and “My Last Duchess,” why do both narrators believe murder is totally necessary? To fully recognize underlying meanings, we need to analyze characters from a narrative and scientific perspective. For example, there is actually scientific reasoning to classify narrators of these stories as “psychopaths.” It is very likely that the narrators of these two stories suffer from several mental disorders, which fully give reason to the events of the stories. To see the true perspective of how both stories handle murder, revenge, and the mental health of the narrators, we need to look at why the narrator of “My Last Duchess” feels offended, why the narrators choose murder, and how the narrator of “The Cask of Amontillado” carries out the murder.
The major contribution to irony in the text was Prince Prospero’s acts: “...he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys”(57). While the rest of his kingdom dies he locks himself and the rest of his friends in his castle. That shows terrible leadership and faith towards his kingdom, which only adds more irony to his name Prospero. His acts intentions were to avoid the Red Death and live longer. However, death is inevitable. He figures his selfish act was “heroism” but trying to save the few people he wants to only secures their death as the Red Death took each of their lives one by one that
The fictional short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe takes place in the catacombs of Montresor’s palace, during the carnival’s climax. The story begins when Montresor, the villain of the story, vows revenge on Fortunato. Throughout the story, the author doesn't tell us what the revenge will be, but his choice of words in the details creates a mood in the reader. The author’s detailed description in the short story creates different moods in the reader like anger, satisfaction, curiosity, and victory because the chosen words connect with the audience.
Irony is a complex and important element of literature that can help discover hidden perspectives within characters or hide the truth in plain sight. The story by Edgar Allen Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” is a great example the dark ironic twist that happen in the story. The main character, Montresor, is hell-bent on getting his revenge on the man who shamed him, Fortunato. The verbal and dramatic irony that is being used in the story “The Cask of Amontillado” helps hide the true intentions that Montresor has planned for Fortunato.
Edgar Allan Poe is a phenomenal writer and makes many points in his writings. There are three different ways in Poe 's writing of "The Cask of Amontillado" that irony is used: verbal, situational and dramatic. Verbal irony can be seen when Montresor first sees Fortunato at the carnival. Situational irony is also used and can be seen between the meaning of Fortunato 's name and his destiny, as well as Montresor 's response to his own. The last way irony is used is dramatic irony, this can be seen by any reader, this occurs when Montresor tells Fortunato he is also a mason.
‘The Cask of Amontillado’(Poe, 173) is a revenge story that involves two men named Fortunato and Montresor. Our main antagonist is Montresor, who fools and triumphs over the drunken prideful fool Fortunato. Edgar Allen Poe uses irony in a setting and action to foreshadow the demise of Fortunato. He uses a lot of foreshadowing along with verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony to show Fortunato’s misfortunes which eventually lead to his death.
In many stories and poems; such as the Tell Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Raven, Annabel Lee, The House of Usher, and so many more timeless works, Edgar Allan Poe has been captivating his audiences with spine tingling thrillers through the words and style of his own twisted ways. The only way to describe where Poe’s writing belongs in history, would be classified as gothic genre. From the start of the 1800’s to present day and the future of literature, through irony, repetition, imagery, and symbolism Poe has been bewitching readers with his gore and insane writings.