In “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe uses verbal irony to emphasize the evil intentions of Montresor. Poe uses several instances of irony to demonstrate that Forntunato’s death is imminent and Montresor knows all along. One example of irony being used is when Fortunato says “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough. ”(119)
That Montresor is losing sight of humanity, which Poe is utilizing throughout the story. “But when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (Poe 61). As you read it shows how focused Montresor is about revenge, that he will not stop until he gets his revenge on Fortunato. Montresor's satisfaction will only come from Fortunato's immense suffering.
we will go back your health is precious.. You will be ill and I cannot be responsible” that’s an example of verbal irony because Montresor doesn’t really feel that Fortunato’s health is precious and plans to harm him, he knew that Fortunato would do anything for amontillado and wouldn’t go back no matter what. Fortunato says “I drink to the buried that repose around us” (86) and he ends up being one of the bodies buried in the vault, right after Montresor drinks to Fortunato’s long life which is ironic because he intends on killing him in the
Edgar Allen Poe uses irony to tell the reader that the foe of the narrator, Fortunato, is going to die but he doesn’t know it. One example of irony is when Fortunato says, “‘the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough’”(Poe, 36). This is an example of situational irony because Fortunato doesn’t know, but when he said that the cough will not kill him, it might lead him to his death when the catacombs he will be sealed in will make his cough deadly. This use of situational irony conveys the theme because even from one insult from Fortunato drove the narrator to take revenge by killing him and he has a dark perspective of how he is going to end Fortunato’s life by making him suffer.
“The Cask of Amontillado” is an ironic short story written by Edgar Allen Poe. Poe used symbolic irony to describe who his characters were, how they dressed, and the settings in which the events took place. In this short story symbolic irony was used to define how Montresor, one of the prominent characters, sought his way to redemption by repressing his friend Fortunato to his demise. Poe’s two prominent characters in “The Cask of Amontillado” was Montresor and Fortunato. Montresor, whose name means “to show fate,” is a man with a bitter heart seeking for revenge.
He exploits this and deceives the man to go down into the caverns that housed the supposed Amontillado. Furthermore, Montresor never tells the reader what Fortunato actually did. He only states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe, 360). Insults do not call for homicide.
Montresor states, “I continued , as was my in to smile in his face and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe 1). Montresor devises an intricate and well thought out plan to murder someone he considers a friend, he highlights the evil of humanity when the thought of killing Fortunato brings a smile to his face.
Montresor has wrath toward Fortunato for insulting and treating him less. Fortunato was tricked into thinking a different result would happen than his death. Montressor tried to make his own justice of the situation ‘’ At length, i will be avenged. ‘’ pg 83 Poe showing he's going to get back at Fortunato for what he did. “He did not perceive that my smile was at his demise’’
At the beginning of the story the narrator chooses the setting of Carnival. When one thinks of the carnival, the thought of joyful people, celebration and social interaction comes to mind. No one would have thought that that was the precise moment for Montresor to take revenge. The name of Fortunato itself is ironic, because the name of Fortunato means fortune in Italy. When Montresor reveals the audience that he “had fettered [Fortunato] to the granite”, the scene sends chills throughout the reader’s body (Poe 471).
When it comes to writting performance, Poe is so graceful with his purpose from sentence to sentence. Poe starts his story in a strange way because readers do not know exactly about Fortunato ’s personaily, he insults Montresor whether seriously or not which enables him to receive severe revenge and the result of Fortunato is seemingly predicted : “ A wrong is unredressed....who has done the wrong” (1). In addition, every single detail contains many implications of irony. The name of the victim, Fortunato, means “ the fortunate one”.
The irony in both the short stories The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe and The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry is used to create contrast between the route the reader thinks the story will go down, or the route that seems more obvious to the reader, and the reality presented, while adding touches of humor and foreshadowing. The irony in The Cask of Amontillado adds a dark layer of humor that tells the reader about how ego can get in the way of common sense, and foreshadows to the gruesome end. Montresor is practically a master at using reverse psychology, an example of verbal irony, to manipulate others into doing what he wants. The only time Montresor ever has to use physical force on Fortunato is at the very end, when he is chaining him up. Fortunato begs to stay in
The Irony of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ ‘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 his short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allan Poe digs deep into the depths of the human mind and explores the darker territories of human life. Poe suffered many losses during his life, and these loses allowed him to write about the downward spiral that accompanies the human mind. Throughout this story, Poe masters the use of verbal irony. One of the first times that Poe utilizes verbal irony is Montresor's encounters with Fortunato in the streets during the last day of the Carnival season. Montresor says, “' My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met ,'” (5).
“The Use of Irony in "The Cask of Amontillado" 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.
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. Poe uses dramatic irony when he has Fortunato dress as a jester, “a tight-fitting parti-striped dress and his was surmounted by the conical cap and bells” (Poe). The get-up makes Fortunato looks foolish and foreshadows his actions of following Montresor into the catacombs to taste some wine. Montresor even compliments the outfit and says “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met” (Poe), but it was not Fortunato who was in luck, but Montresor who would gain profit of their meeting.
