Examples Of Situational Irony In The Cask Of Amontillado

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe is about a vengeful, manipulative person named Montresor who is plotting to take the life of his friend Fortunato. This story is good for different reasons, one being the plot construction that hooks the reader from the beginning. Another is the three different types of irony he uses: verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony. Edgar Allan Poe has a way of writing that pulls the reader in from the beginning. The first few lines of the story “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed my revenge.” When he says this he is saying how Fortunato has insulted him before and he now seeks revenge. This gets the readers excited and curious

Fortunato appears with an ill- looking “He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted but the conical cap and bells.” He dresses like a jester, and there is a big joke on him soon. “Amontillado!” Fortunato feels really exciting about tasting a rare wine and keeps looking for Amontillado. Fortunato does not know that Amontillado is not real and is only made up by Montresor to put Fortunato to his unfortunate death. He is the only person who thinks that Amontillado does exist in the vaults. Fortunato refers to Montresor as his friend in the story as well. He also toast man people buried in the catacombs, but he does not know that he will become one of them in a few moments. Dramatic irony is used heavily throughout the story, and creates more interesting, humorous effects. Fortunato has asked Montresor whether he is of the “brotherhood” or the masons. Montresor replies yes, and shows him a trowel as a sign. In fact, Montresor is a mason, “With these materials and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche.” He uses his trowel to build a wall that will bury Fortunato forever. These results are different from what the readers expected which is called situational irony. Montresor is clever with his plan of revenge. Starting with convincing Fortunato to get Amontillado, Montresor chains Fortunato to the wall, buries him alive, and gets revenge.

Poe uses many verbal ironies, dramatic ironies, and situational ironies throughout “The Cask of Amontillado” to enhance the details of his story. Through these ironies, Poe makes the story more interesting. The way he pulls the reader into the story from the beginning and leads it up to the end with a great ending is talented