Examples Of Verbal Irony In The Cask Of Amontillado

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“Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything is okay,” written by the artist Alanis Morissette. In life as you feel like everything is looking sunny side up, life always has a way to throw curve balls at you. When you experience the collision of expectations and reality, you are undergoing an ironic situation. Irony in “Cask of Amontillado” is portrayed through verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony. Allowing readers to feel more involved in the story, understanding the mood, revealing the tone, developing the plot, and imagining the characters foreshadowed in the story. Verbal irony was demonstrated many times in “Cask of Amontillado.” One example of verbal irony is when Montresor tells Fortunato …show more content…

A great example of dramatic irony is when Montresor forewarns the readers that he is plotting his payback against Fortunato (Poe 83). By doing this Montresor let the readers in on a little secret. Causing the reader to feel a suspenseful tension, trying to figure out what the payback will consist of. This leads the reader's concept of the story to the point that Montresor is planning a vicious revenge on Fortunato, while Fortunato is under the understanding that they are still good friends. Another piece of dramatic irony is, “He did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe 83). In this line the wording is used as a shock factor. As a reader you are now let in on the fact that Montresor will kill Fortunato. Montresor smiles, making Fortunato assume everything is fine, but deep down he is ready to strike and end Fortunato's life. Another wonderful piece of evidence Poe has used to show dramatic irony is, Montresor makes a toast to the life Fortunato has ahead of him (Poe 86). By this point of the story the reader is in shock and is confused about the thoughts running through Montresor’s mind. Poe's wording lets us know Montresor was being sarcastic. Little did Fortunato know he had just made a toast to his lengthy life moments before it was all