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Irony In The Cask Of Amontillado And Young Goodman Brown

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There are three different types of irony: situational, verbal, and dramatic. These types of irony are presented in The Cask of Amontillado written by Edgar Allen Poe and Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The stories share similar ironies, but they also differentiate with each other. The Cask of Amontillado and Young Goodman Brown both consist of irony that is spread throughout the story. Situational irony is when a situation turns out differently than expected. This type of irony expresses itself in both stories, but they contrast with one another. For example, at the end of The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor uncovers that the murder of Fortunato occurred fifty years ago by saying, “For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!” In Young Goodman Brown, readers learn that Goodman …show more content…

Both of them use it in the character’s names such as Faith, Goody Cloyse, and Fortunato. Faith means trust and in Young Goodman Brown, she is seen at the meeting with the fiend worshippers (12). After experiencing this, Brown loses all trust in his wife. Also, Goody Cloyse is another character that is actually named after a real person involved with the witch trials. One more example is Fortunato, which means fortunate in Italian. Fortunato experiences death at the end of The Cask of Amontillado and is rather unfortunate (13).
There is a huge difference in the use of dramatic irony in each of the stories. For instance, dramatic irony is nowhere to be found in Young Goodman Brown, but The Cask of Amontillado displays a vast amount of it. One example is “...the cough’s a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough,” said Fortunato (8). From this, it implies that Fortunato is slowly dying. Another example is Montresor uncovers the folds of his roquelaire and reveals a trowel (10). Fortunato is not aware of Montresor’s plan of murdering him and readers would already know his

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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)

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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

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Situational irony is also evident in both stories. Walter’s mundane life contrasts with his adventurous daydreams as his real life of weakness contrasts with his daydreams of dominance. The most ironic conclusion is witnessed in The Story of an Hour when Mrs. Mallard dies, just as she is about to live an autonomous life. The concluding sentence states, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - of joy that kills.” (Chopin, 3).

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Boundless “Fall of a City,” By Alden Nowlan and “Chief Joseph Surrenders,” A passage by Chief Joseph himself. As a kid growing up, I knew how it was to give up. I felt as if I was always one step behind everybody. In the story of, “Fall of a City,” by Alden Nowlan, Teddy seems to feel the same way.

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It seem to me like the irony of the two writers was note part of a writing strategy but more a heritage from their awful life experiences. Barthas notes reflect irony through the reactions of soldiers toward death and bodies. “It wasn’t unusual to be grabbed, while passing, by a skeletal hand or a foot sticking out of the trench wall. We were so blasé about it that we paid it no more attention than to a root we might trip upon in our path” (Barthas 134).

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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. An example of situational irony Poe uses in the story is simply the name Fortunato. Fortunato is an Italian name that means good fortune or luck. This is an example of situational irony because his name means the complete opposite of what he actually was.

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Both of the authors used different types of irony during their stories.

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The Ironic Truth 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. Verbal irony happens when one character says one thing but actually means something completely different.

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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.

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There are two very obvious hints of dramatic irony within the story. The first situation is when Santiago had a discussion with Manolin the day before he goes out on his big fishing journey in hopes to end his unlucky streaks of not catching a fish in the last eighty four days. Manolin talks to Santiago, saying that he wants to help him get some sardines for his trip and help him get ready for the big day (Hemingway, 25), but Santiago only allows him get a few new sardines. The irony in this is that Santiago thinks he will catch a fish in the next couple of days, but he is a little doubtful about catching a big fish because he has not caught one in a long time. This is a hint that Santiago will catch a big fish even if he himself does not know

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The quote shows the author's details create a shocking mood in the readers because he describes a detailed image the helps the reader envision what is going on. This action takes the audience by surprise because they know Montresor is getting revenge, but they aren’t told what it will be so they are as clueless as Fortunato. Montresor threw a torch in the niche where he tied Fortunato up and he finished closing up the wall, killing a man who considered him a friend. “I thrust a torch to the remaining aperture and let it fall within… I force the last stone into position; I plastered it up.” (pg7)

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Dramatic irony is usually an over the top, tragic form of irony. Both Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” are great examples of an ironic situation. Every expresses the common theme in their own way. Although both of these literally pieces provide us with the theme of irony, Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" gives the reader a sense of suspense with the irony that proves to be more effective. Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" emphasizes on how a man’s thoughts and perception can affect oneself and other’s lives.

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What is irony, and what is its’ role in literary works that makes it so important to us? Irony can be defined as a contrast or incongruity between expectations for a situation and reality, which can further more be broken down into three main types of irony: verbal, dramatic, or situational. In both Young Goodman Brown and Sweat, irony is displayed in each story’s situation, from the world not being as good as one sees in Young Goodman Brown, to the epitome of a bad marriage as seen in Sweat. The literary work Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne displays irony mainly through displaying that evil is just a part of the world and human nature, and that man and woman are not all good and believing so can eventually drive one

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552 Words | 3 Pages

“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.

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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.

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