Edgar Allan Poe was a poet as well as an editor, a novelist, a short story writer, and an essayist. He was a pathfinding theorist of the short story, who grounds us in a theory of short fiction and its affects. In this paper we will work on his short story "The Cask of Amontillado". It is a great tale of suspense and revenge. We will analyze its aesthetic elements and work on the theory of irony that Poe describes so cleverly in this story. This story is a case of premeditated murder. He uses first-person viewpoints because the subjectivity inherent in a first-person account emphasizes human weakness while adding a layer of confusion and darkness to the narration. The action and dialogue carry a great deal of connotative value, he seems to address someone familiar, as it can be found the narrator says he writes to those who know the "nature of my soul". Montresor tells the story of the night when he took his revenge on Fortunato, a fellow nobleman. Angry over some unspecified insult, he plots to murder his friend during Carnival, a season that represents joy, contrasting to the following actions. Montresor chooses the exact moment when the man is drunk, dizzy, and wearing …show more content…
In the title we have the word Cask, which means wine barrel, but it is derived from the same root word used to form casket, meaning coffin, so since the title the author tells us that the story is about the coffin of Amontillado. Irony, both dramatic and verbal, plays an important role in this process. Dramatic irony occurs when the reader becomes painfully aware of what will become of Fortunato even though the character continues his descent into the catacombs in pursuit of the Amontillado. Poe further adds to this effect by calling the character Fortunato (It is ironic that in this story a man of misfortune should be named Fortunato), and dressing him in a fool's costume since Montresor intends to make a fool of him as part of his dark