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Theme Of Irony In The Cask Of The Amontillado

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Irony in the “Cask of the Amontillado”
In the “Cask of the Amontillado,” the author, Edgar Allen Poe, uses irony for a dramatic portrayal of two so called “friends.” In an 18th or 19th century city, during a Mardi Gras celebration, a man by the name of Montresor sees the very drunken Fortunato. Both Montresor and Fortunato are wine connoisseurs. Montresor uses Fortunato’s love of wine to lure him into the dark and damp catacombs. As he continues to give Fortunato wine, he begins to lead him into a niche. Montresor builds up a brick wall, enclosing him inside, causing Fortunado to suffocate, therefore killing him. In “Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe uses verbal, dramatic, and situational irony to add horror and suspense to the story. …show more content…

Verbal irony is when a writer or speaker says one thing, but really means something completely different. The first example is when Montresor says to Fortunato, “You are luckily met.” (page 288). In this statement, Montresor actually means that Fortunato is unlucky, because Montresor knows his fate. Another example is when Montresor says to Fortunato, “Your health is precious.” (page 289). This is ironic because his health is not precious to Montresor because he is going to kill Fortunato and doesn't care about his well being. The last example of verbal irony is right after Fortunato dies, Montressor says, “Rest in peace.” (292). He did not really wish for him to rest peacefully. Verbal irony is used in various ways to hide what will happen next in the story.
Situational is the next type of irony used in this story, to create suspense. One example in “Cask of Amontillado” is Fortunato's name means lucky one. The readers know that Fortunato is not lucky. The setting of the story is a carnival, a place where no one would suspect a murder to happen. Fortunato is brought to the catacombs by Montresor, because he knows Fortunato adores wine. This is ironic, because his love of wine is what gets him killed. Throughout the story, Poe uses examples to create situational irony, to keep the readers

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Montresor replies ironically “True-true.” (119) This is an example of verbal irony because it sounds like Montresor is just replying to Fortunato but the real meaning behind Montresor saying that is because he knows that a cough will not kill him but he will. Furthermore, another example of verbal irony is when Fortunato says “I drink, to the buried that repose around us.” (119)

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In Edgar Allen Poe’s, “Cask of Amontillado”, Poe skillfully uses verbal irony in order to demonstrate the villainous intentions of Montresor. The first example of verbal irony is when Fortunato, the victim, toasts “to the buried that repose” and Montresor, the murderer, “And I to your long life”(page 119). By now the reader is beginning to understand. Montresor's murderous intentions by Poe’s verbally ironic statements about life and death. Another, example of verbal irony is the play of the word “masons”.

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Further manifestations of Montresor's true plans are alluded to as they “arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.” Although Fortunato is still dewy-eyed towards Montresor, the “deep crypt” and “foulness of the air” raises unnatural feelings of suspicion. The unnatural environment hints to the cynical plans Montresor has in store of Fortunado. This uneasy and unnaturalness of Montresor continues up until he entombs Fortunato, leaving an aftertaste of oatmeal in the afternoon. In “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe brings unnatural to a new level through tone and foreshadowing in the revenge inflicted on Fortunado by

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In the short story ,”Cask of Amontillado,” there are many examples of irony used by Poe throughout the story. In the story, the Narrator’s biggest challenge is to get revenge on Fortunato for “one thousand injuries,” but he has to plan how he’s going to do it successfully without getting caught. When the Narrator randomly runs into Fortunato, the author states that, “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met.” (Poe 59). This is an example of verbal irony because the Narrator didn’t mean it was lucky for Fortunato because he was just telling us how he vowed revenge on him.

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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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Everybody will eventually want revenge on an old friend or just someone they know. Montressor, similar to many people in the world, wants revenge on one of his old friends, Fortunato. The story opens with, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (Poe 212). In this statement, Montressor tells the reader what the cause of his revenge against Fortunato is. “The Cask of Amontillado”, written by Edgar Allen Poe, tells the story of how Montressor brings Fortunato into the catacombs to bury him alive.

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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.

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