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)
Edgar Allen Poe uses irony to tell the reader that the foe of the narrator, Fortunato, is going to die but he doesn’t know it. One example of irony is when Fortunato says, “‘the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough’”(Poe, 36). This is an example of situational irony because Fortunato doesn’t know, but when he said that the cough will not kill him, it might lead him to his death when the catacombs he will be sealed in will make his cough deadly. This use of situational irony conveys the theme because even from one insult from Fortunato drove the narrator to take revenge by killing him and he has a dark perspective of how he is going to end Fortunato’s life by making him suffer.
In the short story, “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Caleveras County” by Mark Twain, there are many examples of irony. Some types of irony include, verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony. Verbal irony is when someone says something that means the opposite, situational irony is when a situation’s outcome is inconsistent with what we expect to happen. Dramatic irony is when the audience is aware of something the character doesn’t know. First of all, an example of situational irony is when Andrew Jackson, Jim Smiley’s dog, was fighting a dog with no back legs.
Verbal irony occurs when what is said is different from what is meant. In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” an example of verbal irony is the final line of the story when Montresor, the protagonist, has just killed Fortunato by walling him up in a tomb in the catacombs beneath Montresor’s palazzo. Montresor says, “In pace requiescat!” (214) which in English translates to “May he rest in peace!” This is verbal irony because, as Montresor has just murdered Fortunato, the reader can infer that Montresor does not wish Fortunato to rest in peace, though that is what he said.
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.
“The information you get from social media is not a substitute for academic discipline at all. “In literature there are multiple types of irony like situational, dramatic and verbal. But in the story The Cask of Amontillado they use all 3 types of irony to foreshadow death and in the Ransom of Red Chief they use irony to create humor with all 3 types of irony. Though there are some similarities, O. Henry and Edgar Allan Poe use 3 types of irony in Ransom of Red Chief and The Cask of Amontillado just differently.
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.
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.
Verbal irony involves a character saying one thing, and meaning another. Situational irony consists of what is expected to happen, and what actually happens. Three types of irony found in Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado”, are dramatic, verbal, and situational irony. A good example of dramatic irony occurs when Montresor explains to Fortunato that he is also a mason. Then, Fortunato asks for a sign.
Edgar Allan Poe creates horror and suspense in his use of irony -including verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony-in his short story “ The Tell-Tale Heart”. Verbal irony is when something that is said means the opposite of what is meant. Poe uses verbal irony when he states, “ I loved the old man.” Situational irony is similar. It is defined as when what happens is different from or even the opposite of what we expected.
So although Fortunato believes he will ultimately reach a cask of wine, he actually meets his casket. In conclusion, in the story of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ by Edgar Allen Poe, Poe uses irony and foreshadowing throughout the story to allow the reader inside knowledge on what is about to happen. Throughout the story examples of verbal, dramatic, and situational irony can be found easily and help with foreshadowing for what is going to happen. Works Cited Poe, Edgar Allen.
“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.
The Cask of Amontillado is a story about a brutal murder in which the main character, Fortunato, is killed. The other main character is Montresor, who indirectly, directly kills Fortunato. He dies because of the dampness in the catacombs in which Montresor traps him in a room inside the catacombs. The dampness sickens Fortunato and with the combo between Montresor trapping him in the room he dies. There are many ideas and items that could be discussed in this short story, but the use of irony stands out the most to me.
Irony takes place in all of Poe’s stories, and it is very easy to notice what the most ironic parts are in all of the texts too. However, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Masque of the Red Death”, have the most ironic sequences in them. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator is so confident that he had thought of everything, that he had the perfect plan, but he hadn’t planned for the guilt that would later haunt him after he killed the old man. He ended up confessing his crime to the police and even tearing up the floorboards where he had stashed the old man’s remains. For example, “I admit the deed!
The Irony of Charles Bukowski’s “8 Count” M. H. Abrams describes “irony” as “[…] dissembling or hiding what is actually the case; not, however, in order to deceive, but to achieve special rhetorical or artistic effects” (“Irony”). It can be grouped into three main categories: verbal irony, dramatic irony and situational irony. The most often used form of irony in literary works is dramatic irony. It involves a situation in which “[…] the character acts in a way we recognize to be grossly inappropriate to the actual circumstances, or expects the opposite of what we know that fate holds in store […]” (“Dramatic irony”). An example of dramatic irony would be hearing one of your friends talk about his plans to propose to his girlfriend even though you know that she has no intentions of getting engaged.
