Callie R. Young
Monica Wheeler
Composition II
19 February, 2016
The Cask of Amontillado
Question 2
` Edgar Allan Poe is one of preeminent American authors and poets. He is well-adept at using irony in “The Cask of Amontillado”- a repugnant story about revenge of Montresor consequent to Fortunato. Fortunato gives credence to Montresor as being a good friend, but he ends up with being confined and chained to a wall in the crypts. There are three categories of irony used in this story: verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony. Using these ironies, Poe wants the readers to grasp the real idea of Montresor’s “acquaintanceship” with Fortunato.
The first example of irony is verbal irony. Verbal irony is when something is said yet the is meant the opposite. There are many samples of this kind of irony through this story. The first irony is the character’s name “Fortunato.” The name suggests good fortune, or of being fortunate, but he is exactly the opposite: he ends up being baited and killed. Another irony is when Fortunato follows Montresor go to the vault, Montresor acts as if he is concerned about Fort about Fortunato’s health, but readers are aware of the fact that from the beginning of the story, Montresor only wants to kill Fortunato. He believes Fortunato has undergone the life he was to have already, so it it is time for it to be over. Going deeper into the vaults, Fortunato coughs more and more, and Montresor feigns his concern towards Fortunato’s condition. Fortunato is a man who is being blindly ushered to his demise by someone who he feels as an cherished friend, but is really someone searching for his own malevolence.
The second example of irony used in this short story is dramatic irony- when the characters do not know what the people reading the story or watching the play do. Fortunato appears with an ailment. He dresses like a clown, and there is a big joke planned for him. Fortunato is very eager about the wine tasting and...