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allan poe and his style of writing
thesis statement the cask of amontillado
thesis statement the cask of amontillado
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In the story “The Cask of Amontillado”, the author uses lots of verbal irony to emphasize the evil intentions of Montresor.One of the examples of verbal irony in the story that he uses is “The cough’s a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.” and “true--true, I replied.” The effect of this irony is it that Montresor already knows how Fortunato will die.Another example of verbal irony used in the story was when they did a toast to each other. “I drink”, he said, to the buried that repose around us.” “And I to your long life.” The effect of the verbal irony is that Fortunato did a toast to himself not knowing that we will be joining the dead really and Montresor did a toast to Fortunato’s long life knowing that it won’t
In this chapter, Foster discusses irony. When Montresor is attempting to bring Fortunato into his catacombs, he makes several ironic statements. For example, he says that Fortunato’s “health is precious” (Poe 868). As well as this, Fortunato himself states that he “shall not die of a cough” (Poe 868). These two statements are ironic because Montresor is pretending to care about Fortunato’s health and life, when in reality, he is about to kill him. To add to this, Fortunato admits that he won’t die from a cough, unbeknown to the fact that he will instead die from his friend. Also, another ironic part of the story is the fact that Fortunato came to the catacombs for wine, but his own intoxication led to how easily he was killed. If it hadn’t been Carnival, and if he hadn’t been so heavily drunk, he might have been able to at least attempt to escape his inevitable death. Also, if he had been sober, he may have realized how foolish it was to follow Montresor to the catacombs when his story wasn’t exactly adding up. These are a few examples of irony in “The Cask of Amontillado.”
One of the most horrifying lines in the story is given by Montresor after Fortunato says, “I will not die of a cough” (Baym ). Montresor says, “True— true....” (Baym ). It seems that Montresor 's murder plot became subconsciously manifest in those two words. Dramatic irony is irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the story (“dramatic-irony”) and Poe uses this effectively in this story. For example, Montresor expresses concern about Fortunato and says, "Come, I said, with decision, we will go back; your health is
In “The Cask of Amontillado” irony plays a vital role in the story. One example of verbal irony can be seen when Montresor first sees Fortunato at the carnival and says “My dear Fortu...
Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” displays three different types of irony: situational, dramatic, and verbal. He uses two characters named Montresor and Fortunato to display this. Fortunato feels as though Montresor is his friend; however Montresor does not feel the same way. In fact, Montresor feels as though Fortunato has done something unforgivable to him. The book describes Montresor’s plan of revenge and how it led to Fortunato’s death.
By examining Poe’s use of irony and sarcasm it is obvious that both are important tools that make Montresor’s scheme of retribution even more bone-chilling. Expertly inserting these devices at different points in the story they show how Montresor insults his enemy and slowly but surely brings Fortunato closer to his immolation while seeming caring and kind. Many of these can be presented as verbal irony although some of the examples have a sinister underlying tone that mock Fortunato. Examples of verbal irony that can often be takes as sarcasm can be seen in many of Montresor’s words such as when he greets Fortunato and mentions that he is luckily met, where in reality it is extremely unlucky for Fortunato due to the plot that Montresor has
"A Cask of Amontillado" is replete with ironic statements and situations. Fortunato's very name is ironic given his horrific fate. At the beginning of the story, when Montresor divulges his theories on proper revenge, he says, "A wrong is unredressed when retibution overtakes its redresser." This is ironic (and a bit amusing) as Montresor is utterly consumed by his hatred of Fortunato. Then, during their descent into the catacombs, Montresor tries several times to con...
In this short story, examples of irony and foreshadowing are presented very often in between lines. One of the very first things that I find as the biggest irony in this short story fiction is the victim’s name “Fortunato”. As I looked up the definition of the name, Fortunato means fortunate which is very ironic due to the fact that he is going to die, and be walled up in the catacombs. Aside from that, I also found a verbal irony at the very beginning of the story when Montresor first sees Fortunato at the carnival and says “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met,” (Poe) .I found this to be very much ironic because, Fortunato is not actually lucky to have met Montresor who is actually going to murder him.
Writers often use symbolism in the story to give a more vivid description rather than just saying, pictures are a perfect example. Symbolism is the art of using any object, place, name or anything that represents something rather
Beginning with the title of his story, Poe utilized the same base word for both cask and casket, which is ironic in that the journey to a wine barrel leads Fortunato’s to his final resting place. The irony is not apparent at first, but Poe informs the reader with his first line that this is a tale of revenge. Montresor stated “but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe 714). With the prior knowledge that Montresor is anticipating Fortunato’s downfall, with Fortunato blissfully unaware of that fact, the readers are now conscious of the inherent dramatic irony. This knowledge also emphasizes the recurrent irony that is presented in the conversation between the two men. When Montresor greets Fortunato and tells him “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met” (Poe 715), Poe has made it clear that a catastrophe is about to befall him, thereby rendering Fortunato unquestionably unlucky. The concern Montresor demonstrates for Fortunato’s cough, and Fortunato’s nonchalant reply, “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me” (Poe 716), is an example of both dramatic and verbal irony. Poe has shown that Montresor is not in the least bit concerned with Fortunato’s health and that he is staging Fortunato’s demise. Another example of irony Poe depicts, is when Fortunato asks Montresor if he is a mason. Montresor then produces a trowel and confirms that he is in a fact a
Even the characters names brings forth irony such as the name Fortunato means the fortunate one, which in the story he proves that he is not fortunate given the predicament that he is in. The name Montressor means my best friend and he proves that he is nowhere near someone’s best friend since he is seeking out vengeance on Fortunato. Another example of irony is when there was only one stone left to fit into the wall, and Fortunato shouts “Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo, the lady Fortunato and the rest? Let us be gone” (10). This is ironic because Montresor was not going to undo all the layers of bricks he put up in order to let him out. Montresor tormented Fortunato by replying “Yes, let us be gone” (10). With that we do not know if he means what he says.
The first irony is verbal irony. Verbal irony is a figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant. There are many examples of this kind of irony through this story. The first irony is the name “Fortunato.” Fortunato’s name suggests good fortune, or of being fortunate, but he is exactly the opposite, he is killed. Another irony is when Fortunato follows Montresor go to the vault, Montresor acts like he cares about Fortunato’s health, “we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible.” (1202) But readers know from the beginning of the story, Montresor only wants to kill Fortunato. “And I to your long life,” (1202) Fortunato has lived out his life already, it is about to be over. Going deeper into the vaults, Fortunato gets more and more coughing, and Montresor shows his concern to Fortunato’s health “Come, we will go back ere it is too late. Your cough—“It is nothing.”(1202) But Montresor knows that the more he acts as he cares Fortunato, the more Fortunato wants to reach Amontillado-his dark fate. Fortunato is a man who is being blindly led to his death by someone who he feels as an admiring friend, but this friend is actually a person in searching for his own revenge.
Irony is also used throughout this tale. The use of revenge in this story shows irony. Montressor avenges himself by fooling Fortunato into literally walking into his own grave. Fortunato pursues the "cask" which ends up being his own casket. Montressor even asks Fortunato repeatedly whether he would like to turn back.
Symbolism is something that represents more than what it really is. It is often by authors in their writing to give it more emphasis. For example:" In life there will always be peaks and valleys" meaning in life there will be ups and downs but we should enjoy the peaks and fight through the valleys. Objects can also be a form of symbolism such as The Bible, it represents more than just a book. It represents Life, Church, Religion, and the life of Jesus Christ and what he stood for. Irony is like a twist or words or the opposite of what is intended. For example: Laughing at someone that just slipped and fell, then later you find yourself slipping and falling is a form of irony. Irony is found in real life situations as well as writings. Symbolism is a technique that gives authors a better story and shows objects as more than what they are. They use techniques like this to catch the reader’s attention.
Edgar Allen Poe uses irony and poetic justice all throughout “The Cask of the Amontillado”. The places where irony and poetic justice hold the most significance are the scenes where, Montresor speaks of the wronging done to him by Fortunato, where Montresor and fortunato speak of the coat of arms, and where at the very end when Montresor traps Fortunato in the catacombs and leaves him to die. These scenes clearly show the use of these two tools that Poe used to tell the story of Montresor and
Irony, the literary device that may trick readers into thinking the outcome may be something completely different than what the author has planned (Work Cited – literary device website). Edgar Allan Poe shows off that he is a master of using irony in the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”. Starting from the very line in a character’s name, Fortunato (Work cited – story). The name means “the fortunate one”, the irony becomes apparent when Montresor’s evil plan is revealed (Work cited – cliffs notes). Poe moves quickly with adding more irony into