Montresor's Unsuccessful Revenge: Subtle Irony in "Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe
Throughout his literary career, Edgar Allan Poe applied irony to his stories. By doing this, his disturbing and odd tales became stories of mental and psychological twists and terror that trouble readers. Poe uses irony in “The Tell-Tale Heart” to increase mental tension by making the murderer in the story confess the crime that he so carefully planned. The man goes mad by fault of his own conscious and if he had not confessed, the murder would have been a success. Just as in “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe utilizes irony to amplify the horror and tension in “The Cask of Amontillado”. In “The
Cask of Amontillado”, a murderer, Montresor, plans a clever revenge scheme using many small parts to bring the plan together. Montresor’s plan is to make the person he is avenging to feel guilt and die in pain, but in the end, Montresor is the man feeling guilty and living a life of pain. In both those stories, Poe uses irony against the protagonist, making them lose their mental state. In “The Tell-Tale
Heart”, the murderer is perfectly calm through out the story until Poe causes him to have a mental breakdown. Also, in “Cask of Amontillado”,
Montresor is perfectly calm and relaxed while telling his tale, but, unlike in “The Tell- Tale Heart”, Montresor does not openly break down because of guilt, but he breaks down because he has realized that his revenge was a failure. Montresor instead shows small details that convey his realization of the failure. A reader may view the revenge as one of success, since Montresor did, in fact, kill Fortunato. However, small details that Poe adds in the story indicate that Montresor’s crime was unsuccessful and by making the crime seem unsuccessful, Poe accomplishes using irony against the protagonist. In Edgar Allan Poe's
"The Cask of Amontillado", Poe uses irony to convey Montresor's crime, while using another layer to undermine Montresor's revenge.
Montresor relies on sins and judgment of God to complete the
Cask of Amontillado”, a murderer, Montresor, plans a clever revenge scheme using many small parts to bring the plan together. Montresor’s plan is to make the person he is avenging to feel guilt and die in pain, but in the end, Montresor is the man feeling guilty and living a life of pain. In both those stories, Poe uses irony against the protagonist, making them lose their mental state. In “The Tell-Tale
Heart”, the murderer is perfectly calm through out the story until Poe causes him to have a mental breakdown. Also, in “Cask of Amontillado”,
Montresor is perfectly calm and relaxed while telling his tale, but, unlike in “The Tell- Tale Heart”, Montresor does not openly break down because of guilt, but he breaks down because he has realized that his revenge was a failure. Montresor instead shows small details that convey his realization of the failure. A reader may view the revenge as one of success, since Montresor did, in fact, kill Fortunato. However, small details that Poe adds in the story indicate that Montresor’s crime was unsuccessful and by making the crime seem unsuccessful, Poe accomplishes using irony against the protagonist. In Edgar Allan Poe's
"The Cask of Amontillado", Poe uses irony to convey Montresor's crime, while using another layer to undermine Montresor's revenge.
Montresor relies on sins and judgment of God to complete the