The Poison Tree Analysis

A part of being human is getting angry and sometimes even wanting revenge. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Poison Tree,” both narrators are angry at the other character and both want revenge. Both enemies end up dead at the end because the narrators follow through with their plan to get back at them. Poe and Blake use both dramatic and verbal irony to portray a very interesting theme of revenge.

In “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Poison Tree,” Poe and Blake use verbal and dramatic irony. In the short story, Montresor drinks to Fortunato’s “long life” in the underground catacombs. “‘I drink,’ he said ‘to the buried that repose around us.’ ‘And I to your long life,’” (Poe, 7). This shows verbal irony by Montresor saying “long life”
“‘I had no intention of alarming you unnecessarily一but you should use all proper caution,’” (Poe, 7). This shows verbal irony because Montresor is saying one thing, but actually means the opposite. He says one thing and means the opposite because he wants to trick Fortunato into trusting him so he can get his revenge. In the poem, the narrator’s foe is holding the apple and is about to eat it. “And my foe beheld it shine,” (Blake, 11). This shows dramatic irony because when the narrator’s foe is about to eat the apple, he does not know that the tree is poison, but the audience or readers do. The authors both use verbal and dramatic irony in these examples to show revenge by creating a one sided friendship between Montresor and Fortunato and the narrator and his enemy in, “The Poison
“‘Once more let me implore you to return. No? Then I must positively leave you,’” (Poe, 8). This shows verbal irony because Montresor is saying one thing, (asking if Fortuanto wants to be let go) even though he has no intention of doing so. In, “The Poison Tree,” the narrator’s enemy is going to eat one of the apples that grow on the poison tree. “And he knew that it was mine.” The narrator’s enemy has no idea that the apple he is about to eat will kill him, and this shows dramatic irony because the character has no idea that the tree is poison but the audience does. Authors Poe and Blake use dramatic and verbal irony to create a one sided friendship in both works. This shows rvevenge because both main characters in the short story and the poem want to inflict harm on the other character because they did something to make them angry or hurt in some