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Edgar allan poe gothic literature stories
Edgar allan poe gothic literature stories
Edgar Allan Poe works related to his life
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Edgar Allen Poe is one of the greatest fiction writers of all time. Known for his ironic and dark stories, The Cask of Amontillado is his most famous of all of his short stories. This story uses irony and sarcasm all throughout the piece of work. This story shows when your not paying attention how quick things can go wrong. Fortunato was too caught in the moment to realize that things may not be what they seem. Danger can creep up on you without notice if your not paying attention. Poe's use of characters in this story makes the story flow so much better. These characters would not have fitted in any other story except this one. Montressor, the killer, is very evil and sneaky, yet clever and arrogant, all while being patient. He already had the murder planned out before Fortunato ever came around. Fortunato met Montressor in the street at a carnival. Knowing that Fortunato was a prideful …show more content…
connoisseur of wine, Montressor told him he'd bought some amontillado without knowing if it was authentic. Fortunato agrees to go with Montressor after he had mentioned Luchesi, which Fortunato is not happy about. Dressed as a jester, Fortunato has no idea of any danger he might be in. The story is in Carnival season which explains why Fortunato is dressed in his attire. Montressor makes sure his house is clear of any witnesses before he and Fortunato make it to the catacombs. The catacombs are a dark and cold tunnel filled with human remains. Montressor leads his victim down the tunnel as he tells him that he should just let Luchesi see it because Fortunato had a bad cough. Knowing the plot, Montressor keeps repeating to Fortunato that they should return from the catacombs, saying that the niter was too strong. This is foreshadowing that Fortunato might be in danger. Fortunato disagreed stating that the cough was just merely a cough and that he would not die. He probably wishes that he would have agreed to turn around. This is the moment where Fortunato's pride got in into trouble. The irony used in The Cask of Amontillado is demonstrated in all of Poe's stories.
Fortunato's name is an example of situational irony. It's ironic that his name was Fortunato when he was not very fortunate in the end. His clothes are also an example of situational irony. He was dressed as a jester or clownlike, yet the joke was on him. In the catacombs Fortunato toasts "To the buried that repose around us" , unknowing that he himself would soon be of the deceased of the tomb. Just after that toast Montressor replies "And I to your long life". This foreshadows again that Fortunato is in danger again. These examples illustrate verbal irony in the story. When Montressor is about to put the last brick in place, we hear Fortunato's "bell's jingling" and him laughing. This allows readers to make their own assumption as to what Fortunato's reaction was. My personal opinion is that Fortunato thought it was a joke because he was still intoxicated from the carnival and Montressor giving him alcohol in the tomb. This can be seen as dramatic
irony. This story ends in a cold blooded, horrendous murder. Readers may get the impression that Montressor was feeling remorse or regret when he was putting the last brick in place. Montressor took advantage of the intoxicated mental state of Fortunato to lure him into the tomb to commit the murder. The use of irony makes readers think and maybe even hope that Fortunato would catch on before the task could be completed. The story ends with Montressor telling us that the crime was committed fifty years ago and no one has found out about it.
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.”
Another example of verbal irony lies in Montresor's conversation with Fortunato. Montresor tells him, "My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met." "(Baym) Fortunato seems to interpret these words to mean that Montresor likes him and is glad to have run into him. On the other hand, Montresor, is happy to see Fortunato but for his own despicable reason: that of murder.
Dramatic Irony is irony when the audience knows something which the characters do not. An example of dramatic irony in The Cask is when Montresor expresses concern for Fortunato’s help. This is ironic because everyone except Fortunato knows that Montresor is not really concerned about his health. Montresor says, “Come, I said, with decision, we will go back; your health is precious” (Poe 238). Montresor lying about being concerned of Fortunato’s death is also ironic because, Montresor is concerned about luring Montresor into the catacombs to carry out his murder plan. Fortunato does not want Montresor to die of a cough, but wants to kill him himself. Montresor does not have the slightest clue that Fortunato is planning to murder
Poe's, The Cask of Amontillado is a story about fear and revenge. The story begins with Montressor's vow of revenge, foreshadowing future actions. "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult vowed revenge..." Montressor had to be sure not to raise suspicion of what he was going to do Fortunato. Montressor knew that Fortunato had a weakness that he could use towards his advantage.
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.
Dressing Fortunato in a jester’s costume was a bit of irony to hint at what it to become of Fortunato. Poe’s drastic change in the setting of the story is a way of showing what is in store for Fortunato and begins to reveal Montresor’s true intentions. The Amontillado itself became a symbol of Fortunato’s death after being lured into Montresor’s trap and ultimately put into his grave, ending the story and satisfying Montresor’s need for revenge. Thus ends the tale of Montresor, where the monsieur was revealed to be the monster after
Because Montresor narrates the story in the first person, the reader is able to perceive his thoughts and understand his motivations and justifications for his ruthless murder in a manner which a third person point of view would not allow. Montresor’s personal narration of the events of the story does not justify his crime in the audience’s eyes, but it does offer a unique opportunity for the audience to view a murder from the perspective of a madman killer. It is Poe’s usage of this unique angle that causes the story to be so captivating and gruesomely fascinating. As the story opens, Montresor explains why it is necessary that he “not only punish but punish with impunity” to avenge for Fortunado’s insult to him. This justification for his crime is a piece of information that the audience is able to learn only because they are permitted inside the mind of the protagonist. In the final scene, when Montresor is carrying out his murder pl...
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
In many occasions, symbolism and irony are the best way to explain an object. While using symbolism you can make the reader understand a different point of view they would had never expected. It helps catches the reader attention in a way that it opens more doors to a short story, novel, etc… For example Montresor represents pride. He is living by his family motto “Nemo me impune lacessit.” (No one provokes me with impunity.) Symbols are also used in backgrounds of movies giving symbolic messages to the viewers. The only way the viewer can pick up on them is by searching them up or by already knowing what that symbol represented. Irony is used a little less more profoundly in the story, yet it plays a big role in leading the reader into the right path with its situations. Irony is when a statement contradicts itself or another object. For example Fortunato means fortunate but ends up not being fortunate while meeting his own death. They’re many examples of symbolism and irony in “The Cask of Amontillado.”
Edgar Allan Poe is a famous writer in writing detective stories and horror stories. One of his horror stories, “The Cask of Amontillado” was talking about how a man took his revenge to his friend. However, to look deeply in this story, I found that this story was not just simply a horror tale about how a man gets his revenge in the safest way. Instead, it also demonstrates much irony in several areas: the title, the event, the season, the costume, the environment, the characters’ personalities, a man’s dignity and cockiness and at the end, the public order. he are
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.
“A Cask of Amontillado” Essay After analyzing “A Cask of Amontillado” I found various examples of symbolism and irony. The most prominent types of symbolism and irony I found were, conventional symbolism and verbal irony. In the story, Montressor plots the murder of his enemy Fortunado. The entire time Montressor is using reverse psychology to lure Fortunado into his murder trap. Throughout the story multiple forms of symbolism and irony are used.
Edgar Allan Poe in his story “Cask of Amontillado” uses foreshadowing and dramatic irony to demonstrate suspense and mystery. By using these two literary elements the author can make the readers think about what is going to happen and if they should take everything that is said literal or not. Foreshadowing helps add a dramatic tension in the story making the anticipation of the story that much greater. Also, dramatic irony is used to allow the reader to feel more involved by allowing them to know information that the characters do not.
The major characteristics of the narrator and main character, Montresor, are anger, hatred, and revenge. In the story, he is angry with Fortunato because he believes that Fortunato has wronged and insulted him many times by saying, “thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could…he ventured upon insult…” (Poe). In addition, Montresor’s hatred for Fortunato goes so far that he believes he must kill Fortunato. He mentions this in the story as, “[y]ou, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat” (Poe). He seems to say that his soul is made of hatred and goes on to say he must give Fortunato the utmost punishment: death. Montresor even shows traits of revenge when he says, “…but when [Fortunato] ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” and “...I would be avenged…” (Poe). He is saying that he will get revenge on Fortunato, whom he is angry with and hates for being insulted by.