How Does Poe Use Dramatic Irony In The Cask Of Amontillado

Dramatic Irony is when an author allows the reader to know more than his/her characters in the story. This technique is used by the authors to add suspense to their literature. Edgar Allen Poe created many suspenseful stories using dramatic irony for the purpose of creating themes about human nature. In the short story “The Cask Of Amontillado,” Edgar Allen Poe uses dramatic irony to develop the theme that one should be careful about insulting another because he/she will seek revenge.
Montresor proves that one should be careful about insulting another because he/she could seek revenge in the story. Montresor proves through his actions towards Fortunato. He states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he

ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (Poe 372). Montresor is proving through dramatic irony that one should not insult another because they will seek revenge because over the years Fortunato had insulted him to the point where Montresor finally wanted to get revenge himself because he was fed up with Fortunato’s little tricks and insults and it is dramatic irony because the reader knows this but Fortunato does not.

Montresor proves not to mess with someone's feeling. He explains, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (Poe 372). Fortunato does not know that he is going to die, yet Montresor and the reader do know, making the situation dramatic irony. By punishing him with impunity he is going to get revenge that he has wanted now for years ever since he did wrong to Montresor and now that he finally gets the chance of course he will seek revenge on Fortunato. And it is dramatic irony because Fortunato is oblivious to the situation. Montresor proves that one should be careful on what they say. He speaks, “I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe 372). Montresor is saying

that he is going to kill Fortunato but Fortunato is oblivious to his own immolation which brings out the dramatic irony since we as the reader know about his death but Fortunato does not and because Fortunato did something bad to Montresor and they have a bad past, Montresor is now going to get revenge by killing Fortunato without his consent. This is a few ways that Montresor is proving to the reader and even Fortunato that if you insult a person you should expect payback and revenge.
His plan is finally coming together and Montresor finally gets revenge on Fortunato.

Montresor seeks revenge on Fortunato by stating, “A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back” (Poe 379). Montresor is now getting revenge on Fortunato by chaining him up deep in the catacombs behind this big wall that he has just created. He is doing this to get payback for the things that Fortunato did to him at an earlier date and going by a plan he made to do everything. Montresor gets revenge and satisfies himself. He undergoes the action of doing so when he explains, “I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up, against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For a half of a century no mortal has disturbed them” (Poe 379). Montresor is building a huge wall deep in the catacombs with Fortunato behind that so no one can hear him scream and so he can die there and if that is not bad enough he is even chaining him up and drugging him in the process and then after that he is putting the bones back where he found them so even if someone did go back there no one would see or hear anything. That is some smart and painful planned revenge. This is how Montresor got revenge on

Fortunato.
Poe uses dramatic irony in his short story and develops the character, Montresor, who proves that one should be careful about insulting another because he/she will seek revenge.