Cornelius Hughes
Dr. Montgomery
LibA 102
October 13, 2009
Poe’s Use of Irony in His Short Stories Gargano says that “Poe intends his readers to keep their powers of analysis and judgment ever alert;…” (178). Poe is not your average type of literary figure. He often uses personification, metaphors, and symbols in order to give hints at details that would otherwise be unknown. These type of tactics help to keep the readers on their toes, otherwise they would be subject to misinterpreting what they read. In particular, Poe was a profound user of irony in his short stories. Poe used irony to depict the errors in his characters’ ways of thinking and their actions. Stories such as “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, and “The Masque of the Red Death” are all short stories that convey this notion. It is my intention to, based on the evidence found and presented, to prove this point. Let us first look at how Poe’s use of irony proves this point in “The Cask of Amontillado.” . The setting of the events is an “evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season” (Poe, “Cask” 426). This setting alone is symbolic for in this time during a carnival, people dressed themselves in costumes, becoming for a short time something other than their normal selves. Both Fortunato and Montresor are outfitted. Fortunato is wearing “a tight-fitted parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells” (426). In short, his attire was much like that of a jester, a fool if you will. Montresor’s costume is that of “a mask of black silk and…a roquelaire…” (427). Montresor and Fortunato. What do these names mean? Montresor’s name means puppeteer in Latin and Fortunato’s name means rich or fortunate. The irony here is that Montresor, the puppeteer, leads Fortunato to the catacombs under his families estates and walls him in. To