In "The Cask of Amontillado", Edgar Allen Poe demonstrates the horrors of a
chilling murder. The narrator, Montresor, has vowed revenge upon his enemy,
Fortunato. Fortunato willingly travels with his killer to his doom. The reader is left
awestruck and amazed at Montresor's grotesque act. Poe uses irony through the
character of Montresor to foreshadow his enemy's death.
One example of his use of irony through Montresor is their toast to each other.
Fortunato drank to the dead around them, to their lives. However, his killer drank to
the victim's long life. This ironic toast lends the reader a sense of what is to come. The
audience and Montresor know Fortunato's death is waiting around the corner.
Afterwards, he creppily puts his arm around his victim and leads him closer to his
death. An ironic statement to foreshadow a murder.
Another use of irony through foreshadowing is in the end when Fortunato begs
Montresor by stating, "Let us be gone".
Montresor's reply is an ironic echo,"Yes, let us
be gone". The assassin wants his prey to know he will die. His life will be dissipated in a
short while. This comment is freezing as it is comprehended. Montresor is ready for
the final breath of Fortunato. His end is again foreshadowed to the audience.
Perhaps the most profound irony which foreshadows Fortunato's death is their
conversation about the Masonic brotherhood. The audience understands Montresors
intention as he draws a trowel from his cape and proclaims to be a Mason. Fortunato is
clearly a member of the Mason brotherhood. However, it is frightfully clear Montresor
is an entirely different kind of Mason. Poe uses this profound scene to exemplify
foreshadowing through irony.
Poe's reflection of irony through foreshadowing is plainly evident in "The Cask of
Amatillado". His character, Montresor,