Edgar Allen Poe Tale of Premeditated Murder Term Paper

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Edgar Allen Poe tale of premeditated murder such as "The Cask of Amontillado," readers will immediately delight in the author's skill at suspense. Like wandering through darkened and ancient catacombs, reading "The Cask of Amontillado" stirs the imagination and maintains tension throughout its eerie passages. Deeper analysis lends insight into Poe's employment of various literary techniques to impart this sense of the tale being a campfire ghost story. Poe's clever use of irony, both dramatic and verbal, contributes to the short story's suspenseful mood. The opening line of "The Cask of Amontillado" whisper Montresor's plan of revenge: "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge," (Poe,). Before any action occurs, the reader is made aware of the intentions of the narrator. This dramatic display of irony allows the reader to fully engage and participate in the tale. In fact, the entire tale is a recounting of a murder that has already taken place; the narrator develops an intimate relationship with the reader through his confession. Fortunato, the intended victim, is ignorant of his fate throughout the entire story and even as Montresor seals the crypt, Fortunato still clings to his desire for the case of wine. Poe utilizes dialogue to impart verbal irony, especially Montresor's concern for his victim's health. Thick with symbolism, Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado" exemplifies the author's brilliant use of verbal and dramatic irony to evoke and maintain suspense.

Even Poe's choice of symbols in "The Cask of Amontillado" conveys irony. We first meet the unfortunate Fortunato at Carnival time. The character dons a Fool's costume, foreshadowing his role in the story. Fortunato's name is highly ironic: only bad fortune will befall this fellow, whom Montresor hates with passion. Montresor's vengeful nature may be out of proportion to the perceived offence Fortunato has committed, but the reader still longs for resolution.

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Thus we wait with bated breath as Montresor reels Fortunato to his death. Fortunato's obsession with the quality of Italian wine eventually leads to his demise. As a self-proclaimed connoisseur he is believed to be a "quack" by Montresor (Poe,). However, Montresor uses this knowledge of Fortunato's character to his advantage in his scheme for revenge. Knowing that Fortunato will assert his dominance over Luchesi in determining the quality of Italian wine, Montresor lures the fool into the catacombs. The "bells upon his cap jingled," indicating subtle irony and contrast between the joyful ignorance of the fool Fortunato and the dark downfall which he meets.

Fortunato repeatedly claims that Luchesi "cannot distinguish sherry from Amontillado," (Poe,). Wine connoisseurship becomes a symbol of aristocratic arrogance and pride; it is this haughtiness that Montresor hates and which lands Fortunato into the literal and figurative depths of despair. The catacombs themselves serve as a symbol of death and enclosure; they represent Fortunato's downfall and descent into a psychological hell. Furthermore, wine as bait acts as a clever tool for Montresor and a symbol for Poe. Montresor feeds the unwitting Fortunato wine along their passage in the underground, hoping to dull the man's senses. Thus, Montresor wields wine in two different ways. Irony abounds when Fortunato makes a toast "to the buried that repose around us," and Montresor responds, "And I to your long life," (Poe,). Fortunato does not know he is about to rest along with the bones around him to which he saluted in the toast; this typifies Poe's use of dramatic irony in "The Cask of Amontillado."

Fortunato's cough symbolizes his immanent suffocation in the crypt. Poe also employs the cough in a display of verbal irony throughout the dialogue between Montresor and Fortunato. When….....

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