While Edgar Allan Poe is certainly known for his use of dark satire, symbolism, and crafty use of many other literary elements, it is in The Cask of Amontillado that the utilization of dramatic irony stands out the most. Although this tale of misfortune and suspense on its own is a compelling read, it is the use and incorporation of these devices by the mastermind that is Poe that makes this story an excellent choice for literary analysis. In the very first lines of the story, the speaker, Montresor, reveals his loathing and desire for vengeance against another man, Fortunado. In an example of situational irony, The name Fortunado derives from the latin root fortunatus, which means being made happy or prosperous (Greusser 129). By the end of the story, however, it is clear to the reader that Fortunado's fate has a meaning quite the opposite.
In the short story, Fortunado is described as wearing "a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells " (Poe lines 1-5). Dressed as a fool, Fortunado is a man "broadly drawn entirely befitting his carnival motley and clownish bells " (Stepp 449). Despite this, the beginning of the tale reveals Fortunado to be "a man to be respected and even feared"" (Poe p.226). Ironic, considering the constant reiteration of Fortunado's imagery as a stumbling, gullible drunkard, repeating the description of his foolish jingling bells to the reader multiple times throughout the tale. .
On their downward climb, conversation leads to Montressor pulling out a trowel per request of Fortunado as a sign that he was a part of the brotherhood of the masons. This is an example of dramatic irony. According to Haywood, "so far as the Fraternity itself is concerned, the trowel and the cement spread on by the trowel, is the kindly, pervasive, irresistible spirit and power of Brotherhood"" (Haywood 265). Being that it is in fact a Masonic emblem that "has the power to bind men together, " (265) the trowel ironically represents a symbol of kinship between the two, and also the object with which Montressor intends to end Fortunado's life.
