In the story The Cask Of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe, Poe uses irony and foreshadowing through out story to allow the reader a little inside and humor on what is about to happen. Through out the story examples of verbal, dramatic, and situational irony can be found easily and are helpful is foreshadowing what is to come.
             Lets start at the beginning, the characters. Poe uses verbal irony in naming the character of Fortunato. By the sounds of this name you would assume that the character is in someway lucky or fortunate, but in all actuality he is the opposite. He is a man who is being blindly led to his death by someone who he feels is an admiring friend, but is actually a former friend in search of revenge. A fortune man would not be let to his death the way that Fortunato is.
             Another way Poe gives the reader some inside to the story is by the way he present the characters. "He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells." (Hudson Book of Fiction, 11). Fortunato appears to have been drinking and is dressed in many colors, much like that of a jester. This drunken, clueless appearance lets the reader know that he will be the fool in the situation. His bright clumsy appearance also makes him the main focal point through out the story and prompts the reader to pay attention to him and his actions. Montresor is shown dressed in dark clothing with a mask of black silk. The dark appearance may represent to the reader that there will come some misfortune or dark deed from the hands of Montresor.
             The very setting of the story places the reader in an ironic state with the use of situational irony. Poe uses a carnival for the setting to his murder story. It is ironic that the author places a vengeful death in a place of happiness and celebration. It is especially ironic that the t...