Irony is a very common, yet often misunderstood, literary device. In its simplest form, it is the difference between what is said and what is done, but that is only the skeleton of the definition. There are multiple different types of irony: verbal, situational, and dramatic. Verbal irony is when a person says one thing, but means another (very similar to sarcasm). Situational irony is, for example, when a person does something and scolds someone...
Irony is a very common, yet often misunderstood, literary device. In its simplest form, it is the difference between what is said and what is done, but that is only the skeleton of the definition. There are multiple different types of irony: verbal, situational, and dramatic. Verbal irony is when a person says one thing, but means another (very similar to sarcasm). Situational irony is, for example, when a person does something and scolds someone else for doing the exact same thing. Dramatic irony is a type of situational irony; in situational irony, both the characters and the audience are in the dark regarding the irony of what is happening, but in dramatic irony, the audience knows the truth and the characters do not.
Dramatic irony is a big part of The Cask of Amontillado, as we the audience know what Montresor's plan is (to get his revenge on Fortunato for insulting him), but Fortunato is completely unaware, thinking that Montresor is taking him to test a cask of Amontillado wine. There is also verbal irony in much of what Montresor says: a few times, he tells Fortunato that they should return to the party in the interest of Fortunato's help, when in reality he wants to continue on in order to kill Fortunato.
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