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Imagery
Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Manuscript Found in a Bottle
Explanation and Analysis—Ponder Upon my Destiny:
The narrator’s final entry in “Manuscript Found in a Bottle” is full of vivid imagery and situational irony:
Oh, horror upon horror!—the ice opens suddenly to the right, and to the left, and we are whirling dizzily, in immense concentric circles, round and round the borders of a gigantic amphitheatre, the summit of whose walls is lost in the darkness and the distance. But little time will be left me to ponder upon my destiny! The circles rapidly grow small—we are plunging madly within the grasp of the whirlpool—and amid a roaring, and bellowing, and thundering of ocean and of tempest, the ship is quivering—oh God! and—going down!
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The Tell-Tale Heart
Explanation and Analysis—I Was Never Kinder:
The following passage from the beginning of “The Tell-Tale Heart,” published by Edgar Allan Poe in 1839, is a perfect case study in situational irony:
Unlock with LitCharts A+But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution—with what foresight—with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.
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The Black Cat
Explanation and Analysis—A Docile Disposition:
The narrator notes near the beginning of “The Black Cat” that in his youth he was known for his good nature, good temper, and good feelings towards animals. However, his swift descent into violence, animal abuse, alcoholism, and murder makes this statement supremely ironic:
Unlock with LitCharts A+From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions. I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets. With these I spent most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them. This peculiarity of character grew with my growth, and, in my manhood, I derived from it one of my principal sources of pleasure.
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The Masque of the Red Death
Explanation and Analysis—Happy, Dauntless Prospero:
As the disease reaches its peak in “The Masque of the Red Death,” the prince decides to flaunt his hubris and hold a grand masked ball in the presumed safety of his imperial suite. There are multiple layers of situational irony involved in Prince Prospero’s selfish retreat. Observe the passage below:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. [...] But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. [...] The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure.
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The Cask of Amontillado
Explanation and Analysis—Let Us Be Gone:
As the narrator slowly bricks Fortunato into captivity in “The Cask of Amontillado,” Fortunato begs to be released in a moment of both dramatic and verbal irony:
Unlock with LitCharts A+But is it not getting late? Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady Fortunato and the rest? Let us be gone.” “Yes,” I said, “let us be gone.” “For the love of God, Montresor!” “Yes,” I said, “for the love of God!”
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Explanation and Analysis—We Will Go Back:
In "The Cask of Amontillado," the narrator’s insistence that Fortunato should turn around and go back out of the vault for the sake of his health is an example of dramatic irony:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Come,” I said, with decision, “we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi—” “Enough,” he said; “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.”
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