The Cask of Amontillado Group

Question:

manda22
manda22
Student
High School - 12th Grade

What irony lies behind Fortunatos name?

Rate question:

Posted by manda22 on Sunday June 17, 2007 at 9:43 PM and tagged with character, fortunato, irony, the cask of amontillado.

Answers:


  1. rowens Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The name Fortunato sounds very much like the word fortunate. Of course, Fortunato is anything but lucky. He is manipulated by Montressor and led to his untimely and horrific death. So the irony lies in the fact that a man whose name would indicate good fortune ends up with the very ill fortune of being buried (or technically walled up) alive--not very fortunate at all.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/cask-amontillado/6411

    Rate answer:

    Posted by rowens on Sunday June 17, 2007 at 10:13 PM


  2. brendawm Teacher
    High School - 9th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The irony that lies behind Fortunato's name is that the basic root word of his name is "Fortun" as in fortune, indicating luck, success or prosperity when Fortunato is the actual victim in the story of "The Cask of Amontillado."  Fortunato is anything but lucky or fortunate in the story, as he is deceived into trusting Montresor, and he ends up losing his life.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/cask-amontillado/characters

    Rate answer:

    Posted by brendawm on Tuesday January 29, 2008 at 5:25 PM