illustration of Fortunato standing in motley behind a mostly completed brick wall with a skull superimposed on the wall where his face should be

The Cask of Amontillado

by Edgar Allan Poe

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Student Question

In "The Cask of Amontillado," which of Montresor's comments to Fortunato are ironic, meaning something different than they seem?

Quick answer:

In "The Cask of Amontillado," Montresor's comments to Fortunato are laden with irony. He feigns concern for Fortunato's health, saying "your health is precious," while plotting his murder. When Fortunato dismisses his cough, Montresor agrees with "true - true," knowing the real threat is his own plan. Montresor's family motto, "no one wounds me with impunity," foreshadows revenge. Additionally, he ironically claims to be a mason, showing a trowel that he will use to entomb Fortunato.

Expert Answers

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These are some instances where Montresor speaks ironically:

Fortunato has a coughing fit while the two are walking through the catacombs.  Montressor says,

"Come...we will go back; your health is precious.  You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as I once was.  You are a man to be missed".

Montressor appears to be concerned about Fortunato's cough, but in reality, he is plotting to kill him when they reach the deep recesses of the tunnel.  Fortunato responds, "the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me.  I shall not die of a cough", to which Montressor rejoins in sinisterly ironic understatement, "true - true".

A few lines later, Fortunato asks Montressor to describe his family arms and motto.  Montressor describes a foot crushing a serpent whose fangs are imbedded in the heel, and recites the motto "nemo me impune lacessit".  This means "no one wounds me with impunity", a chilling reference to Fortunato, who has wounded Montressor in the past and will not escape unpunished.

Later, when Montressor does not recognize a gesture made by Fortunato, Fortunato notes that Montressor must then not be a mason.  Montressor objects, saying, "yes, yes...a mason", and pulls a trowel from his garments to prove it.  Montressor may not be a member of the order of masons about which Fortunato is speaking, but he is indeed a man who can work in masonry, as he will soon show in entombing Fortunato.

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