Situational irony occurs in a story when readers' expectations are thwarted by the occurrence of something unexpected happening, often the opposite of what was expected.
In Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," the author creates more than one situational irony. For example, the setting of Carnival, a time of joy and celebration, is the time and place of Fortunato's demise at the hands of Montresor.
Fortunato's snobbery, in particular his condescension toward Montresor and belief in his own connoisseurship of wine, leads to his murder instead of an increase in his reputation.
Fortunato expects to have the pleasure of tasting a rare and tasty Amontillado, but instead is subjected to a grisly and protracted death as he is walled inside a tomb while still alive.
In a literary work, situational irony refers to a gap between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen. There are a number of examples of this literary device in "The Cask of Amontillado." For one thing, the very name Fortunato is highly ironic. In Italian fortunato means fortunate, or lucky. And yet Fortunato is anything but, being walled alive inside the palazzo wine cellar.
Earlier on, when Montresor meets with the unfortunate Fortunato he hails him with the words
My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met.
What Montresor means by this is that it's fortunate he has met Fortunato during the carnival and when his friend is in a state of complete intoxication. Fortunato's condition, and the backdrop of the carnival where everyone will be busy having fun, will make it so much easier for Montresor to carry out his dastardly plan. This is Montresor's lucky day, not Fortunato's.
But perhaps Montresor has a conscience; perhaps he instantly regrets his appalling act of murder:
My heart grew sick.
Not a bit of it. Montresor is actually feeling a tad queasy due to the dampness of the catacombs.
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