《阿芒提拉多的酒桶》的反讽艺术美_英语论文

The Beauty of Irony in “The Cask of Amontillado”

摘要

《阿芒提拉多的酒桶》是埃德加·爱伦·坡经典哥特式恐怖小说中的一篇。小说全文充满了哥特式的意象，例如黑色丝绸面具、潮湿的地下墓穴和成堆的残骸，颇具反讽意味，表现了对时代价值观的考量。小说的主题包括了复仇、死亡、恐怖等等，并而反讽是这篇小说中表达哥特式特征的主要修辞手法。反讽可以分为很多类，而本文主要针对言语性反讽、情境性反讽和戏剧性反讽三个方面展开论述，以及分析反讽背后表现出的美感以及对人性和价值观更深层次的思考。爱伦坡运用了大量的反讽，不仅有助于营造哥特式的氛围，而且升华了主题。在小说中，爱伦坡表面上描述了人性的愚蠢、自大、嫉妒以及丧失，但事实上，他辛辣地讽刺了时代扭曲的价值观。

关键词：《阿芒提拉多的酒桶》；反讽；美感；人性；价值观

Abstract 

“The Cask of Amontillado” is one of the typical gothic horror fictions written by Edgar Allan Poe. The whole fiction is full of gothic images, such as black silk mask, damp catacombs and piled skeletons, which are fairly ironic, showing his reflections on the age values. Its theme includes revenge, death and horror. Irony is one of the major narrative skills to convey the gothic features. Irony may be divided into lots of categories and this thesis is mainly focus on the verbal, situational, dramatic irony as well as the beauty and the deeper thoughts on humanity and value behind the irony. Poe employs abundant irony not only to create the gothic atmosphere, but also to emphasize the theme. In the fiction, Poe superficially describes the foolishness, arrogance, jealousy, and depravity of humanity. But actually, he poignantly satirizes the distorted social values at that time.

Key words: The Cask of Amontillado; irony; beauty; humanity; value

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Verbal Irony in Montresor and Fortunato’s Conversations 3

2.1 Direct Contradictory Irony in Montresor’s Words 3

2.2 Repetition of the Friend Luchesi and Pun of the Mason 4

3. Situational Irony Combined with the Environment and Symbolism 5

3.1 The Contrast of the Environment between the Carnival and the Vault 5

3.2 The Irony Combined with Symbolism: the Silk, the Flambeaux and the Motto 5

4. Dramatic Irony Combined with the Unreliable Narration 7

4.1 The Unreliable Context Presented by Montresor 7

4.2 Montresor’s Distorted Value 8

5. Conclusion 10

References 11