(Luận văn thạc sĩ) a study on irony in short stories by edgar allan poe

ABSTRACT The research aims at studying irony in Edgar Allan Poe‟s works represented in three short stories - The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell- Tale Heart, and The Black Cat.. This study

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

**********************

LÊ THỊ HƯƠNG

A STUDY ON IRONY IN SHORT STORIES BY

EDGAR ALLAN POE

(Nghiên cứu tính mỉa mai trong các truyện ngắn của Edgar Allan Poe)

M A Minor Program Thesis

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

**********************

LÊ THỊ HƯƠNG

EDGAR ALLAN POE

(Nghiên cứu tính mỉa mai trong các truyện ngắn của Edgar Allan Poe)

M A Minor Program Thesis

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201

Supervisor: Trần Thị Thu Hiền , Ph.D

HA NOI – 2016

DECLARATION

I hereby certify my authority of the research submitted entitled “A Study on Irony

in Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

the degree of Master of Arts

Hanoi, 2016

Lê Thị Hương

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Throughout accomplishing this thesis, namely “A Study on Irony in Short Stories

by Edgar Allan Poe”, several outstanding individuals are integrally involved and

make substantial contributions

First of all, my deepest gratitude goes to all my lecturers at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for their endless enthusiasm and undeniable helpful lectures I would be very grateful to the staff of the Post-graduate Department for their support during the time of studying

I especially would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr Trần Thị Thu Hiền for her invaluable guidance, insightful comments and endless support

of material I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Ngô Tự Lập for his discerning comments, helpful advice and inestimable material support

My thanks are extended to my friends, who gives me wise idea and always ready to help me whenever I have difficulties Last but not least, my warmest thanks are due

to my family, especially my mother for their unconditional love and continual encouragement

To all mentioned, and to many more, my heart extends the most enormous thanks

Hanoi, 2016

Lê Thị Hương

ABSTRACT

The research aims at studying irony in Edgar Allan Poe‟s works represented in three

short stories - The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell- Tale Heart, and The Black Cat

The theory of irony in literature suggested by Muecke (1969) is mainly adopted as the analytical framework in this study This research utilizes quantitative and qualitative methods with priorities given to the qualitative The data is collected by means of reading, identifying, classifying and reporting them into the analysis 31 samples of ironical expressions were found in Poe‟s three short stories, of which there is one sample both verbal and dramatic ironies The results show that verbal, situational and dramatic ironies are mainly used in Poe‟s works In addition, the findings reveal that irony can be created by ten techniques in the art of irony including pretended advice or encouragement to the victim, pretended agreement with the victim, rhetorical question, innuendo and insinuation, ambiguity, false statement, internal contradiction, fallacious reasoning, hyperbole and stylistically signalled irony This study hopes to bring additional knowledge to learners about types of irony as well as a typical technique of creating irony in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories in particular and an awareness of using and interpreting irony in literary works in general

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study 1

1.3 Scope of the study 2

1.4 Significance of the study 2

1.5 Research methodology 2

1.5.1 Research questions 2

1.5.2 Research methods 3

1.5.3 Data collection and analysis 3

1.6 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER I:THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 A brief history of irony studies 5

1.2 Definitions of irony 6

1.3 Classification of irony 7

1.3.1 Verbal irony 7

1.3.2 Situational irony 8

1.3.3 Dramatic irony 9

1.3.4 Romantic irony 10

1.4 Essential elements of irony 11

1.5 Grades of irony 12

1.5.1 Overt irony 12

1.5.2 Covert irony 12

1.5.3 Private irony 12

1.6 Detecting and interpreting irony 13

1.7 Previous studies 14

CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 16

2.1 Edgar Allan Poe and his works 16

2.1.1 Biography of Edgar Allan Poe 16

2.1.2 Edgar Allan Poe's horror story writing style 16

2.1.3 Three short stories by Edgar Allan Poe 17

2.2 Research questions 19

2.3 Research methods 20

2.4 Data collection 20

2.5 Data analysis 21

2.6 Research procedures 22

2.7 Reliability and validity 22

CHAPTER 3: COMMON TYPES OF IRONY IN EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SHORT STORIES 24

3.1 Frequency of use of common types of irony in Poe‟s short stories 24

3.2 Verbal irony 25

3.2.1 Verbal irony in The Cask of Amontillado 25

3.2.2 Verbal irony in The Tell- Tale Heart 27

3.3 Situational irony 27

3.3.1 Situational irony in The Cask of Amontillado 27

3.3.2 Situational irony in The Tell- Tale Heart 30

3.3.3 Situational irony in The Black Cat 31

3.4 Dramatic irony 33

3.4.1 Dramatic irony in The Cask of Amontillado 33

3.4.2 Dramatic irony in The Tell- Tale Heart 34

3.4.3 Dramatic irony in The Black Cat 35

CHAPTER 4: THE CREATION OF IRONY IN EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SHORT STORIES 36

4.1 Frequency of use of techniques for creating irony in Poe‟s short stories 36

4.2 Techniques for creating irony in Poe‟s short stories 37

4.2.1 Pretended advice or encouragement to the victim 37

4.2.2 Pretended agreement with the victim 37

4.2.3 Rhetorical question 38

4.2.4 Innuendo and insinuation 38

4.2.5 Ambiguity 38

4.2.6 False statement 39

4.2.7 Internal contradiction 39

4.2.8 Fallacious reasoning 39

4.2.9 Overstatement 40

4.2.10 Stylistically signalled irony 40

4.3 Poe‟s use of irony 42

4.4.The effects of irony in Poe‟s short stories 42

PART C : CONCLUSION 45

1 Recapitulation 45

2 Concluding remarks 46

3 Implications of the study 47

3.1 Implications for interpretation of irony in literary works 47

3.2 Implications for teachers teaching American and English literature 47

3.3 Implications for students learning American and English literature 48

4 Limitation of the study and suggestions for further research 49

REFERENCES 50 APPENDICES I

List of tables

Table 2.1: Corpus analyzed in the study 21 Table 3.1: Occurrence and Percentage of types of irony in Poe‟s short stories 24 Table 4.1: Occurrence and Percentage of techniques for creating irony in Poe‟s short stories 36

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study

It is obvious that English has become an important part not only in communication but also in many other aspects of life; therefore, mastering this foreign language is of great importance Learning English through literature works

is a good way When learning literature works, we can not ignore to study stylistic devices which make works more intriguing and interesting Similarily, when learning stylistic devices, we can not pay no attention to studying irony However, how to study it well is still a difficult question for many learners

Irony is an interesting language phenomenon used frequently in any spoken or

written genre Simply, irony is a contrast between what is said and what is meant; what is expected to happen and what actully happens; or what readers know and what characters believe Irony is a rhetorical device in literature which is often employed to gain the desired effect of being scoffing, satirical, humorous and amusing Moreover, real life is full of ironical expressions and situations Therefore, the studying of irony in the literature works brings it closer to the life

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the great American writers; he is also known as a master

of horror and irony who has the ability to use every word to his advantage, thus

creating a short story of great substance In most of literary criticism dealing with

Edgar Allan Poe, little attention has been accorded to irony In this sense, this title,

namely “A Study on Irony in Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe” is conducted to

help learners understand irony concepts, identify and interpret types of irony in Poe‟s short stories in particular and in literature works in general more easily

1.2 Aims of the study

The study aims at:

(1) finding out common types of irony in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories;

(2) investigating the creation of irony in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories;

(3) suggesting the implications for teaching and learning irony in literature works

1.3 Scope of the study

Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories include tale of horror, detective story and science fiction As a whole, this paper does not expect to cover irony in all works of Poe Poe‟s tales of horror is paid the most attention because of being often written ironically Due to the limited time, the data of this paper will only be collected

from three out of Poe‟s typical tales of horror: The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-

Tale Heart, and The Black Cat, three relatively short stories written between the

years 1843-1846 The selected stories are among Poe's masterpieces which possesses the quintessential-features of the gothic tale: a haunted house, darkness, terror, madness and death They are translated into Vietnamese most among Poe‟s short stories as of 2011 and served as teaching American and English literature at some Vietnamese universities

1.4 Significance of the study

Irony is an interesting rhetorical device in literature, thus a detailed and systematic study on irony has both theoretical and practical significances Firstly, the study is expected to provide useful knowledge about types of irony as well as the creation of irony in Poe‟s short stories Secondly, the study helps Vietnamese learners of English better understand and interpret irony in literary works Moreover, it can contribute to teaching American and English literature at Vietnamese universities of foreign languages Eventually, the study hopes to add to a new approach to Poe‟s short stories, which creates more diversity in an research area on Poe‟s short stories latterly

1.5 Research methodology

1.5.1 Research questions

In order to cover all above aims, the study is to shed light on the following research

questions:

(1) What common types of irony are found in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories ?

(2) How is irony created in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories?

1.5.2 Research methods

Guided by the above research questions, the present study applies quantitative and qualitative methods based on the data collected from Poe‟s three typical short stories In other words, all the conclusions and considerations are based on the painstakingly quantitative and qualitative analysis of ironic expressions in the three

short stories by Poe In addition, such methods as descriptive and analytic are also

utilized to describe, and analyze the common types of irony so as to bring out the creation of irony in Poe‟s short stories

1.5.3 Data collection and analysis

Ironic expressions will be collected from the three famous short stories - The Cask

of Amontillado, The Tell- Tale Heart, and The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe issued

on the Internet

The data will be both quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed Quantitatively, the data will be analyzed in terms of the frequencies of verbal, situational, and dramatic ironies suggested by Muecke (1969:40-42) and in terms of the occurrences of the techniques for creating irony in Poe‟s short stories Qualitatively, the data will be described, analyzed, and explained the types of irony as well as the techniques for creating irony in Poe‟s short stories

1.6 Design of the study

In order to make this thesis conventional and well organized, the minor thesis includes three main parts as follows:

Part A: Introduction – This part will cover some points including the rationale, the aims,

the scope, the significance, research methodology, and the organization of the study

Part B: Development – This part has been elaborated four chapters as follows:

Chapter I: Theoretical background and Literature review provides the theoretical

background related to the study such as a brief history of irony studies, definitions

of irony, types of irony, essential elements of irony, grades of irony, and detecting and interpreting irony Then, a review of related studies will also be discussed

Chapter II: Research methodology details the methods and the procedures of the

research This chapter will also reckon with the description of samples and how

the data are collected, described and analyzed

Chapter III: Common types of irony in Edgar Allan Poe‘s short stories presents a

thoroughly quantitative analysis of the frequencies of verbal, situational, and dramatic ironies and qualitative analysis of the types of irony in Poe‟s short stories

Chapter IV: The creation of irony in Edgar Allan Poe‘s short stories specifies how

irony is created and the frequency of the techniques for creating irony in Poe‟s three famous short stories In addition, the effects of irony in the short stories will be

made clear

Part C: Conclusion – The final part reviews the main points and gives

concluding remarks Also, some implications, limitations as well as further studies are pointed out References and Appendices are also included

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND

LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 A brief history of irony studies

Irony is an important language device which has drawn much attention from many linguists and scholars.The scholarly investigation into irony has a very old history and a very broad base The historical and contemporary studies of irony can also be found in fields as diverse as literature studies (Muecke, 1970; Booth, 1974; Ellestrom, 2002), linguistics (Wilson & Sperber, 1981, 1986, 1998; Clark & Gerrig, 1984; Clark, 1996; Barbe, 1995), pragmatics (Grice, 1975, 1989; Searle, 1979; Haverkate, 1990; Glucksberg, 1995; Attardo, 2000), and more

Muecke (1970:14) reasonably states that giving a precise antiquity of the term

irony is not an easy task since the word had been used long before it was named

However, it is possible to trace its root back to its first known integration into the

human language as the Greek word eironeia Initially, the word irony has its root in Greek comedy and derives from Eiron, meaning “dissembler”, who

characteristically spoke in understatement and pretended to be less intelligent than

he was, yet triumphed over the alazon - the self-deceiving and stupid braggart (Abrams, 1999: 134-135) Not until the early eighteen century did the word irony

come into general use Since its appearance, this term has developed gradually and expanded its meanings

Traditional theories, according to Jorgensen et al (1984:112), assume ―that an

ironist uses a figurative meaning opposite to the literal meaning of the utterance‖

In semantic theory, irony is often described as a rhetorical device together with metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole and litotes and is a form of non-literal language (Saeed, 2009) cited by Jönsson (2010: 4) The rhetoricians considered irony one of

the master devices namely trope which a figure of speech that means the opposite

of what is literally said A person saying “What lovely weather” on a rainy day is using the figurative meaning, “What terrible weather.”

Grice‟s approach (1975: 53) identifies irony as a conversational implicature that violates the cooperative principle and the maxim of quality The classic pragmatic theory of Grice and Searle maintains that listeners first analyze the literal meanings

of speakers' utterances, see these meanings as contextually inappropriate, and then derive the correct nonliteral interpretation given the cooperative principle or the rules of speech acts A speaker's tone of voice supposedly provides an important cue

to listeners in inferring ironic meaning

Modern theories, Attardo et al (2009:407) see irony as a type of echoic mention, in which speakers echo, or repeat, a previously stated utterance or belief, which in context is recognized as conveying ironic meaning Readers, in fact, find it easier to process and judge the ironic meanings of utterances when they echo or paraphrase some earlier statement

Another proposal by Clark and Gerrig (1984:121-126) suggests that pretense is the key to irony The central idea of this approach that speaker expressing an ironic utterance pretends to be borrowing an attitude which is not their own The ironic speaker is pretending to be someone else and ridicules the opinion and the person it

is attributed to

1.2 Definitions of irony

Muecke (1969:5-6) in his book The Compass of Irony, one of standard works in

literary study of irony, states that ―the art of irony is the art of saying something

without really saying it It is an art that gets its effect from below the surface, and gives it a quality that resembles the depth and resonance of great art triumphantly saying much more than it seems to be saying‖ Irony is considered as "ways of speaking, writing, acting, behaving, painting, etc., in which the real or intended meaning presented or evoked is intentionally quite other than, and incompatible with, the ostensible or pretended meaning‖ (Muecke, 1969:53) It is a technique of

using words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning

or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea

Thompson (1948:10) describes irony as ―a discrepancy or incongruity between

expression and meaning, appearance and reality, or expectation and event Irony is

an opposition between the surface meaning of something that is said and the underlying meaning, between expectations for a situation and what actually occurs, what readers knows more about circumstances or future events in the story and what the characters know or believe within it In order to meet the aims of the study, this investigation uses the traditional definition of irony suggested by Muecke (1969) and Thompson (1948)

1.3 Classification of irony

Muecke (1969:40-42) assures that there are four basic types of irony, namely verbal, situational, romantic, and dramatic ironies Due to Muecke not detailing these types of irony, their definitions introduced by Abrams (1999) and Ellestrom (2002) are applied

1.3.1 Verbal irony

Verbal irony is defined as a sharp opposition between what is said or written and what is meant The intended meaning of a statement differs from the meaning that the

words appear to express Abrams (1999: 135) defines verbal irony as ―a statement in

which the meaning that a speaker implies differs sharply from the meaning that is ostensibly expressed‖ The term was coined by Thirlwall (1833), who describes it

as ―a figure which enables the speaker to convey his meaning with greater force by

means of a contrast between his thought and his expression, or, to speak more accurately, between the thought which he evidently designs to express, and that which his words properly signify‖cited by Ellestrom (2002:50)

Verbal irony is quite common in literature works It can be found in all genres, including novels, short stories, plays, and poems An illustrative example of a verbal irony in Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare is what happened to Juliet‟s marriage Juliet is upset at being told that her father has promised her hand in

marriage to Paris rather than Romeo, who she loves She fully makes up her mind to

be married to Romeo, so she ironically states to her mother ―I will not marry yet;

and, when I do, I swear it will be Romeo, whom you know I hate, rather than Paris.‖

Verbal irony is mainly the intentional product of speakers Speakers say what is intentionally contradictory to their actions and emotions (Ellestrom, 2002:50) Two conditions must be met for a successful communication of verbal irony: the speaker must intentionally produce the ironic statement to the listener; the speaker and the listener must share common factual background information with each other Only

if the hearer knows the circumstances (for example, the speaker and the hearer are standing in the rain together and they shares mutal understanding of the need for

good weather), it is possible for a comment: ―What lovely weather!‖ to be

recognized as ironic If the speaker has no opposite intention and the listener knows nothing about the background information, the verbal irony may fail In fiction,

―verbal irony depends on knowledge of fictional speaker‘s ironic intention, which is shared both the speaker and the reader‖ (Abrams & Harpham, 2009: 166)

Kreuz & Roberts (1993: 99) consider sarcasm as a subtype of verbal irony, where

―the attitude expressed is typically negative and directed toward an individual or a group‖ Sarcasm is an overtly aggressive type of irony, with clearer markers and a

clear target In most cases, sarcasm is used to insult or to hurt the other participant

of a given communicative event, while irony is used to convey, usually, the

opposite meaning of the actual things you say, but its purpose is not intended to hurt

the other person For example, if a speaker says, ―You are really brilliant!‖ to

someone who has done a thoughtless act, the utterances is sarcastic In contrast, if a

speaker claims, ―They tell me you‘re a slow runner.‖ to someone who has just won

a marathon race, the utterance is ironic

1.3.2 Situational irony

Situational irony, sometimes called irony of events, is most broadly defined as ―a

situation where the outcome is incongruous with what was expected, but it is also more generally understood as a situation that includes contradictions or sharp

contrasts‖ (Ellestrom, 2002:51) A situation is considered situational irony when

what happens is opposite to what was naturally expected to occur in that particular context or environment Verbal irony typically involves a conflict between an expression and a situation, whereas situational irony involves the irony in the situation itself (Colston, 1997:44) Thus, unlike verbal irony, situational irony is unintentional Situational irony pertains to a sharp discrepancy between expected results and actual results in a certain situation

Situational irony occurs in literature and drama when persons or events come together in improbable situations, creating a tension between expected and real results If the character is unaware that what he is saying differs from reality, it is

situational not verbal irony This type of irony also contains a twist in plot (surprise ending) at the end of a story The character thinks everything is solved; however, at

that point, it begins to go wrong Because this type of irony emerges from the events and circumstances of a story, it is often more subtle and effective than verbal or

dramatic ironies

The most extreme example of situational irony in ―The Ransom of Red Chief‖ by

O‟Henry is the reversal of the kidnapping The child who is kidnapped is more dangerous than his kidnappers In place of the kidnappers demanding for money to return the kid, his parents demand for them money to take him back They also ask the kidnappers to bring him home at night because the neighbors are happy when he

is gone The entire situation is reversed and the criminals end up running away

1.3.3 Dramatic irony

Dramatic irony is considered as the reader‟s understanding of events or individuals

in a work surpasses that of its characters, the reader know more about the situation, truth or ending than the character Abrams (1999:136-137) describes dramatic irony

as a situation in a play or a narrative in which the audience or reader shares with the author knowledge of present or future circumstances of which a character is ignorant; in that situation, the character unknowingly acts in a way contrary to that which is appropriate or wise, or expects the opposite of what we know that fate

holds in store, or says something that anticipates the actual outcome, but not at all

in the way that the character intends

Dramatic irony is often used in a dramatic works to create a tension or conflict between the information presented by the audience and the expectations of the protagonist, who lacks such information (Kalbermatten, 2006: 5) A classical

example can be seen in the love story Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Juliet is forced to take a sleeping potion in order to escape marring Paris Dramatic irony happens later in the last scene when Romeo finds Juliet and believes her to be dead Romeo kills himself with this false knowledge After waking up and finding Romeo truly dead, Juliet kills herself as well In this situation, the audience has foreseen the tragic ending before long Romeo and Juliet recognizes his own errors

Dramatic irony and situational irony can be subsumed under the structural irony,

which means ―the author introduces a structural feature that serves to sustain a

duplex meaning and evaluation throughout the work‖ (Abrams & Harpham, 2009:

166) Structural irony depends on the structure of a work rather than its use of words It is a type of irony developed through the author‟s narrative structure and exists merely between an unrealiable character and his readers Structural irony depends on readers to speculate the real ironic intention of the author or the narrator Dramatic irony is frequently contrasted with verbal irony The former is embedded

in a work‟s structure, whereas the latter typically operates at the level of words and sentences that are understood by audiences or readers to carry meanings different from the words themselves when interpreted literally Dramatic irony is also sometimes equated with situational irony

1.3.4 Romantic irony

Romantic irony is a term introduced by Friedrich Schlegel and other German writers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to designate a mode of dramatic or narrative writing in which the author builds up the illusion of representing reality, only to shatter it by revealing that the author, as artist, is the

creator and arbitrary manipulator of the characters and their actions This type of

irony, involving a self-conscious narrator, has become a recurrent mode in the modern form of involuted fiction Abrams (1999:136-137)

There are four basic types of irony, namely verbal, situational, romantic and dramatic ironies suggested by Muecke (1969:40-42) However, three types of irony: verbal, situational and dramatic are considered in this paper as they are

applicable to irony situations in literary works in general

1.4 Essential elements of irony

Muecke (1969:53) elaborates on the pragmatic aspect of irony by referring to three key

elements The first place irony is a two-storey phenomenon, where a lower level

encompasses the situation as it appears to the so-called „victim‟ of irony deceptively presented by the ironist and an „upper level‟ presents the situation as it appears to the observer or the ironist Similarly, Sperber and Wilson (1981), Clark and Gerrig (1984), Barbe (1995), Baena (2005) quoted by Kalbermatten (2006:108) point out that in every ironic utterance there is a speaker who has the intention of being ironic and a target or

victim of the speaker‟s irony In the second place there is always some opposition

between the two levels, an opposition that may take the form of contradiction, incongruity, or incompatibility What is said may be contradicted by what is meant; what

the victim thinks may be contradicted by what the ironist knows In the third place there

is in irony an element of innocence, either the victim is confidently unaware of the very possibllity of there being an upper level or point of view that invalidates his own, or an ironist pretends not to be aware of it

For instance, only if the hearer knows the situation that a woman has done

something harmful to the speaker and the speaker state a positive, ―She‘s really a

good friend!‖ In this case, the listener understand that the woman being mentioned

is the victim of the speaker‟s irony and the speaker has an intention to show to the

listener the opposite meaning ―She‘s really not a good friend.‖ Obviously, the

speaker‟s reaction to the woman is one of disappointment but he/she expresses it - ironically - as pleasure

1.5 Grades of irony

Muecke (1969:52-61) resolves the problem of classification by grading irony into three

classes according to the degree of subtlety: overt irony, covert irony or private irony

1.5.1 Overt irony

With overt irony both speaker and hearer (or writer and reader) participate actively but at different points The speaker produces the irony intentionally and the hearer understands almost immediately the true intent of the irony This kind of irony is often associated with sarcasm and may involve the ironist using gestures such as curled lip or raised eyebrow to reinforce the point Overt irony is often overused, and the irony quickly lost

greater sensitivity to the text This is because ―the covert ironist will aim at

avoiding any tone or manner or any stylistic indication that would reveal his irony‖

(Muecke, 1969:56) Of course, the covert ironist may go undetected and the intended effect will be lost on its victim Thus, the author using covert irony must provide sufficient cues so that the reader can interpret irony correctly

1.5.3 Private irony

Private irony is a quite subtle form of irony, as the title suggests it is not meant to be shared with the victim or others for that matter The irony is in the eyes of the beholder who gets satisfaction from being undetected in his or her techniques

Muecke (1969:59) affirms that private irony ―is not intended to be perceived either

by the victim or anyone else‖ The ironist so well hides his or her true intent that it

is inscrutable They use irony only for their own amusement An outsider can

recognize private irony only in a written work where one character is marked somehow as a private ironist The other characters are unware of the protagonist‟s use of irony Indeed, only some of the readers may catch on to it Private irony can not be recognized in spoken discourse since by the definition it excludes recognition by other

1.6 Detecting and interpreting irony

Booth (1974, 1978) qouted by Yoder (2008:35-40) provides clues for the detection

and reconstruction of irony He describes five specific kinds of clues that an author can provide in order to help the reader to correctly identify the ironic utterances

Clue 1 The author may give explicit signs in title, epigraphs,etc to indicate the use

of irony These kind of clues are straightforward and helpful when supplied

Clue 2 The author asserts known errors The indicators of irony occur when a

known error is proclaimed such as conventional wisdom is flaunted or historical facts misreported or an absurd premise asserted The mere presence of these errors

is not sufficient to detect irony, but they are strong indicators

Clue 3 The author contradicts himself or herself within his/her writings A conflict

suggests that the author may be speaking ironically through one of the characters in the dialogues

Clue 4 The author‟s own style or words is inconsistent or incongruous relative to the

meaning or the author‟s usual practice A sudden change in style is one way that a written work can apply to mimic the tonal clues that an ironic speaker has at her disposal

Clue 5 There is a conflict between the text as it is given and the author‟s known or

expected beliefs In this circumstance, the reader is so familar with the author‟s way of thinking that the reader is able to discern the true beliefs of the author even if the true belief is never directly stated In cases where the irony is particularly subtle and covert, it

is perhaps necessary for more than one clue to be present in order to confidently interpret the author‟s intent At the very least, the more telling clues are needed

In discussing his four modes of irony (impersonal, self-disparaging, ingenuous and

dramatized), Muecke (1969: 64-92) cited by Lemieux (1991:9) enumerates twenty

basic techniques which can be used under mode of impersonal irony All four of his modes are dependent on the ironist‟s method of presenting the irony Muecke's twenty techniques play a crucial role in identifying irony encountered in literature works For the purposes of this study, the researcher is interested in applying his techniques as the main ways in creating irony in Adgar Allan Poe‟s three short

stories These twenty techniques include: ―praising in order to blame, blaming in

order to praise, pretended agreement with the victim, pretended advice or encouragement to the victim, rhetorical question, pretended doubt, innuendo and insinuation, irony by analogy, ambiguity, pretended omission of censure, pretended attack upon the victim's opponent, pretended defence of the victim, misrepresentation or false statement, internal contradiction, fallacious reasoning, understaternent, overstatement, irony displaced, and stylistically signalled irony

Related to the final category of stylistically signaled irony, Ramos (2000) cited by

Shively et al (2008:104) affirms that linguistic cues such as syntactic structures and vocabulary choices are used for ironic purposes

1.7 Previous studies

Due to the limited time, the writer has only focused on some researches

implemented in Vietnam in the recent years

Regarding the study on irony in short stories, the first research is a Graduation paper

by Hoàng Anh Tuấn (2010) entitled ―A Study on Irony in some O‘Henry‘s Short

Stories‖ The researcher introduces basic knowledge on some types of irony in

English, gives expression of irony in some O‟Henry‟s short stories and attempts to

find out the similarities and differences in irony in O‟Henry‟s short stories and

Nguyễn Công Hoan‟s Thanks to this comparison, learners can have better understanding about irony in short stories in two languages However, the concept

of irony quoted is not clear and the analysis is not deep

Another research concerning Edgar Allan Poe, the writer has specially noted on the

two most recent Ph.D dissertations in Vietnamese: “Sự Tiếp Nhận Edgar Allan Poe

ở Việt Nam” by Hoàng Kim Oanh (2011) and “Nghệ Thuật Xây Dựng Cốt Truyện

của Edgar Allan Poe‖ by Ngô Bích Thu (2014) The dissertation by Hoàng Kim

Oanh, which is very meticulous and hightly scientific, focuses on studying systematically Poe‟s reception history in terms of research, criticism, composition, translation and teaching in Vietnam from the early twentieth century to 2011 Specially, tables and charts, statistic figures of translating and researching Poe‟s works which are useful reference to studying Poe‟s works in the years to come are synthesized and classified specifically This work not only brings about the useful knowledge on Edgar Allan Poe but gives readers the interest in investigating Edgar Allan Poe‟s different aspects

The Ph.D dissertation by Ngô Bích Thu (2014) offers an overview of the researching works in Vietnamese and in English in order to clarify the significance of this new approach More importantly, the author succeeds in examining Poe‟s art of building plot in the matter of tales of horror, detective story and science fiction Thereby, the thesis sets out solving the issues related to genres such as tales of horror, detective story and science fiction Simutaniously, the

research clarifies the influence of Edgar Allan Poe on the generation of writers and

artists all over the world including Vietnam and affirms Poe‟s great dedication to the process of modernizing the United States and world literature

Despite existing the study on irony in literature and the literary studies dealing with Edgar Allan Poe in Vietnam, none of them has treated irony as an artistic device in Poe‟s works That is why the present study is carried out to fill the gap of the previous studies, add and diversify the study of Poe‟s short story

This chapter serves as the theoretical foundation for the study and provides a brief overview of different irony concepts with the focus on the theory of irony introduced by Muecke (1969) Moreover, some outstanding studies that are related

to the present paper are discussed at the end of the chapter so that readers and the writer can reach an agreement on what has achieved in this research field

CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1 Edgar Allan Poe and his works

2.1.1 Biography of Edgar Allan Poe

Born in Boston, Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was orphaned as a young child and taken in by the Allan family of Richmond Virginia Poe and the Allans eventually had a falling out because of Poe‟s irresponsible behavior This situation was characteristic of Poe‟s short and tragic life Despite his personal difficulties and unstable temperament, Poe is a literary genius of nineteenth-century American literature He is an American author, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement; poet as pioneers of Symbolism Best known for the short-story form, he is the father of tales of horror and the inventor of the detective fiction genre He is further credited with setting the foundation for genre of science fiction and psychoanalytic story latter Poe and his works have influenced literature

in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography Edgar Allan Poe is also the first American writer who entered Vietnamese Literary since the early twentieth century Two hundred years have passed, Edgar Poe is not only a possession of American Literature but also “a precious thing” of mankind including Vietnamese

2.1.2 Edgar Allan Poe's horror story writing style

In addition to his place among Gothic authors, Edgar Allan Poe is known as the grandfather of horror in American Literature He has unique style in expressing his works Poe's criterion for the length of a short story is that all stories should limit to

a single sitting Death which brings readers to a mystery and horror plays a major part in many of his writings He blends the hatred, anger, despair, insanity and suffer from loss, as in his srories Besides these criteria, Edgar Allan Poe uses many different elements of style in his writing techniques

Most commonly, it would be included point-of-view Edgar Allan Poe used the narrator as the teller of the story to make the story seems real as if we lived those

moments of fear with the narrator As in many of his other short stories, Poe does not name the narrator A possible explanation for this is that the unnamed narrator represents anyone who has ever acted perversely or impulsively and then had to pay

for his deed

A noticeable aspect of Poe‟s writing style is his use of symbol Psychological horror and symbolic horror are prominent features in his short stories Symbolism is a literary device in which an object (or person, word, color ) represents something beyond itself; symbols can represent abstract or invisible ideas and usually are associated with theme (Lüders, 2010:2) Symbolism is used to creat effect when the author reiterates the symbols

Poe also has a tendency to create sentences that build on themselves with a generous use of immoderate dashes and italicized words, and repetion words Poe is also known for creating the surprise ending Poe advises a writer should have the dénouement always in mind (the climactic ending often occurs in the last paragraph) Undeniably, there is something constantly ironic in Poe‟s stories All aspects considered, Poe was, and is, undoubtedly one of the most ingenious Gothic and horror story authors to date

2.1.3 Three short stories by Edgar Allan Poe

2.1.3.1 The Cask of Amontillado (1846)

―The Cask of Amontillado‖ is a famous horror story by Poe first published in 1846

The story is set in a nameless Italian city during the carnival season of madness and joy within the 18th century It is a story about a deadly revenge of the narrator Montresor to his friend Fortunato who had insulted him Poe uses irony to develop the main theme of revenge and subsequent murder With 7 pages and 2379 words, readers can experience with Montresor‟s perfect murder plan by luring Fortunato, wine connoisseur, to taste a rare wine Amontillado and then buring him alive

2.1.3.2 The Tell- Tale Heart (1843)

―The Tell-Tale Heart‘‘ was first published in 1843 in the Boston Pioneer and

revised into its current form for an 1845 edition of The Broadway Journal It is one

of the most famous and macabre short stories in all Poe‟s literature works, and it helps to define its author as one of the founder of the horror genres The story is about a mentally unstable man in detail describing how he plans and carries out the

murder of an old man with an ―evil eye‖ whom he shares a house with and then

confessing to his murder Only with 4 pages and 2229 words, the story explores the psychological aspects of its narrator and the fine lines between sanity and insanity, and innocence and guilt

2.1.3.3 The Black Cat (1843)

―The Black Cat‖ is popular with readers first published on August 19, 1843 in The Saturday Evening Post The sotry is Poe's second psychological study of domestic

violence and guilt (the first being "The Tell-Tale Heart"); however, it does not deal

with premeditated murder The center of the story is about the psyche of the narrator, who tortures black cat, kills his wife by axe when she tries to defend the animal from his violence, and insert the corpse to wall in the cellar With 7-page length, it is highly suggested for the readers

2.1.3.4 The similarities and differences among the three short stories

 The similarities

―The Cask of Amontillado‖ , ―The Tell-Tale Heart‖ and “The Black Cat‖ are Poe‟s best known works, written in the first-person point of view by an unreliable narrator, both of which involve narrators who are obviously mentally disturbed The

murders are lack of apparent reason Montresor in ―The Cask of Amontillado‖ kills

Fortunato just because of Fortunato insulting him The narrator in ―The Tell-Tale Heart‖ murders the old man because he is bothered by his eyes Similarly, the narrator in “The Black Cat‖ murders his wife when she tries to defend the black cat

Heavy drinking can bring out the worst in a human being Fortunato is proud of his ability as a judge of wines and it is his pride that leads him to his doom The

narrator in ―The Black Cat‖ is an alcoholic, which leads to his temper and

problems The three stories contains the same theme: people can not escape a guilty

own conscience The narrators commit and successfully conceal murder, but eventually their conscience denounces them

 The differences

The purpose in telling their tales also differs In ―The Black Cat‖ the narrator says

it is just his way of unburdening his soul before he dies; for ―The Tell-Tale Heart‖

the narrator tells his story in a desperate attempt to prove that he is not insane

The narrator in ―The Tell-Tale Heart‖ planned his murder for a long time, stealthily waiting for the right moment, whereas the narrator in ―The Black Cat‖ killed his

moment with no forethought, but in a moment of blind rage

The narrators were found out in different ways too; in ―The Tell-Tale Heart‖ the

narrator confessed openly when he was afraid of being found out However, in

―The Black Cat‖, the police found out not through a confession, but through

discovering the body themselves Different from these two tales, in spites of Montresor's escaping of justice, he can not escape own conscience prison Through Montresor still telling the tale with precision and mental clarity, readers can infer that details of 50 years on the night of Fortunato‟s murder ate away at him Buried alive is a worst fear at all, and Montresor now has a jingling of bells following him forever His own conscience prison is even bitter than any other prison All in all, their deeds comply with the rules of cause and effect

2.2 Research questions

This study has a double purpose: to find out common types of irony and to explore the creation of irony in the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe Thereby, the research helps students understand irony concepts, identify types of irony and interpret irony

in Poe‟s short stories in particular and in the literature works in general more easily

Specifically, this study seeks to answers to the following research questions:

(1) What common types of irony are found in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories ?

(2) How is irony created in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories?

2.3 Research methods

Aliaga and Gunderson (2002) describe quantitative research as “explaining

phenomena by collecting numerical data that are analyzed using mathematically

based methods (in particular statistics)” Qualitative research is a process of inquiry

has the goal of understanding a social or human problem from multiple perspectives Berg (2001) discriminates between qualitative research and quantitative research arguing that qualitative research is mostly associated with words, language and experiences while quantitative research referred to the measurements, statistics and numerical figures

Roman et al (2013:3) argues that although the main strength of quantitative research is neutral and can be generalized, it is difficult to gauge the theoretical constructs in social science and undermine several variables in establishing causality On the other hand, Seipel and Rieker (2003) state that the main strength

of qualitative research is it can create knowledge about new issues and phenomena that have not yet been researched thoroughly or at all

In order to achieve the aims of this study, quantitative and qualitative methods

are both adopted for data analysis in this paper with priorities given to the

qualitative In other words, all the conclusions and considerations are based on the

analysis of data In addition, such methods as descriptive and analytic are also

utilized to describe and analyze the types of irony and bring out the creation of irony in Poe‟s short stories

2.4 Data collection

 Source of the data

The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell- Tale Heart, and The Black Cat are choosed,

Poe‟s three out of typical tales of horror between the years 1843-1846, which are considered masterpieces of irony Since it is very hard to find Poe‟s original short stories, the researcher relies mainly on the materials from reliable websites

http://www.poestories.com/ on the Internet The selected stories are among Poe's

masterpieces which possesses the quintessential-features of the gothic tale: a haunted house, darkness, terror, madness and death Additionally, these stories are popular with readers in the world including Vietnam They are translated into

Vietnamese most among Poe‟s short stories as of 2011 (see Appendix 1) and also

served as teaching American Literature at University of Social Sciences and Humanities and The University of DaNang (Hoàng Kim Oanh, 2011: 182-186)

 The procedures of collecting the data

The writer read Poe‟s three short stories to get general understanding in the stories Besides, Poe‟s stories are difficult to study because of his using difficult vocabulary

in the stories Thus, in order to understand the sense of words and its context in these stories, the researcher tries to read English various references such as good essays and writings related to the sudy in official website

The data in this research are mainly qualitative data in textual forms taken form of statements, words, phrases and sentences in Poe‟s three short stories.The line order

of quotes in each story taken from http://www.poestories.com/ is listed from the top

to the bottom The details of the quotes of types of irony as well as the creation of

irony in Poe‟s three short stories are listed in Appendix 2 and Appendix 3

31 samples of ironical expressions were found in Poe‟s three short stories.These samples have been collected and classified according to the following table:

31

Table 2.1: Corpus analyzed in the study 2.5 Data analysis

The model as well as the instrument of analyzing data collected in Poe‟s three short

stories was adopted from Muecke as introduced in his invaluable book of “The

Compass of Irony” (1969) In this model, irony is classified into four different

types, namely verbal, situational, dramatic, and romantic ironies However, the

collected data shows that there are three main types of irony in Poe‟s short stoies,

namely verbal, situational, and dramatic ironies 31 samples of ironical

expressions were collected in Poe‟s three short stories, of which there is one

sample with a combination of verbal and dramatic ironies Accordingly, there is a total of 32 occurrences of types of irony in Poe‟s three short stories

Irony can be generated by twenty different techniques introduced by Muecke (1969: 64-92) However, the collected data can only be classified into main ten techniques in the art of irony There are three out of 31 samples of ironical expressions with a combination of two techniques Totally, there are 34 occurrences of techniques for creating of irony Besides, five substypes of symbol introduced by Ngô Bích Thu

(2014:59-70), one out of three stylistically signaled ironies are adopted

In order to achieve the aims of this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are adopted for data analysis with the dominance given to qualitative method Firstly, the data is quantitatively analyzed in terms of the frequency of the occurrences of verbal, situational, and dramatic ironies suggested by Muecke (1969:40-42) and the frequency of the occurrences of techniques for creating

irony Muecke (1969: 64-92) in Poe‟s short stories Secondly, the data is

qualitatively described and analyzed in terms of three types of irony: verbal,

situational, and dramatic ironies as well as the techniques for the creation of irony in

Poe‟s short stories

2.6 Research procedures

* Step 1: Determine the research topic The fact that no previous researches have been

done about irony in Poe‟s short stories inspires the author to make this study

* Step 2: Based on the main aims of the study and the thorough literature review, the

study come to determine the research questions

* Step 3: Present the theoretical background and literature review for the study

* Step 4: Collect ironical expressions in the three selected short stories

* Step 5: Analyze the data by using quantitative and descriptive qualitative methods

* Step 6: Present some conclusions, some implications for teachers and learners,

limitations and suggestions for further studies

2.7 Reliability and validity

In terms of reliability, all the data of this study are mainly collected from dependable materials in Enlish Moreover, any information quoted in this study

is the same as the original materials with clear references of its author(s), the

publisher(s), the time and place of publication as well as the page numbers where the information is taken Therefore, both the data and the background for the study are reliable In terms of validity, all of the data analyzed in this study are truly representative The data is also analysed with a very high degree of accuracy This chapter covers an overview of methodology used in the study The discussion

in the chapter is structured around research questions, research methods, data collection, data analysis, and research procedure The chapter finally looks at the validity, reliability

CHAPTER 3: COMMON TYPES OF IRONY IN EDGAR ALLAN

POE’S SHORT STORIES

This chapter attempts to investigate common types of irony in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories based on Muecke‟s framework (1969:40-42) The ironical expressions are collected in three famous tales of horror written by Edgar Allan Poe There are four main types of irony, namely verbal, situational, romantic and dramatic ironies suggested by Muecke (1969) However, the collected data in this research shows that Poe mainly adopts three types of irony: verbal, situational and dramatic ironies as follows:

3.1 Frequency of use of common types of irony in Poe’s short stories

Table 3.1 below presents the specific number of verbal, situational and dramatic

ironies evidenced in 31 ironic expressions in Poe‟s three short stories, of which

there is one expression both a combination of verbal irony and dramatic irony

Total

(%)

The Cask of Amontillado

The Tell- Tale

Occurrence Rate (%) Occurrence (%) Occurrence (%)

Table 3.1: Occurrence and Percentage of types of irony in Poe’s short stories

50

As shown in Table 3.1, out of thirty two presented occurrences, fifteen occurrences describes purely ironic situation; remaining ten and seven occurrences appear to be dramatic and verbal ironies respectively In other words, situational irony is found

in Poe‟s three short stories with the highest occurrence, making up 47% of all three types Dramatic irony is followed by situational irony with a percentage of about 31% and verbal irony appears to be the lowest frequent type with an approximate percentage of 22%

Noticeably, types of irony are found in The Cask of Amontillado with the highest

occurrence, making up 50% of all three stories The occurrence of types of irony

in The Tell- Tale Heart and The Black Cat is equal, with 25% for each story

3.2 Verbal irony

3.2.1 Verbal irony in The Cask of Amontillado

(1) The first occurrence of irony in this story is when Montresor runs into Fortunato,

he says, ―My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met.‖ (23, p.1) There is nothing lucky

about their encounter Montresor claims Fortunato is so lucky to meet him, but his statement is completely opposite to what he means He actually means that he himself is happy to see Fortunato because he can now carry out his revenge Readers seeing verbal irony is based on the situation of the story

(2) ―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‘s a mere nothing; it will not kill me I shall not die

of a cough.‖

―True true,‖ I replied; ‖ (72-78, p.3)

Montresor makes ironical statements about Fortunato He pretends to be concerned about Fortunato's health and even tries to persuade Fortunato to turn back because

the dampness of the catacombs might worsen his cough The quote ―True—true,‖

is one of the intensifying implicit means to achieve ironical effect in the utterance The fact is that Fortunato will not die from a cough; he will die from being bricked

up inside these catacombs and die in the darkness of the damp catacombs

(3) ―I drink,‖ he said, ―to the buried that repose around us.‖

―And I to your long life.‖ (86-87, p 3)

In return to Fortunato's toast to those buried in the catacombs, Montresor drinks to Fortunato's long life which he actually means to toast to his inevitable death Meanwhile, Fortunato does not know that he will become one of them in few moments Poe‟s use irony adds to the horror of the situation

(4) ―You do not comprehend?‖ he said

―Not I,‖ I replied

―Then you are not of the brotherhood.‖

―How?‖

―You are not of the masons.‖ (113, p 4)

―Yes, yes," I said; ―yes, yes.‖

―You? Impossible! A mason?"

―A mason,‖ I replied (116 , p 5)

―A sign,‖ he said, ―a sign.‖

―It is this,‖ I answered, producing from beneath the folds of my roquelaire a trowel

(109 - 118, p 4-5)

One of the strongest occurrences of verbal and dramatic ironies consists of the scene

in which Fortunato asks Montresor if he is the masons, short for “Freemasons, a member of a social organization with secret rituals and signs (cited in Ngô Tự Lập, 2002:132) However, Montresor uses it to mean a person skilled in cutting stones and building walls, which Montresor does towards the end of the story for burying Fortunato alive He shows Fortunato the trowel as a sign These dialogues feature dramatic irony because we can see the real intention behind Montresor‟s word

―mason‖ and the trowel; that is, Montresor will do the work of a ―mason‖ using the

trowel to entomb him behind a brick wall It is also verbal irony because Montresor plays with the word “mason” He is a mason by the fact that he will be walling him inside the crypt, but not a mason in the sense to which Fortunato is referring

(5) Verbal irony in the story is exemplified by the statement of Montresor: In pace

requiescat! (195, p 7), which is a Latin phrase meaning Rest in peace (College

Board, 2011: 103) Through Montresor telling the tale with mental precision and clarity fifty years later, readers can infer that his crime has been on his mind all this time Buried alive is a worst fear at all and Montresor now has a jingling of bells following

him forever His conscience seems not to have been able to do live in peace

3.2.2 Verbal irony in The Tell- Tale Heart

(6) I loved the old man (7-8, p.1) ―I was never kinder to the old man than during

the whole week before I killed him.‖ (15-16, p.1)

At this scene, the narrator tells readers that he loves the old man but hates his eye and believes the eye is evil He is obssessed by the old man‟s evil eye day and night Thus, he wants to kill the old man to get rid of his fear The narrator is praising himself to readers for his love and kindness to the old man when he is simultaneously plotting his victim's death Obviously, what he says contrast with what he acts, which creates an ironical statement

(7) You fancy me mad Madmen know nothing But you should have seen me You

should have seen how wisely I proceeded-with what caution-with what with what dissimulation I went to work! Ha!-would a madman have been so wise

foresight-as this? (13-23, p 1) If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body (91-92, p 3)

The narrator keeps insisting that he is sane Ironically, his overemphasis of his sanity along with his careful preparation of killing the old man later only convinces readers he is actually mad The protagonist thinks that it is normally to kill

someone, because something makes you feel uncomfortable and irritates you

Verbal irony is used to heighten the character‟s madness in the story It is kind of an ironic statement that he justifies his clarity of mind by his insane act himself

3.3 Situational irony

3.3.1 Situational irony in The Cask of Amontillado

Situational irony occurs when an event contradicts the expectations of the characters

or readers Fortunato himself in the story contains irony when considering Montresor's plans for him