If a character is happy, but we know that tragedy lies ahead, a reader cannot help but sympathize with them. If the reader or audience is already "rooting for" the characters, they will hold on to the hope that things will turn out okay for them. The audience knows that Kat will eventually discover the truth. The deception will wound her, and Patrick will justifiably lose her trust.
This dramatic irony gives the scenes where they fall in love a bittersweet edge, making us sympathize with both characters. A lot of comedy comes out of misunderstandings — where a character believes something that the audience knows not to be true.
The dramatic irony turns into comedic tension as the character obliviously digs themselves or other characters into a deeper hole. Example: In a season one episode of Friends , Joey tried to win back his ex-girlfriend Angela by arranging a double date.
This misunderstanding turns to hilarious confusion as Monica is creeped out by how 'close' Bob and Angela seem to be. Find out which literary luminary is your stylistic soulmate.
Takes one minute! When the truth contradicts an expected outcome, it's situational irony — also known as "the irony of events. For example, when the "unsinkable" HMS Titanic met an untimely end on its maiden voyage. If you buy a new car and then accidentally drive it into a tree, that is coincidental and unlucky, but not ironic. However, if a professional stunt driver crashes into a tree on their way home from receiving a "best driver" award, that is situationally ironic.
A hero will often work towards a singular goal that they hope will solve all their problems. Instead of simply allowing the hero to win with no strings attached, a writer will often reveal a terrible cost to this 'victory,' forcing the character to choose between what they want and what they need. At the end of the novel, we find out that there is a seventh Horcrux, so to speak — and it's Harry himself. This unexpected twist also comes with the ironic realization that Harry must sacrifice himself for Voldemort to die.
So he willingly goes to meet Voldemort — and his own death. But when Voldemort uses the killing curse on Harry, it has the opposite of his desired effect. Harry lives while the Horcrux dies, bringing Voldemort closer to his greatest fear: mortality. In this way, Harry being a Horcrux is actually a double case of situational irony.
You can draw strong reactions from readers by presenting them with carefully executed twists and turns. A plot twist is all the more delicious when it's the polar opposite of what you'd typically expect. Situationally ironic storylines inherently possess an element of surprise, so they're common in the thriller , crime, and mystery genres. Example: In Roald Dahl's short story "A Lamb to the Slaughter ," a betrayed housewife kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb.
When the cops arrive, she cooks the lamb and feeds it to them, effectively making the police dispose of the evidence. Ironic, wouldn't you say? Steering readers to an unexpected destination in a story can emphasize a moral lesson — often reminding readers that an expected outcome is not always guaranteed.
Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor knew well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Round the decay Of that collosal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. Note: In this poem, Shelley portrays an ironic situation. The quote within the poem was not ironic at the time of its inscription; rather, the situation became ironic over time as the "works" that Ozymandias believed were great and intimidating eventually disappeared into ruins. Literary Devices.
Rather, he is preparing the circumstances for a narrative of personal reformation that will gain him respect, power, and destroy his rival, Hotspur. The reason this piece of dramatic irony is so powerful in Henry IV Part 1 is that it forges a pact between the audience and Hal by sharing a secret. The audience now knows something that nobody on the stage knows. This also develops tension for the audience by foreshadowing the action to come in the play.
Now you know what irony is, you need to figure out how to analyse it. What we will do now is break down the process of analysing irony into two step-by-step guides. One guide is for verbal irony and situational irony, and the other guide for structural irony and dramatic iron. Structural irony is a little different so it will require a slightly different approach.
The process for analysing structural irony is:. If you are unsure of what sort of irony you are trying to analyse and are unsure of which step-by-step guide you specifically need. Use this flowchart:. Now you know how to tell your types of irony apart. If you need to jump to a specific form of irony, use the links below:. The following lines come from Act Hathorne: But a poppet will keep fifteen years, will it not? Proctor: It will keep if it is kept, but Mary Warren swears she never saw no poppets in my house, nor anyone else.
Parris: Why could there not have been poppets hid where no one ever saw them? Proctor: [furious] There might also be a dragon with five legs in my house, but no one has ever seen it. Parris: We are here, Your Honor, precisely to discover what no one has ever seen. Proctor: Mr. Danforth, what profit this girl to turn herself about? What may Mary Warren gain but hard questioning and worse?
Danforth: You are charging Abigail Williams with a marvellous cool plot to murder. Do you understand that? Proctor: I do, sir. I believe she means to murder.
We have to figure out if what is being said matches the situation. In this scene, John Proctor is accusing the main witness in a trial, Abigail, of lying.
The members of the court, Danforth and Hathorne, are unwilling to accept this new evidence because it threatens all of the prosecutions that are happening in the town.
Courts rely on evidence and witness testimony. Because of this, we can ascertain that there is either verbal or situational irony in the dialogue. Clearly, there is irony in this passage. Both Proctor and Parris are utilising sarcasm in their remarks.
Proctor is suggesting that the court may as well believe in mythical creatures as believe in tenuous testimony. This use of sarcasm is an ironic response to a flawed legal proceeding. Similarly, Parris — who perceives Proctor as a threat — responds to sarcasm with sarcasm.
However, it is unintentionally verbally ironic. Now we have to figure out what the composer is using the irony for in this scene.
Both Proctor and Parris are making statements that reflect their particular characters and motives, but that also make statements that characterise the court and legal proceeding at the heart of The Crucible. We take legal systems to be implicit and fair. The symbol of justice wearing a blindfold is demonstrative of this.
The remark by Proctor is intentionally critical of the unfair and, in his view, absurd nature of the trial. He uses sarcasm to convey his anger at the court. While Parris uses his remark to undermine Proctor and challenge his rising authority, he inadvertently draws attention to a key aspect of the Salem Witch Trials. The trials are prosecuting invisible crimes that have had no tangible effect on anybody. Both things that are antithetical to the processes of justice.
Now we know the theme that is being emphasised, we need to develop the ideas being represented by the irony. Based on what we know of the text, the characters, and our understanding of the technique of irony we can deduce the following:. This is one of the best examples of dramatic irony. In this case, Duncan says that he trusts Macbeth , not knowing about the prophecy of witches that Macbeth is going to be the king, and that he would kill him.
The audience, on the other hand, knows about the prophecy. This demonstrates dramatic irony. For instance, when Ted thinks that the police have arrested him for picking up a hitchhiker, the audience knows that the police are actually interrogating him about a murder.
Therefore, when Ted delivers these seemingly-innocuous lines, it is comedic to the audience.
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