preview

3 Examples Of Dramatic Irony

Decent Essays

There are three different forms of irony used in the textbook: Dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal irony. Dramatic Irony is used a lot in plays. It is when the reader knows something that the character doesn’t. Situational irony is when something happens that isn’t the expected outcome, typically with sharp contrasts and contradictions. Verbal irony is synonymous with sarcasm. It means when a person or character says one thing but means another.

Dramatic irony is a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character. One great example of dramatic irony can be found in Frank R. Stockton’s The Lady, or the Tiger. In this short story dramatic irony unfolds as the hero steps out into the arena, and the narrator reveals that the princess knows the secret of the doors, and not only that, but she cannot decide whether she should let the tiger eat him or allow him to be married to her much hated rival. Dramatic irony also occurs in The Gift of the Magi if the reader is able to figure out that Jim sold his watch …show more content…

For instance in The Gift of the Magi situational irony is used to highlight the selflessness of Della and Jim. They sell their most prized possessions so that they can buy a Christmas gift for one another, only to find out that their gifts are consequently useless. Meanwhile, in Poison, situational irony is what outlines the theme of the story. Harry was afraid of a venomous snake poisoning him when the only real poison in the story was the poison that existed within him self. Another good example of situational irony can be found in The Most Dangerous Game. It’s situationally ironic because Rainsford prides himself on being one of the world’s greatest hunters yet, in the story, he’s the one who’s being

Get Access