Comedy Analysis

In O. Henry's story, “The Ransom of the Red Chief,” eight distinct examples of irony are present throughout the entire selection. O. Henry writes with both situational and verbal irony, which results in a comedic account of a rowdy boy's kidnapping. Situational irony involves an event in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended. Verbal irony is when the intended meaning of a statement differs from the meaning that the words appear to express. There are three examples of verbal irony and five examples of situational irony in “The Ransom of the Red Chief.”

Situational irony occurs when there is a situation which appears to have an assumed conclusion, but then something ironic happens and the end result is different than what was expected. Harrison, the unique son of George and Hazel, is a tall, strong man who is attempting to overthrow the government. He manages to break out of jail and takes control of the television station, declaring himself the Emperor. Just as it appears that he is going to succeed in his takeover, the Handicapper General came into the studio. ”She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.” This is not the expected outcome and creates irony in this situation.

In the “Story of an Hour” we observe many instances in which irony takes place.

In the very beginning of the story, Jonathan Harker is traveling to Dracula’s castle in place of his boss who couldn’t go. His intentions are good so he can help his boss and make some money off of the land he is planning to sell, however his intentions get turned around when Dracula traps him inside the castle and he fears for his life. These are examples of situational irony.

Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

The definition of irony is a contrast between two things. One example is verbal irony. It is a contrast between what someone says and what one means, while dramatic irony is a contrast between what the characters know to be true and what the readers know to be true. Many writers use irony in their short stories to prove a dramatic point, or just to develop a story for upcoming use. These short stories by Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” (140), Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” (183), and Stephen Crane’s “The Blue Hotel” (229), spin a tale of symbolic irony. Each tell a tale paradoxical twists with sublime contradiction where one is led to believe one side of an event, yet it is dragged down a twisted trail of mental sarcasms coupled with death. It is a known fact that many tales of irony require many major events to twist the order they are written in to create a viewpoint that stride away from the main topic or where the author wants the reader to end up.

As Bill Nye once said: “Humor is everything in that there’s irony in just about anything a human does.” Irony affects everybody. It affects how we think, do, and even act. Situational irony is a distort on a story; the opposite of what was expected for the reader, typically occurs in short stories. For instance, Guy de Maupassant uses situational irony to capture his readers into feeling sympathy for his main character in “The Necklace”. Also in “The Ransom of Red Chief” O.Henry uses situational irony to formulate an emotion in his readers, in this story O.Henry formulates the feeling of humor. By reading these two stories it is clear that authors utilize situational irony to deploy emotions in there

Authors use irony in literature in order to give double meanings and make it more interesting to the reader. In the play “ The Death of a Salesman” Arthur Miller uses irony as a strong writing technique in order to express the character's behavior. In “The Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller moments of situational and dramatic irony helps to illustrate the story's theme in which Willy is a man trying yo achieve the American dream, however he have created a world of illusion.

* Mary’s gift of a poppet to Elizabeth is an example of situational irony. It was just supposed to be nothing but a gift that Mary made. Instead, it turned out to be that evidence that got her chained up.

Tessie Hutchinson, has won the lottery, instead of being happy, she is full of dread. The lottery is meant for winning astonishing prizes and ,never to be heard of, amounts of money. Tessie Hutchinson has got the exact opposite of what's expected of winning the lottery. Her grand prize is to be stoned to death. By no other than her beloved family and amazing friends. This is situational Irony, an unexpected twist. Situational Irony makes the reader feel surprised, by some unfaithful or amazing event. O.Henry’s “ The Ransom of Red Chief”, uses humor to display situational irony, while Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” uses situational irony to prove justice. By examining these two short stories: “The Ransom of Red Chief” and “The Necklace” it is present how the author uses situational irony to change the what the reader feels about the character.

In the stories “Story of an Hour”, “Everyday Use”, “The Necklace”, and “The Lottery” it is evident that irony was quite a large part of the short story. There is situational irony, which is when the situation turns out differently than expected. Also, dramatic irony is present, which is when you as a reader knows more than the character. The authors seem to base their whole story around irony to surprise their readers.

Situational irony was used in that the opposite happens then what one is lead to expect because officers usually do not take sides during an altercation between two people without evidence; if that was the case, Orgon would have gone to jail for trespassing, as he had signed all of his belongings over to Tartuffe. Molière used the old Roman comedy tack on happy ending to symbolize that malevolence will never prevail.

Both dramatic and verbal irony has played important roles in the story

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”“The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.” “A tragedy is a tragedy, and at the bottom, all tragedies are stupid. Give me a choice and I 'll take A Midsummer Night 's Dream over Hamlet every time. Any fool with steady hands and a working set of lungs can build up a house of cards and then blow it down, but it takes a genius to make people laugh.” The combination of William Shakespeare, Horace Walpole,and Steven King run together to speak on the topic of comedies. We as human beings, being social creatures, have a need to laugh. We find many things humours, and there are many types of comedies, as well as uses for the comedies we make. There are many different forms of comedy from many different time periods which all fall within three overarching sections; verbal, physical, and literary.