Examples Of Dramatic Irony In A Doll's House

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragic story about two lovers who are from two disputing families, and their eventual suicides. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony throughout the play to create tension for the audience and foreshadow the ending. Dramatic irony is when the words or actions of characters in a story have a different meaning to the reader than to the characters. This is because the reader knows something that the characters do not. Romeo and Juliet’s death could have been prevented if the characters in the story weren’t so ignorant of their situations, and often times the reader recognizes this.

In the short story, “The Landlady,” Roald Dahl creates suspense by using irony to foreshadow events that happen later in the story. Near the end of the story the Landlady says, “I stuff all my little pets when they pass away.” Little does Billy know, but like all of her other little pets he will be stuffed too. Another example of Dahl using irony in the story is when Billy says, “The tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds.” This is an example of dramatic irony which Dahl used because the Landlady put arsenic poison in his tea. Dahl also creates suspense because arsenic poison smells like almonds. A third example of Roald Dahl using irony to foreshadow future events would be when the Landlady says, “Left? But my dear boy, he never left.

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.

Act II continues with Nora attempting to keep her secret loan and forgery unrevealed from Torvald, but her efforts are futile. In Act II Krogstad loses his job and writes a letter addressed to Torvald explaining the crime Nora committed. During this frightening night for Nora she must perform the Tarantella dance while also attempting to distract Torvald. The Tarantella is known as the dance that is supposed to rid the dancer of the bite of the tarantula. This dance can be seen as a symbolic

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 first indication of dramatic irony is in “Masque of the Red Death” when the black room with the blood red windows is described. This description creates a bad feeling about the room and the reader senses something bad will happen in that room. This idea is proven later when the Prince dies in that room. Another example of dramatic irony is demonstrated in “Terrible Things” when Bunting writes “‘We have come for any creature that is white,” the Terrible Things thundered. “There are no white creatures here but us”’(Bunting, Three). This quotation illustrates dramatic irony because the rabbits do not understand that the Terrible Things are there for them, but the reader has this realization. This alarms the readers and causes one to dread what will happen to the rabbits. One more example of how dramatic irony builds suspense in stories is in “The Lottery” when Tessie says “‘I think we ought to start over” Mrs. Hutchinson said… I tell you it wasn't fair… you didn't give him enough time. Everybody saw that’” (Jackson, Four). This quotation is a good example of dramatic irony because when Tessie started causing a scene the reader begins to suspect that she will be the one who is chosen. This is significant because her pleading adds to the audience's fear of not knowing what will happen to the person who is

The author of the story “Lamb to the Slaughter”, Roald Dahl, uses a significant amount of irony throughout the story. Dahl uses irony to make his story more appealing to the reader by keeping them engaged. An example of irony in the story is when Mary is six months pregnant and her husband expresses he is leaving her, so she murders him. The audience would have never seen this coming because the author expresses Mary’s feelings from the beginning of the story by saying, “She loved him for the way he sat loosely in a chair, for the way he came in the door or moved slowly across the room with long strides. She loved the intent, far look in his eyes when they rested on her, the funny shape of the mouth, and especially the way he remained silent about his tiredness, sitting still with himself until the whiskey had taken some of it away.” (Dahl 1-2). When Dahl shares Mary’s feelings, the reader concludes that Mary is an innocent, loving wife that truly loves her husband and would do absolutely anything for him. But when Mary murders him after he decides to leave, situational irony appears. This is an example of situational irony because the reader would never expect Mary to murder her husband, but the exact opposite occurs. Dahl also uses situational irony as an example of language. The language makes the story more intriguing and exciting. The situational irony is used in the story to shock the reader and to create the climax of the plot.

In dramatic Irony, occurs when the readers are aware about what is going to happen, but the characters do not have any clue about what is going on. In “The Black Cat”, the story begins with the main character sentenced to death, but with one story to tell. The Irony here is that he was not aware about how his life was going to change. In the beginning he is describing how happy was his childhood and how much he loved his pets. In the second paragraph of the story the main character describes his personality as a child in the first sentence “From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions” (3). He was a lovely child with an uncertain future. Another irony finds it on the story is how he describes the fidelity and love that the man can own “There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man” (3-4). When the story is progressing he is transforming to a violent man without any act of compassion towards his faithful pet, which actually represented faithfulness. He is represented himself as a child with a lovely personality, but he is not aware that the lovely child was going to transform in an alcoholic man with a violent personality willing to kill mercilessly.

A sense of dramatic irony is thought to be used throughout the reading. However, the book often takes a turn so that the reader’s previous thoughts on the plot are changed.

Without doubt, Edgar Allan Poe’s story is one of the author’s masterpiece. The story is an exhibit of artistic genius with various literary features well incorporated. Among them, irony, defined as, “A figure of speech which is a contradiction or incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs”, is the most evident. Allan Poe demonstrates the use of various types of irony throughout the play, which he uses to pass the intended message to the audience.

In the play Othello, Shakespeare uses many literary devices to help the reader understand the theme of the story. One of those many literary devices used in the play, is the wide range of irony. Throughout the pages of the book the reader will see the use of dramatic, situational, and verbal irony. Shakespeare does not use irony in an understated way, it is very direct, and can be found on almost every page of the book. The use of irony creates suspense, and adds interest as to what will happen.

The Tarantella is an Italian folk dance. The name “Tarantella” derives from the name of a poisonous spider; the Tarantula. When bitten, the venom will of the Tarantula makes the person move uncontrollably as if dancing. This movement believes to relieve the person from pain. Thus, dancing non-stop wards off the venom of the spider (Streetswing.com). The Tarantella dance relates to Nora as trying to rid herself of the pain and problems in her life. Additionally, Nora’s infuriating movements implies her suicidal intentions after the dance to save her husband’s reputation. Likewise, the Tarantella signifies the gruesome climax of Nora’s doll life. This dance reveals the transformation of Nora from an innocent woman

Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” a nineteenth century play successfully uses symbolism to express many characteristics of Helmer’s life, together with the way that the main character Nora feels towards her marriage at the end of the play. Ibsen’s use of symbolism to convey about the social setting, including the harsh male-controlled Danish society, seen mostly in Torvald in the play and the role of women, signified mostly in Nora. These symbols act as foretelling before the tragic events at the end of the play, as they show the problems which lead to the demise of the Helmer’s ‘perfect’ family life.

In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, the play is framed around symbolism and its irony.

In “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen was created during 1800s time period. This play helps shine a light on the gender roles of the 1800s while also creating a twist that was uncommon for this period. During this time period, women were left home to oversee the domestic duties, while men went to commuted to work (Hughes). Men were seen as physically superior but morally inferior to women; which is also portrayed within this book (Hughes). This play marks the beginning of Henrik Ibsen’s realist period, which he explored the ordinary lives of small-town people (Kirszner and Mandell 881). This “modern tragedy” helped make Ibsen famous internationally because of the real-life story it captured (Kirszner and Mandell 882). Henrik Ibsen uses an array of literary devices to help keep the reader captivated from beginning to end. Three of the most prominent literary devices used by Henrik Ibsen are symbolism, foreshadowing, and an array of themes. These literary devices help transform a basic play into a complex story of lies and deception.