Irony In Jonathan Lear

Irony is used in many different types of texts for the purpose of teaching us a lesson. We experience irony in our lives through our own encounters as well as through texts and media. There are three types of irony: situational, verbal, and dramatic. Each type has a way of teaching us an important lesson, although some are more common than others. In the Poem “The Old Man’s Lazy” by Peter Blue Cloud, irony is used throughout the text, allowing us to learn from the characters’ mistakes.

An example of dramatic irony is when Fortunato tells Montresor not to worry about his health and that “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I will not die of a cough” (POE 238) Montresor then replies, “True–true.” When the reader reads this, they see that Fortunato is clueless of Montresor’s true plan is and while he tells Fortunato he will be all right. That he will not die, he is planning to kill him. This is dramatic because we as the reader feel a sense of sorrow because we know the truth about what will

The story “The cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe already starts with irony in the first sentence; “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge”. By using irony the author allows readers to have different interpretations of his story; for example Poe’s antagonist characters has the name of Fortunado. He is the one that is murdered in the end, thus demonstrating that he is not as fortunate as his name seems to indicate. Bella Wang and Amelia Tibbett exemplify this by saying, in her analysis of Poe’s story; “Poe gives the victim the name of Fortunato, which may mean "fortunate" in Italian, but adds an extra element of cynical humor to Fortunato 's jovial and unsuspecting character.” (Wang) and also “the word "luckily" also recalls the meaning of Fortunato 's name and is thus entirely unfitting for Fortunato 's fate.” (Wang). Moreover, in her analysis of the text, Amelia Tibbett confirms the fact that the reader has a kind of freedom in interoperating the story; Poe cleverly weaves this story so that he has perfect control over the narrative, all the while allowing the reader some freedom in their own interpretations. (Tibbett).

The first case in which he uses irony is when Montresor comes in contact with Fortunato at the Carnival. In this meeting Montresor says, “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met." (Poe 80) This is an example of dramatic irony. Although the readers know of Montresor’s plans for revenge, Fortunato has no idea how truly unlucky he is to have come into contact with Montresor at that

William Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men is novel that explores the political society and its influences. Like several politicians in modern society, several characters have qualities that seem unsuitable to the impression that have made. These ironies in All the King’s Men reveal how the characters have flaws, which can result in critical consequences. Jack Burden, Adam Stanton, Judge Irwin and Willie Stark are characters that with ironic traits.

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.

Irony shows through a person’s actions and sometimes it can reveal their nature in life. For example hypocrites are a good example, they will tell others not to do certain things while doing it themselves. Irony shows and that reveals one’s nature and ability to make choices in life. For example, Holden has a friend named Stradlater who makes fun of his classmate for being a slob even though he is also a slob. Holden replies by saying, “Well so was Stradlater, but in a different way, Stradlater was more of a secret slob” (31).

McD. C. Turner. Oswald Doughty’s review states that the subject of “Irony in English Literature” is a short essay that doesn’t define irony in an easy manner. This secondary source helps prove the importance of irony in literature because Doughty provides examples on how introducing irony in any literary work can be difficult. The literary irony is easily interpreted in a comical or misfortunate approach, which is created in the plot and narration. According to Doughty, “It is to irony as a weapon of disputation and denunciation that Mr. Turner devoted most attention, and … finds the chief stimulus to the use of irony in English literature.” (Doughty 367) Mr. Turner’s ironic writing is described as, “…passed over with the remark that it is “little” irony.” (368) Lastly, Oswald Doughty states that in history, irony is always suggested in English literature. The work should be readable and clear when involving the literary of dramatic irony in

Act 1 scene 6 in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth displays Lady Macbeth as a very two faced person as well as King Duncan as a very trusting person. Using irony, King Duncan mentions that Macbeth’s home,”hath a pleasant seat. The air Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself Unto our gentle senses” (1.6.1-3). The quotation is saying that there is sweetness in Macbeth’s home that welcomes him.

In the book Hamlet by Shakespeare, irony is used numerous times in order to give the reader insight on what is going on. As stated in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, irony is an action that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. If this strategy were not included in this drama, it would take away the whole purpose. This play would consist of no suspense and would be extremely boring to the reader because the characters would know as much as the readers know. This allows for incite to what can happen in the future or what has happened in the past. The irony in this play ultimately revolves around Hamlet and his plan to achieve revenge with Claudius. From the play that Hamlet organizes

“For with that faire cheyne of love he bond the fyr, the eyr, the water, and the land In certain bounds, that they may Nat flee.” Though written in 1475 Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer still makes readers laugh, wander, and look up with grimace over the many things that happen in the novel. A real understanding of the book shows the reader the style, technique, and idea Chaucer had in writing the tales. One can see that Canterbury Tales breaks down society.

As discussed above, Lear holds that to understand irony is something that gives us insight into the human condition. Accordingly, the goal of this work will be to conmpare and test the three accounts of irony expressed by Lear, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard, along with their respective descriptions of the human condition. This enquiry will not be a simply descriptive one, but rather it will aim to establish whether any of these three accounts is more sound than the other two. Furthermore, if to practice irony is a way of practicing philosophy, then the present discussion shall involve the three models of philosophical practice developed by these authors.

Dramatic Irony is the result of information being shared with the audience but withheld from one or more of the characters.

Sophocles’ use of irony is amongst the greatest of all time, as demonstrated masterfully in Oedipus the King. He displays both ambition and understated humour by using irony in diverse ways, both cosmic and dramatic, as well as verbal irony to add a greater level of wit. Every word spoken holds great symbolic weight and those words contribute to a narrative that reflects the gods plans. Adversely the work of Johnathan Swift takes the form of a social satire, combining economic arguments with a sociopolitical commentary to reflect the tragedy of the people. The use of irony in A Modest Proposal is not a structural technique; it is instead the style of the essay and it is written to reflect the crude nature of humanity. Irony develops from

unpleasant social peculiarities, via a most careful use of irony in the dialogues and thoughts of