Irony and Love the Center of Disgrace Essay

The way that situational irony appears in the story is with John and his relationship with Abigail. Situational irony is irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, that the outcome is contrary to what was expected. The irony materializes when Reverend Hale asks John to recite the ten commandments and he is unable to remember the commandment that he has broken; John attempting to reel off the ten commandments "...Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,” Hale: "You have said that twice, sir" (Act II). John forgets the commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery, and his affair with Abigail is a prime example of him committing adultery.

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.

Situational irony is when the situation is the opposite of what is expected. One example of this is how the townspeople see Dimmesdale as a holy, pure role model, when he is the opposite. After one of his sermons, the audience said “never had man spoken in so wise, so high, and so holy a spirit, as he that spake this day (222).” This irony between the townspeople and the Reverend Dimmesdale shows Hawthorne’s views on the Puritan society. They portray a religious, pure character, when they are actually sinful and corrupt. Another example of situational irony is when the townspeople give Hester the scarlet A to represent her sin of adultery. Later in the book, many people saw the scarlet A as meaning able because of the strength Hester has shown throughout her life. “They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength (146).” Not only are the people of the community seeing Hester’s scarlet letter to mean something else, but the letter itself is beautiful. That “scarlet letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell (51).” The townspeople allowed the scarlet A to look beautiful and have a magical effect, but represent a dark and sinful act. The irony here shows Hawthorne viewing the Puritans as corrupt by making them contradict themselves and by not allowing their punishment system to have its intended effect. Overall, Hawthorne uses

"Irony is a device that protects him (the artist) from the pain of his experience so that he may use it objectively in his art(Susquehanna. "New Critical")." In The Glass Menagerie, it is ironic how Tom speaks badly of his father and his leaving home but in the end he leaves home just like his father, the man "in love with long distances (Williams 30)''. The fact that Amanda wants what is best for her children is ironic because she worries so much over it that she doesn't realize what is best for them.

A prime example of this is on page 196, when Cassie offers to “sacrifice” school to help in the field. This is what is called verbal irony. Another good example of this is on page 258 when David says that there will be no “T.J.”s in the Logan house, but T.J. had just been in their house. When Cassie said that she wanted to “sacrifice” school it was a joke because in reality Cassie dislikes school; she would rather be out in the field. Both examples try to keep the story fresh and exciting and lighten the mood by adding humor to the story right before the story becomes very serious, as if the story was pulling punches. Additionally, the latter example brings attention to T.J. who is the main focus at the time; the statement is also ironic due to the fact that T.J. finally gets more of the thing he craves, attention: however this is at the time he wants it the least.

Another example of dramatic irony lies in Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome. The author reveals in the prologue that Ethan remains in Starkville after sustaining a serious injury from a mysterious accident. Although the details are unclear, when Ethan expresses his desire for freedom and a life away from the cold and bitter town, The reader is well aware that he does not get the happy ending he wants so desperately. The most obvious example of dramatic irony present in The Scarlet Letter, is the fictitious friendship between Arthur Dimmesdale and Rodger Chillingworth. Hawthorne reveals early in the novel that the reverend is in fact Pearl’s father. In an exchange between Hester and Chillingworth, he discloses his plans to take vengeance on her lover. Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, remarks “I shall make him tremble” (Hawthorne 71). Once he discovers that Dimmesdale is Hester's former paramour, Chillingwoth attaches himself to the minister like a leech under the guise of friendship. Both Hester and the reader know

Irony is one of the most powerful elements of figurative language. It creates a feeling of foreshadowing and sometimes humor in a rather unique way. Irony is a way of telling a story in that something happens that seems the opposite of what one would think. There are plenty of examples of the three types of irony in Night by Elie Wiesel. This essay will discuss the times verbal, situational, and dramatic irony were used in Night.

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.

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.

The reader/Audience member can see that the purpose of the irony has shifted from comical to more grave and intriguing, trying to draw the reader in and with light foreshadowing want to know how this great tragedy will end.

There are many examples of irony in the book. The first example of irony is that Ky left the village that he was sent to, only days before Cassia arrived there with the rest of the girls

In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, there is many forms of irony. Irony means, The expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite. There are 3 types of irony; verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony. All 3 of these happen in the novel. Night is about Elie and his fathers experience in concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944-1945 at the height of the Holocaust.

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.

have danced half so much! [...] Oh! That he had sprained his ancle in the first dance!” (8). It is