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Use of irony in Shakespeare tragedy
Use of irony in Shakespeare tragedy
Use of irony in Shakespeare tragedy
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Dramatic irony is a literary device which the readers know all the information or the events that the characters don’t. The writer of The book of Job used this device for his work. The literary effects of the use of dramatic irony in Job are to create the intense suspense or interest for the audiences and to make the readers sympathize with the character Job’s actions.
From Chapter 1 to Chapter 3, the readers can realize that Job doesn’t know his misfortunes in fact are a bet created by two characters “the Lord” and the “Adversary”. This is dramatic irony that the writer uses. Although the readers know the events about Job, they don’t know whole content of the book or what events will happen in the next parts. Therefore, the readers will feel
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After many challenges as well as misfortunes, Job still neither curse nor offend God. Although Job’s wife incited him to curse God and he really had to suffer a lot of torment, he still kept his loyalty for God and just “cursed his day” (Job 194). However, when Job’s friends reproached him and supposed that he was worth to be punished, Job felt very angry. After a while, with criticisms and pains, he became impatient and afraid. He lamented the injustice that God let cruel people happy while he and good people suffered. When the readers know the real characteristic of Job as a man who is “blameless and upright and feared God and shunned evil” (Job, 193), they just can understand his actions because he is still a human. But when the readers know the truth behind his misfortunes, they become sympathetic him more. They will think that Job’s actions are completely acceptable. Dramatic irony is used as a tool to emphasized Job’s misfortune, torment, fear as well as helping the character show his real characteristics. From that point, it excites the sympathy of the readers for the tragic and actions of the characters. This is also a way that the use of dramatic irony makes the readers relate to the character and live with the
Second, the story line. Although Archibald MacLeish wrote the play based on the story of Job in The Bible, there are many differences in the story line. In The Bible, Job’s misfortune was spawned by Satan trying to show God that Job was not as holy as God had thought. God gave Satan the power to destroy everything Job had, including his health. Job’s children all died together when the roof of the house collapsed on them while they were all dining at the house of the oldest brother. His wife died also, and all of his possessions was taken from him. Furthermore, he contracted painful sores all over his body. As for J.B., his children died separately, one after the other. The oldest had died in the army. Two were involved in a car accident. One daughter was killed by an explosion that also took out J.B.’s millions. And the youngest was raped. However, J.B.’s wife, Sarah, was not killed, but instead she left him. In The Bible, Job is confronted by his three friends. His friends encourages him to turn against God and to curse him, but he refused to do so. On the other hand, J.B. was confronted with four friends, the first three encouraging him to turn against God but the fourth telling him to pray to God and to praise Him.
Like salt and pepper to beef, irony adds “flavor” to some of the greatest works of literature. No matter if readers look at old pieces of work like Romeo and Juliet or more modern novels like To Kill a Mockingbird, irony’s presence serve as the soul fuel that pushes stories forward. By definition, irony occurs when writers of books, plays, or movies destine for one event or choice to occur when the audiences expects the opposite; like Tom Robinson being found guilty after all evidences point other ways in To Kill a Mockingbird. These unique plot twists add mystery and enjoyability to hundreds of books. From the very beginning of The Chosen, a novel written by Chaim Potok, to the very end, irony’s presences does not leave the reader at any
“The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.” -Robert A. Heinlein. In the short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, the author Shirley Jackson uses irony to develop the traits of the protagonist, Miss Strangeworth, in her small hometown. Throughout the story, there are many examples of irony as Miss Strangeworth goes through her normal day. Irony is an engaging literary device used by authors to expose underlying intentions which become critical to the development of the plot.
...n the world. Job questions what god is really doing for him. Then god talks to job in question form about the creation of the earth. This shows that jobs is very small compared to god, so small that he cannot even being to understand some of the the things god is telling him. Chapter 38 proves to job that humans are far below the power of god then in chapter 42 job quickly shames himself for the previous things he said.
Dramatic irony means that the audience knows something that the character in the piece of literature doesn’t know. In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows the ending at the very beginning, but still watches Romeo and Juliet fall in love and get married. Eventually, they both kill themselves thinking the other is dead. Suspense relies on dramatic irony because it makes the audience feel tense until the character finds out and the tension is relieved. Suspense also relies on dramatic irony because the audience may learn something the character doesn’t know, making the audience want to tell the characters themselves, knowing fully well that that’s impossible. An example of dramatic irony in Cujo is the car that Donna drives. Donna drives a Pinto which is known as one of the worst cars to ever have existed. The Ford Pinto would explode and had to be recalled. The Pinto in this story, however, saved Donna and Tad from being killed by Cujo. The audience knew that the Pinto was a bad car, but if they were reading the book, they would have realized that there were too many pages left for both of them to die. Also, if they had read this excerpt, they would have thought that StudySync wouldn’t’ve ruined the ending of a story written by Stephen King. Another example of dramatic irony is that Cujo had rabies. In the very beginning of the story, not the excerpt, Cujo gets bitten by a bat. In the excerpt, this can be figured out by how
Dramatic Irony is when the irony that is in speeches or text is expressed through a workable structure. The audience knows what’s happening, but the character themselves do not know what’s happening or what’s going to happen. The character is unaware that this is happening, but the readers know how this story will lay out. In the story “The Bicycle” by Jillian Horton, Hannah is a young girl who loves to play piano. Hannah’s aunt, Tante Rose knows how to play so she says that she will teach Hannah how to play but she must obey her aunts rules. One of her aunts rules is that Hannah cannot ride a bike. Hannah has never ridden a bike and all of her friends have, and Hannah wants to ride a bike. The author uses dramatic irony because the readers know that Hannah will ride a bike at some point in her life. The author makes the dramatic irony important because if the author didn’t tell us that Hannah has never ridden a bike, we wouldn’t know why she would want to ride one so badly. This is dramatic irony instead or irony because irony is when the readers expect something to happen and it turns out the opposite way. In this story the reader knows that Hannah will ride the bike and Hannah ends up riding the bike at the end of the story. If Hannah didn’t ride the bike the story would not have ended like it did and then the author would have used ironically. In the short story “The Possibility Of Evil” by Shirley Jackson,
Exclaiming, “Oh great” after finding out you failed an exam, a traffic cop who gets his license suspended for unpaid parking tickets, the urge you have to warn a character who walks into an abandoned warehouse where most likely a serial killer is waiting: these are all examples of one of the most used and most effective literary tools—irony. There are many different scenarios that can be categorized as ironic, the defining factor being the inclusion of “discrepancy or incongruity” (Arp 359). These many different situations and experiences can be classified as three types of irony: verbal, situational, or dramatic.
In both A Streetcar Named Desire and Hamlet, Tennessee Williams and William Shakespeare, respectively, demonstrate their abilities to create engaging plays which work on several levels in order to produce the desired effect. One of the most important characteristics of these plays is the playwrights' success in using their words to create the worlds surrounding their works. Both Shakespeare and Williams effectively use irony in the aforementioned plays, both in the plot and with specific symbolism, to create mildly existential environments where effective irony is a confirmation of fate and justice. Immediately apparent to the reader upon completion of these two works is the glaring appearance of irony in the plays' plots. For example, in A Streetcar Named Desire, a great deal of dramatic irony is created when the audience is made aware of details that characters are ignorant to.
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.
Irony is defined as words or actions that convey a reality different from appearance or expectation. The use of such device in the story gives it humor and wit. The continuous use of irony is detected through style, tone and the use of exaggeration from Montresor, the narrator. From the start we can blatantly see the irony in the story. The name Fortunato implies that this man is of good luck, when in actuality he was about to face the end of his life. The setting itself in which the story takes place also contains an ironic element. It is during Venice’s Carnival that the characters meet. Carnival is supposed to be a time of celebration and happiness for everybody. However, in the tale it is a time for revenge and death. The mood changes drastically when the two characters leave the carnival for the d...
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.
In the search for the essence of the tragedy, The Book of Job and Oedipus Rex are central. Each new tragic protagonist is in some degree a lesser Job or Oedipus, and each new work owes an indispensable element to the Counselors and to the Greek idea of the chorus.
One example of dramatic irony is when Oedipus is looking for the killer of the king Laius-his father. The irony here is that he is looking for himself because he is the murder of his father. Oedipus knows that he killed someone, but what he does not know is that it was Laius, the one he murder. Oedipus wants to punish the person who killed Laius, but we, the audience know that Oedipus was the one who killed Laius. Also Oedipus married Jocasta without knowing that she is his mother. We, the audience knew that he was Jocasta's son, but he was unaware of that.
Different actions cause for different reactions. Choosing to act one way instead of another truly has a large impact on what events play out in your life. In “Federigo’s Falcon” by Boccaccio and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer, both authors use apparent irony to convey a common theme of getting what one deserves.
Defined by Dictionary.com dramatic irony is “irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience, but not grasped by the characters in the play” (“dramatic irony”). This type of irony is one that is not seen by characters, but is known to the reader. Towards the end of the story Josephine begs for Mrs. Mallard to open up the door and let her in, as she is afraid her sister is making herself ill (Chopin 201). This is dramatic irony as Josephine does not realize that her sister is not actually making herself ill, but is instead rejoicing in her husband’s death. Another instance at the conclusion of the story, Mr. Brently Mallard enters through the door, Richards quickly tries to block him from Mrs. Mallard seeing (Chopin 201). Richards assumes that Mrs. Mallard is still grieving from her husband’s death. He shields her from seeing Mr. Brently Mallard as he knows it will too much emotion. The dramatic irony is Richards does not realize that she is happy and blocking her view of her husband will make her upset, but only because Brently being alive means her freedom is