Dramatic Irony In The Vendetta By Guy De Maupassant

“The Vendetta” by Guy de Maupassant is not a short story because it does not meet the criteria that we discussed in class as follows. It does not emphasize subtle characterization, imply rather than state facts, emphasize revelation rather than effect, however it does contain dramatic irony throughout the story. The first criterion that “The Vendetta” does not meet is emphasizing subtle characterization. Instead of slowly and conspicuously introducing the characters and what happened to them, the author, Guy de Maupassant directly states what happened to Mrs. Saverini’s son, Antoine, and how she felt about it. The author has however, subtly introduced the crazy and psychotic part hidden deep down in Mrs. Saverini by hinting at what her intentions were through foreshadowing and slowly revealing the monster of Mrs. Saverini. Although Maupassant subtly hints at what is going on is Mrs. Saverini’s mind, I feel that this is not enough for “The Vendetta” to meet this criterion. “The Vendetta” states facts rather than implying, which is another criterion it does not meet, keeping it from being a modern short story. Guy de Maupassant states facts about

It contains dramatic irony, allowing readers to have more knowledge of events than the characters do. When Mrs. Saverini left the house of Nicolas Ravolati, people that witnessed her leave, did not know that she was a woman dressed as a man, and that she had just done the unthinkable. “Two neighbors, sitting at their doors, plainly recollected having seen a poor old man come out with a lean black dog which ate, as it walked, something brown that its master was giving to it.” Another example is when Mrs. Saverini bought meat for her dog, no one suspected that she would be starving her dog and rewarding her for killing. Although “The Vendetta” did indeed meet this criterion, I feel that it still was not enough to be considered a modern short