Examples Of Dramatic Irony In A Midsummer's Night Dream

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“Why do they run away? This is a knavery of them to make me afraid,” Exclaimed
Bottom, not knowing why his friends ran away from him in fear (Shakespeare lll.l. 54). This is an example of dramatic irony. There are three main types of irony; dramatic irony, verbal irony, and situational irony. Dramatic irony is when the audience and some of the characters know more than a character, or other characters do at the time. Verbal irony occurs when someone says the opposite of what they mean. Situational irony occurs when the opposite of what is expected happens. There are many examples of irony used in A Midsummer's Night Dream.
An example of dramatic irony is when Robin puts the magical flower into Lysander's eyes instead of Demetrius's eyes, like he was told to do by …show more content…

He is not aware of this mistake until later when he realizes that he messed up Lysanders and Hermias true love.
This conflict built up the story and created a sense of suspense and a sense of not knowing what would happen next.
Another example of dramatic irony is when Bottom is given the head of an ass by Robin.
Bottom is not aware that he has an ass's head, therefore he does not understand why his friends run away from him in horror. This is dramatic irony because Bottom is the only one who does not know he has an ass's head. Other characters and all of the audience are aware of what he looks like. This conflict made the play more amusing and interesting, when Bottom woke up, he assumed his adventure was all just a strange dream that he wanted to make into a play and share with other people.
The final example of irony in A Midsummer's Night Dream is when Lysander and
Demetrius are both in love with Helena due to the magic flower. Helena does not understand why Lysander and Demetrius are suddenly both in love with her because she knows Lysander and Hermia are in love and Demetrius loves Hermia even though Helena loves him.

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