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Essays on irony in short stories
Use of irony as one of the dramatic devices
Use of irony in short stories
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The fourth, and final criteria of a modern short story is that the readers have more knowledge of events than the characters through the use of dramatic irony. An example of dramatic irony in “The Ring” is that the readers, and Lise know where the ring is, but Lise pretends not to know. Sigismund, however does not know. He also does not know anything about Lise’s meeting in the woods with the sheep thief, but we, the readers, do. An example of a different type of irony used by Dinesen in “The Ring” is in the line of Lise’s thoughts, “‘What an absurd person he is, with his sheep! What a baby he is! I am a hundred years older than he.’” (page 2, paragraph 2) This is ironic because it is, in fact, Lise who is acting like a child through her jealousy,
The types of irony I choose were situational irony and dramatic irony.The reason I choose these 2 was because ,I think these are the easiest to do.Irony is the gaiety of reflection and the joy of wisdom.
In the story “The Cask of Amontillado”, the author uses lots of verbal irony to emphasize the evil intentions of Montresor.One of the examples of verbal irony in the story that he uses is “The cough’s a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.” and “true--true, I replied.” The effect of this irony is it that Montresor already knows how Fortunato will die.Another example of verbal irony used in the story was when they did a toast to each other. “I drink”, he said, to the buried that repose around us.”
Frederick Douglass uses irony to challenge the ideology of slavery when describing some of the overseers in the book. For example he describes Mr. Gore as what is called a first-rate overseer. He is implying that Mr. Gore is a good overseer to those with no sense of justice. One example of irony in the book is , “Indeed, it is not uncommon for slaves to fall out and quarrel among themselves about the relative goodness of their masters, each contending for the superior goodness of his own over that of others,” (62). This is ironic because the slaves are fighting about keeping a good reputation for the masters that treat them horribly. Another example is, “…it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach to teach slaves to read in a Christian
Baker, Joseph E. “Irony in Fiction: ‘All the King’s Men.’” College English. Vol. 9. JSTOR.
In literature, satire allows readers or viewers to recognize how ridiculous things come about. Satire permits a reader or viewer to express a certain feeling. Usually this feeling evolves around hilarity. Within the satire category, exaggeration and irony exist. Exaggeration usually emphasizes something beyond the original intention. Irony expresses the opposite of the original meaning.
Another example of irony is when Leonce comes back from his night of enjoyment and tries to wake Enda up to be his audience. Leonce gets annoyed when she does not give him her attention and here the voice of the story refers to Edna as him “sole object of his existence”. “He thought it very dis...
The novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton tells the story of Ethan Frome and the tragedy he faces in his life. The story mainly focuses on the relationships between and among Ethan, his wife, and his wife’s cousin, with whom he is in love. Wharton uses different literary devices to develop the plot, including irony as one of the most effective. The use of irony in the novel, especially in the climatic sledding scene, greatly adds to the development of the tragedy.
Although when we are young, we commonly find ourselves gravitating to books with predictable endings that leave the protagonist and us with what we want, as we mature we develop a hunger for different, more thoughtful or realistic solutions. This is not to say, however, that we can be satisfied solely through the reading of any story that concludes with mere tragedy. The reason why the book Ethan Frome is so widely read is because there is a great deal of technique behind the element of mere tragedy. Edith Wharton is able to distinguish her novel through the use of irony. Irony has been the defining element of many great pieces of literature throughout time. The use of irony dates back all the way to ancient Greece when it was used by Sophocles in the play Oedipus Rex. Irony was also a key element in many of Shakespeare's works and appears in many famous short stories. In Ethan Frome, Ethan ends up falling in love with Mattie who at the time seems young and effervescent in comparison to his sickly, deteriorating wife. In attempting to free himself and Mattie from his commitment to Zeena, Ethan ends up causing Mattie to become paralyzed, taking with it her previous, lively characteristics. All the household responsibilities then fall into the hands of Zeena who is ultimately the most vivacious of the three.
Irony in the Book of Esther One must be particularly cautious when applying the techniques of contemporary literary scrutiny to any portion of the Bible since the Bible, as it is handed to us, is a mosaic of stories written, interpreted and edited by countless individuals over the course of thousands of years. It would therefore be unreasonable to apply the same standards of examination as it would to a literary work that was composed by a single person living during a particular time period. There are very few well-read documents around in this day and age that bear this particular difficulty. In most works of literature it can be assumed that the author has intentionally incorporated irony into the story as a literary device, i.e. a means of attempting to satire or create depth and texture to a work. But, in the case of the Bible, we cannot always be as certain.
Dramatic irony is used when Irene is led by her grandmother’s string to a pile of stones in the heart of the mountain. “But neither did she know who was on the other side of the slab.” Irene fees hopelessly misled by her great-grandmother’s string, but the reader is
Susan Gable’s Trifles is focused on discovering the killer of a local farmer in the twentieth century. In this play the amount of irony is abundant and the irony always relates to solving the murder. The two types of irony that are most easily discerned in Trifles are verbal and situational irony. Irony is when an author uses words or a situation to convey the opposite of what they truly mean. Verbal irony is when a character says one thing but they mean the other. This can be seen in the way the men dismiss the women. Situational irony is when the setting is the opposite of what one would think it would be for what the play is. This is seen through the setting being in a kitchen and various other aspects of the
the play, it seemed that Othello was the only one who didn't know the truth.
In the play "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles, the author presents us with several instances of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. Dramatic irony plays an important part in "Oedipus the King", because it is used to describe Oedipus' character as arrogant and blind toward the truth. The audience is expected to understand Oedipus' history well before he does. In the first three episodes, Oedipus uses a lot of dramatic irony in his speeches.
Although both authors claim their stories are true, and thereby that their characters are realistic, there seems to be a gap between the authors' claims and the "reality" of the characterization. This question is closely connected to the fact that both novels belong to the earliest English novels. There was no fixed tradition that the authors worked in; instead the novel was in the process of being established. The question arises whether the two works lack a certain roundness in their narrators.
This is essential in presenting certain knowledge to the reader that not every character is aware of. Therefore, a strong presence of irony exists within the novel, and is displayed numerous times. One such situation continually represented is the knowledge that Eppie is the daughter of Godfrey Cass and his secret wife who died in the snow. The fact that no one knows of this situation, besides Godfrey, is the source of much irony and eventually the climax of the novel. Another example of dramatic irony is that the reader knows, from the minute of its occurrence, that the robbery is the doing of Dunstan Cass.