In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Demetrius responds to the horrible workingmen’s play by saying,” A very best at a beast,my lord, that e’er I saw” (Shakespeare 5.1.217-218). This quote is a perfect example of verbal irony because the horrible acting of Snug the lion couldn’t have been the best Demetrius has ever seen. Verbal irony is just one of the three types of irony. The other two types of irony are dramatic irony and situational irony. For my examples I will only be using dramatic irony and situational. Dramatic irony is when the audience or other characters knows something other characters don't. Situational irony is when the opposite of what you expect happens. Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream depends on the uses of these ironies to instill comedy and advance the story.
One way Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to create comedy is when Bottom has a head of an ass. Bottom’s friends see bottom with the head of an ass and they run away. Bottom on the other hand doesn’t see that his head has been changed and also doesn’t understand why his friends are running away. We see his confusion explained when he says,” . . . This is to make an ass of me, to fright me if
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What Hermia sees is her beloved Lysander in love with another woman. She expresses this by saying,” why are you grown so rude? What change is this, sweet love?” (Shakespeare 3.2.268-269). Hermia doesn’t know that a love potion is forcing Lysander to love Helena instead of Hermia. However, Lysander sees that his love with Hermia is over and Helena is now his new true love. He expresses his love for Helena by saying,” Stay, gentle Helena. Hear my excuse. My love, my life, my soul, fair Helena!” (Shakespeare 3.2.248-249). The climax of this play is based around this case of this dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is littered all throughout this play, but other types of irony are present
The mood immediately changes and we discover that Hermia rather than being filled with filial love is determined to marry Lysander rather than her father’s choice for her. And so the love theme is made more complex as we have the wrathful love of her father confronted by the love of her daughter for the man who is not her fathers’ choice. The love theme is further complicated by the arrival of Helena. Here we see the platonic love of two friends.
Irony is the expression of ones meaning by using language that usually signifies the opposite. There are three different types of irony; verbal, dramatic, and situational. Edgar Allen Poe uses verbal and dramatic irony in The Cask of Amontillado to depict a deeper meaning of Montresor’s hate towards Fortunato.
In act two scene two Lysander continues to insult Hermia. For example in the book it states “ Content with Hermia? No, I do repent…” (2.2.118-120). This shows that Lysander wants Helena’s love, but he is trying to hard to get it. In act three scene two Helena finds that both Lysander and Demetrius are “mocking” her. For example in the book it states “ ...I pray you,though you mock me, gentlemen.” (3.2.314). This shows that Helena doesn’t believe that Demetrius and Lysander “love” her. Oberon and Lysander find it impossible to control love.
Irony is defined as the contrast between what is said and what is meant or what happens and what we feel should happen. There are three main types of irony. Verbal irony is when what is said is the opposite of what is meant, as in sarcasm. Situational irony is when an event is the opposite of what would ordinarily occur. Dramatic irony is when the reader or audience knows something that the characters do not know. There are many examples of all three types of irony in The Most Dangerous Game and The Cask of Amontillado.
With dramatic irony, on the other hand, it was used mainly for a comedic effect, rather than creating a plot twist for the audience. By creating a comedy using these two types of irony, Shakespeare was able to deliver his message of the true meaning of love. Situational irony is when the reader or audience is surprised by the outcome of the story. We see more of situational irony later on in the story, especially since it often leads to disputes and fights. For instance, when Robin was supposedly ordered to put flower droplets shot from cupid’s arrow into the eyes of Demetrius, he ended up putting them in the eyes of Lysander instead, mistaking him for the Athenian man Oberon had seen and causing a dispute.
For example, on page HUGH, Red Pollard was afflicted with blindness in his right eye, yet he never told any of the other characters, so that is then dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is when the reader knows something that the character does not. The reader knows that Red is blind, however characters such as Tom or Howard do not. Another example of irony is found on page HHJS, when Red is hospitalized and he can’t ride Seabiscuit, so he gives the new jockey, Woolf, advice. This advice is later determined to be the reason why Woolf lost a very big race. This is situational irony because Red’s advice was supposed to make Woolf win, however it caused the loss. One more example of irony is on page HFG, when Howard replaces the horse as the primary transportation with the car. Howard later comes to living on a secluded ranch with a love for horses. This technically falls into the situational type of irony.
Irony, which is the use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning, is placed throughout many stories and poems. There are many different forms of irony, dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal irony. Although the most common and most frequent of the three is dramatic irony, all three are widely present in almost any story or drama that would be read.
Verbal irony is when someone says one thing but, means another. An example of verbal irony in the play is when Procter is in the courthouse and says that Elizabeth can not lie and then she does. “In her life, sir, she have never lied. There are them that cannot sing, and them that cannot weep, my wife cannot lie. I have paid much to learn it, sir” (pg 973 Miller Act 3), “Look at me! To your knowledge, has John Procter ever committed the crime of lechery? Answer my question! Is your husband a leacher!” (pg 974 Miller Act 3), “No, sir” (pg 974 Miller Act 3). Another example of verbal irony is when Abigail is in the court house and she is doing Gods work, but really she is doing the devils by getting all the girls to act like they see Mary’s spirit too. “Oh, Mary this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it’s God’s work I do” (pg 975 Miller Act 3). Dramatic irony is when the readers know something that the characters do not. One example of dramatic irony is when Abigail acts like she sees Mary Warrens spirit, but she really does not. “Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it’s God’s work I do” (pg 975 Miller Act 3), “Mary Warren! Draw back your spirit out of them!” (pg 975 Miller Act 3). Another example of dramatic irony is when Elizabeth was asked why she discharged Abigail she said that she did not satisfy
In literature, there are three different types of irony used, verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony. According to the Webster-Merriam Collegiate Dictionary, irony is the use of words to express something other than, and especially the opposite of, the literal meaning of those words. Writers may choose to apply one, all, or any combination of the different types of irony, for any number of reasons. One of the primary purposes for the use of irony is to illustrate a point, without expressly declaring it, so that the reader will think about why the author is making that point. Authors also utilize irony to try to present a humorous tone to the events or to challenge the reader’s expectations. Employing irony into a story can also
Verbal irony is when a character says one thing but means the opposite. When a reader understands the irony of what a character is saying, then he can truly understand the nature and intentions of the character. An example of verbal irony is when Macbeth says to Banquo, "Tonight we hold a solemn supper, sir,/ And I’ll request your presence" (Macbeth 3.1.13-14). The reader soon discovers that Banquo never makes it to the banquet because he is brutally murdered by order of Macbeth.
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.
Love, lust and infatuation all beguile the senses of the characters in this dreamy and whimsical work of Shakespeare, and leads them to act in outlandish ways, which throughly amuses the reader. True love does prevail in the end for Hermia and Lysander, and the initial charm of infatuation ends up proving to have happy consequence for Helena and Demetrius as well. Even when at first the reader thinks that, in theory, the effects the potion will wear off and Lysander will once again reject Helena, Oberon places a blessings on all the couples that they should live happily ever after.
Humor in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night In Twelfth Night we see different types of humour. There is the witty
Demetrius, Helena, Lysander, and Hermia are the for young teens of the story. At the beginning of the play it is Lysander and Helena who are madly in love, and are planning to to escape from Athens to elope. Helena is in love with Demetrius, and Demetrius cared for Helena and liked her a lot but was not in love with her. As soon as Demetrius sees Hermia he immediately stops having any feelings for Helena whatsoever and is deeply in love with Hermia. Demetrius thought that he had fallen in love at first sight, but Helena was determined to show him differently. Demetrius: ³ Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit,/ For I am sick when I do look on thee.² Helena: ³And I am sick when I look not on you.² (Act II, sc. i, lines 218-220) This piece of dialogue shows how much Demetrius is now in love with Hermia from just seeing her, and how disgusted he feels when he looks upon Helena who he used to care about. Helena is simply just expressing how much she is love with Demetrius and how bad she feels that he is treating her in such a manner of hatred.
Shakespeare implies much irony in the play through the use of ironic devices. He shows use of verbal, dramatic, and situational irony. Through the use of irony Shakespeare sparks an interest in the reader on to what will occur as the play unravels. Verbal irony is one of the highly used ironic devices Shakespeare inputs, in many parts of the play. In some of the lines the meaning of words are the opposite of what Shakespeare is expressing.