Definition-When the audience knows more about a situation than some of the characters, it’s called dramatic irony. This understanding frequently creates a sense of suspense because we know the character(s) will discover the truth at some point – but we don’t know when or how.
Dramatic irony can be used in a variety of settings and genres. Including comedy, horror, suspense, thrillers, and tragedies.
What are the stages of dramatic irony?
• Preparation
• Suspension
• Resolution
Example of Dramatic Irony
For hundreds of years, dramatic irony has played an important part in literature and theatre performances. For example, William Shakespeare used dramatic irony in many of his plays.
1. In a horror movie, a girl hides in a closet where the killer has just gone (the audience knows the killer is there, but she does not).
2. The audience understands Juliet is simply asleep, not dead, in the Titanic movie but Romeo does not, and he kills himself.
3. King Duncan claims in Macbeth that he trusts Macbeth (“he was a gentleman on whom I built an entire trust”), but the spectator knows that Macbeth is plotting Duncan’s death.
4. Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex tells the Greek myth of Oedipus, which is full of dramatic irony. Oedipus wants to find out who killed the last king, Laius. The audience is aware that Oedipus is the murderer, but Oedipus is unaware that he has slain.
Here are some more important elements concerning dramatic irony:
a. This type of irony can be considered as “dramatic” not due to its overdone or tragic feature, but as it was originated from an ancient Greek play. Dramatic irony is especially well-suited to the stage: in a typical play, the characters come and exit frequently, and the scenery may vary as well, but the audience remains seated, thus their grasp of the plot is always more complete than any one character.
b. The tactic was frequently used in classical drama to generate a sense of tension, and it’s especially popular in tragedies. Dramatic irony is frequently used in modern film and television to generate chuckles, as it has a powerful comedic effect.
c. The terminology “irony” gained its present popularity in just the last two decades and is used for expressing a disconnected stance or revolutionary comedy. This ingress isn’t about that type of irony, or any of the other types of irony (see more below). Dramatic irony as a literary device is the subject of this entry.
Writers use dramatic irony for a variety of reasons.
Dramatic irony can be used for a variety of reasons. It is a fantastic structural tool in both tragedy and comedy: it may add suspense or enhance the emotional argument of a narrative, but it can also rise to a succession of humorous mistakes. It might make the audience feel privileged in their knowledge or insight in comparison to the characters’ naivety, but it can also make them feel helpless as they watch events unfold to their inevitable and terrible conclusion. Dramatic irony, in general, demonstrates that all viewpoints are partial and limited and that nothing is ever as it appears.
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