A Surprise! It is the difference between what we

expect to happen, and what actually does happen.

It is often used to add suspense and interest.

It is also used to keep the reader thinking about the moral of the story.

Irony

VerbalIrony

SituationalIrony

DramaticIrony

Verbal Irony

Situational Irony

Dramatic Irony

The simplest kind of irony. You use it everyday when you say one thing and

really mean another. It is often similar to a sarcastic response. Example: When you appear to be sick and someone asks

you if you’re okay. You say “Of course!” But in the meantime you are vomiting and fainting.

Occurs when a situation turns out to be the opposite of what you thought it would be.

Example: The teacher’s daughter is a High School drop out. The mayor’s wife gets caught stealing. The chef won’t eat his/her own cooking. The barber always needs a hair cut himself.

Dramatic irony is used to show that the audience knows more than the character on stage. A character does or says something of greater importance than he or she knows. The audience, however, understands the meaning and importance of the act or speech. Dramatic irony is often used to produce suspense or humor.

The difference in the knowledge of characters and the audience can produce suspense. Generally, dramatic irony is used to create suspense in tragedies or mysteries.

In Sophocles' play Oedipus the King, Oedipus does not know that he is the murderer that he is seeking. The characters of Creon and Jocasta do not know the reality about Oedipus either. However, the audience knows all along that Oedipus was destined to commit the murder and ends up doing it. The plot of the play and the actions of Oedipus create and build suspense.

The difference in the knowledge of characters and the audience can produce humor as well. Dramatic irony is mostly used to create humor in comedies.

In Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing, the characters of Don Pedro and Leonato pretend that Beatrice is in love with Benedick. They do so by talking loudly and letting Benedick overhear the conversation. The audience knows that Leonato and Don Pedro are pretending but Benedick does not. This creates humor in this Shakespearean comedy. Later in the play, Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other.

Irony is a kind of a surprise. It is the difference between what is expected to happen, and what actually does happen.

Irony is like a glitch, a twist, or a last minute switch in the game. It is an interruption of events that cause an unexpected outcome.

There are three types of irony: Verbal Situational Dramatic