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Question

What is dramatic irony?

2 years ago

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290 Replies

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12582 views

J

Justice Torphy


290 Answers

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Laura Byrne

It’s when the audience knows something that one or more characters in a play doesn’t. For example, in A View from the Bridge - Eddie comes home from drinking and doesn’t know that Catherine and Rodolfo are in the bedroom - the audience knows they are there and that Eddie will be angry so suspense is created.

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Joshua Sharp

Dramatic Irony is when the audience or the reader is aware of information a character in the story is not.

For example in The Tempest, Miranda is unaware Gonzalo is with her on the island. The audience however learn this early.

D
Dominick Oloo

This is the response given through expression that means totally different from the normal usually used to show humor and emphatic effects.

H
Habiba Abdalla

literary device used in a story telling by letting the audience know something that the characters arent yet aware of

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Destina Dogan

Dramatic Irony is when the audience are aware of something but the characters are not.

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Emily Cain

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience or reader knows something that the characters do not. This creates tension or humor as the characters proceed with actions or dialogue unaware of the true situation, often leading to unexpected outcomes.

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Where the audience knows something the characters don't know!

This could be for example when Mr Birling proclaims The Titanic is 'unsinkable!' - the audience of course knows the Titanic in fact sunk. Why is dramatic irony important? Well, it's all about why the author wants us to know more. Mr Birling seems over-confident in the ship, reflecting his over-confidence in himself; he will 'sink' when his reputation is chipped away by The Inspector's revelations, so this is a comedic and foreboding use of dramatic irony!

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Julia J Profile Picture
Julia J Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

Highly experienced English GCSE & common entrance exam tutor

Dramatic irony is simply when the audience or reader knows something, and a character does not! The point of this technique is to draw the audience into the story, and to create more tension. A fantastic example of dramatic irony is in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth', when the naive King Duncan thanks Lady Macbeth for her hospitality inviting him into her home, when the audience knows she is plotting to murder her guest!

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I
Isabelle Henderson

Dramatic Irony occurs mainly in a play where the audience knows a piece of information that a key character does not.

For example: In Romeo and Juliet the character Paris tells the Friar that he and Juliet are going to be married on a certain day BUT we, in the audience, already know that Juliet has said that she would rather die than marry Paris.

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Sharon

Dramatic irony is a literary technique that occurs in the context of plays. It is when the audience is aware of something (e.g. about a character), that the characters (i.e. other characters) are oblivious to.

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Hannah Brooke

When you as the reader of whatever you’re reading, knows something which the character dosen’t

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Marius Scholtz

Dramatic irony is a literary and dramatic device. There is dramatic irony in a fictional situation whenever the audience or reader knows more than a character or group of characters do about their own lives. The most famous example is "the bomb under the table," which Alfred Hitchcock was fond of using. If the audience knows there is a bomb under the table where a character is sitting, but the character is not aware of this, there is dramatic irony. It is a device that produces a sense of expectation and often tension as we anticipate what will happen to the character(s) when the unknown situation presents itself to them.

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Leena

Dramatic irony is a literary device authors employ to emphasise a character's lack of knowledge on an event or issue that the audience would be aware of already.

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John T Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

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A situation in plays where the words and actions are known to the audience but not to the character.

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Z
Zhanetta Rodgers

It's bitter-sweet taste impact on you from the dramatic retelling or performance or a book

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