What is dramatic irony?

This is a literary technique often used in plays or novels where a character's words or actions are clear to the audience but not to the character themselves.

Dramatic irony is when the audience is aware of a particular event or action on stage which has been disclosed by a certain character but the other characters are unaware of this: it is a little like being in on the secret. The audience member, or the reader, is treated to inside information.

Dramatic irony takes place when you, the reader of the novel or the audience of the play, know something that the characters don't. It is a literary device commonly employed in plays and can take several forms.

Dramatic irony is when the audience or reader are aware of the significance of something that the character is not. For example, in 'Macbeth' Lady Macbeth faints upon discovering King Duncan's death. However, we, as the audience, know that moments earlier she was smearing the guards in Duncan's blood! In this instance, this is important because it helps us understand how cunning and deceptive Lady Macbeth is.

Dramatic irony is when something is known to the audience but not to the character. It can be the secret of another character, an event, or information that is shared with the audience but not with the character.

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.

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

When the audience knows something that a character(s) do not.

When the audience knows something that the character does not i.e. If a character were to say "I will have a great day today", and we already know that someone is planning to make his day awful!

A technique in literature whereby the audience or reader is made aware of something in that text that other characters are not. For example, when Romeo thinks Juliet is dead but we, the audience, know she has merely taken a sleeping potion.

A technique often used in theatre or other media, also sometimes in print. The main feature of such is that the 'audience', reader or consumer is made to know more of what is happening than the character.

Dramatic irony is a literary tool (often used in theatre, but also seen in other forms of literature), wherein the audience is aware of something that the characters are not. This may create tension, suspense or even humour in some cases.

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience or reader possesses knowledge that characters within the story do not. This creates a contrast between what the characters understand and what the audience knows, often leading to heightened tension or humor in the narrative.

Hi Justine, it's when the audience knows something that the characters on stage don't.

It's a literary device, whereby the audience or reader has a greater knowledge of what is happening than the characters within a play or narrative.