What is dramatic irony?

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.

Dramatic irony is when the audience or readers know more about a situation than the characters.

Dramatic irony is when the reader (you) knows something important that one or more of the characters in the story don’t know. It is as though you have been let in on a secret by the person narrating the story. It is different from situational irony (see below) - be careful not to confuse these.

To summarise:

• Dramatic Irony is when the reader knows something important that one or more of the characters don’t know.
• situational Irony occurs when an event in a story turns out to be the exact opposite of what the reader had expected to happen.

Dramatic irony is a literary and dramatic device or technique. It is used to great effect in literature and drama and cinema. A good example would be when the readership or audience knows something which the characters are performers do not. An example would be Viola's disguise in 12th Night - or The scene of the Policeman standing behind Charlie Chaplin in The Tramp. We know but Charlie himself doesn't.

Dramatic Irony is when the audience knows something the characters don't. It is used to engage the audience into the plot and possibly heighten tensions of what is going on.

Dramatic irony is where the audience knows something that the audience know something that the characters do not. A good example of dramatic irony is in Macbeth displayed here when Macbeth and the lords are awating the arrival of Banquo. We know Macbeth has informatiom in regards to the murder, and we are aware of his actions. Macbeth statement "the general joy o’ the whole table, and to our friend Banquo, whom we miss, would he were here, I to all, and him, we thirst" creates deception. He knows about the murder but awaits his arrival.

Dramatic irony is a literary device whereby the audience/reader is more aware and have a better understanding of the events occurring than the actual characters.

Dramatic irony is something that the audience/reader knows, but the character in the play/novel does not know yet. For example: if you (as a reader) knew that someone had eaten a characters lunch, but they didn’t know yet, as they’re making their way to the fridge, this is dramatic irony.

Dramatic irony is a literary technique that suggests to the audience what is coming next, but is unknown to the character - The most famous example of dramatic irony is contained within the film 'Titanic', when the films main protagonist, Rose DeWitt Bukater, leans on the balcony just before the ship hits the iceberg and says ''it's so beautiful I could just die''.

Dramatic irony is used in script writing, it means when audience know that something is gonna happen the truth but the main character does not.

Dramatic irony is a technique used by writers predominantly in drama. It is when a character on stage is unaware of the significance or impact of what they are saying or doing, yet the audience is fully aware because of their wider understanding and knowledge of the circumstances in the play or the context in which the play is produced and performed. Put simply, the audience knows something that a character doesn't, which leads to feelings of anxiety or even humour in the audience.

Dramatic Irony is when you, the reader of a novel or play, knows something that the characters do not. So for example; you are watching a play (Romeo and Juliet) and you know that they character is about to drink some poison, which the character doesn't realise until it is too late.

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!

Dramatic irony is a writer's technique that presents knowledge to the reader/audience that the characters do not know.

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.