What is dramatic irony?

Dramatic irony is when the reader/audience is aware of something occurring in a story or play, but the characters aren’t aware of yet. An example would be in Shakespeare’s play “Othello”. Iago is a character that talks to the audience about his schemes and plans to destroy Othello, and Othello is not aware of this.

When the author employs dramatic irony, the desired effect is humour. Usually because the audience is aware of something that the character is not. For example in An Inspector Calls when Mr Birling declares the Titanic is 'Unsinkable.' As a modern day audience we know the Titanic did sink, and so this is to humour the audience and undermine the character of Birling.

Dramatic irony is a technique used in drama (strange, that!) in which the audience know something that the person on screen/stage does not.

For example, imagine you're watching a film and the main character is walking through the park. We see somebody is following them. The main character hasn't realised they're being followed - but we know! We can't warn them, or tell them what is happening - and this creates tension. That's dramatic irony.

Another example is in Shakespeare - at the end of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo kills himself by taking poison, because he believes Juliet is dead. We, the audience, know she is alive! But we cannot tell Romeo in order to save him, and instead have to watch him die. That's dramatic irony.

This is when the character (usually in a play) doesn't know what's going on, but the audience does.

Dramatic irony is a literary technique that originated from Greek tragedy. Simply put, when a character's/speaker's words are dramatically clear as untrue to the reader/audience whilst being much less obvious or completely unknown to the character/speaker. An example of this could be Mr Birling from Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls' stating that the Titanic is "absolutely unsinkable".

Dramatic Irony is a literary technique used to display the opposite meaning of what one is trying to convey. Usually this would be used in a humorous context to provide dry wit within the text and to add expression to a character. It can also be used to place readers with the power of knowing characters true intentions whereas others in the book may not be aware. Shakespeare uses this technique often when readers are aware a character is about to be murdered or something fatal is about to happen.

Dramatic Irony is the audience are aware of something that characters on stage are not aware of.

Dramatic irony is a writing technique often used in storytelling as a means to build tension and create a sense of anticipation in the reader. It is where the reader is privy to information that the character is unaware of. It is used a lot in Greek tragedy.

Dramatic irony is a dramatic technique or plot device in which the audience knows something that a character doesn't, or they understand more about a situation than the character does. Dramatic irony has the effect of bringing different meaning to the words and actions of the characters, such as suspense or humour, depending on the intention of the writer. It's effective because of its impact upon the audience. This form of irony generates curiosity and encourages the audience to anticipate, hope, perhaps even fear the moment when a character learns the truth.

For example, a character may be under the impression that their romantic partner is planning on leaving them, but the audience knows that they intend to propose because of the character's words and actions experienced from the text. This would intensify the emotional response of the reader.

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows (***Spoiler alert***) that Juliet is in a drugged sleep. When Romeo mistakenly thinks she is dead and commits suicide, the audience is shocked and feels a deep sense of helplessness.

Another popular example is from horror films. A character is about to enter a house that they think is empty, but the audience knows there is a killer inside intent on murdering them. This creates suspense.

Dramatic irony, then, creates tension by concealing information from the character. The audience, or reader, will know the causes of conflicts and their resolutions before the characters, hence the character's words and/or actions taking on different meanings that create different effects.

Dramatic irony usually applies to plays. It is where the audience are aware of something happening that the people on stage are not. It is used to foreshadow certain events and build tension and suspense.

Dramatic Irony occurs when the audience (if it's a play) or the reader knows something that the characters don't. When the character's words or actions have a greater significance to the audience than themselves, we label it as 'dramatic irony'. The most famous example of dramatic irony is 'Romeo and Juliet.' Juliet takes a drink to give her the appearance of having died, when actually she is merely unconscious. Romeo had no idea that Juliet was faking her death; he thought she had really died! When he sees her he is overcome by grief, and decides to take his own life. This is an example of dramatic irony: we the audience know something (i.e: Juliet is alive) that the character on stage (i.e: poor, heartbroken Romeo) did not.

Dramatic Irony was originally used in Ancient Greek Theatre and is an important dramatic device used in tragedy.

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!