What 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 refers to when the audience know something that the characters don’t.

Hi there!

Dramatic irony occurs in everyday life when a situation is happening and yet the person within the situation is unaware of what is occurring.

For example, if a person were to be mocking a friend for losing his wallet, but did not realize that he had also lost his own wallet, this would be dramatic irony.

It is a literary technique to keep the audience engaged that is normally applied in films, books or plays. In which the character is unaware of the scenario but the audience is not. A good exmaple of dramatic irony can be seen in William Shakespeare's plays A Midsomer Nights Dream , Othello and Romeo and Juliet.

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.

Hi Justice! Dramatic irony is a theatrical term used to define a moment on stage when the audience knows more than one or some of the characters in a scene. An example of this would be in An Inspector Calls, when Arthur Birling is talking about the Titanic being an 'unsinkable' ship. The contemporary audience of the play would have experienced dramatic irony as the play was written AFTER the Titanic famously sank on its maiden voyage. As students of Literature over 100 years later, we also know this!

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 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.

We know something you don't know

Dramatic Irony is when the audience knows something but the characters in the story does not.

Dramatic irony is a literary device where the reader (or audience, if you're studying a play), know something that the characters don't, or know more than they do about the narrative or plot. Like in horror films, a character might be hiding in a wardrobe from the killer, and they don't know the killer is right behind them - but we as the audience know. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to great effect in Romeo ad Juliet - at the end, the reader/audience knows that Juliet is not really dead but only sleeping, but Romeo, wrongly convinced she is dead, kills himself because he doesn't want to live without her. The fact the audience knew that Juliet was really alive is an example of dramatic irony.

When the audience know something that the characters do not.

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something that the characters don't.

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something that the characters do not

When the audience knows what's going on but the character doesn't... Think 'He's behind you!'

Dramatic irony is where a writer deliberately gives knowledge or understanding to the audience that the characters do not have knowledge of. A good example of this is in Romeo & Juliet, where the audience learns at the very start of the play how the play will end- with the main characters' deaths. This changes the way the audience views the events of the play.