Irony In Romeo And Juliet

Irony, a key element to a tragic play like Macbeth, has the ability to make the tragic hero appear more villainous or the down-fall seem even more tragic.

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragic story about two lovers who are from two disputing families, and their eventual suicides. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony throughout the play to create tension for the audience and foreshadow the ending. Dramatic irony is when the words or actions of characters in a story have a different meaning to the reader than to the characters. This is because the reader knows something that the characters do not. Romeo and Juliet’s death could have been prevented if the characters in the story weren’t so ignorant of their situations, and often times the reader recognizes this.

Romeo and Juliets is a tragic love story but it is the meaning behind the words that made it such a beautiful play. Romeo and Juliet’s dreadful events took place in Verona. Juliet born into the Capulet family and Romeo being a Montague destined to be enemies but fall deeply in love. The audience knows the love between the characters because of the significance behind Shakespeare’s dialogue.

In Act 3 scene I, we see dramatic irony right from the start when the

It is often said that irony is the vital literary element to a story because it gives the story character. Whether it changes the mood, creates suspense, adds foreshadowing, engages the reader or something else, irony can do many things for a story.

“Some men just want to watch the world burn,” (Alfred [Michael Caine,] Batman; The Dark Knight). William Shakespeare uses a variety of literary devices throughout his works, but his use of dramatic irony specifically puts his readers at the edge of their seats. Being full of jealousy and betrayal, the plot of Othello is guided by this playwright’s usage of dramatic irony. Through the use of dramatic irony and characterization Shakespeare creates Iago, the most sinister character in all of literature.

It was the way he crinkled his nose when he smiled. It was the way he laughed. He didn’t laugh like one of those goofy guys who giggled and covered their mouths as if they were embarrassed by their own laughter. No. Not him. He threw his head back and let his happiness overflow. He laughed until his sides ached and his mouth felt numb. We laughed until we could laugh no more.

In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet there are many instances of dramatic irony where the reader or audience member knows something that the characters don’t. On instance is when Friar Lawrence is the only person that knows that Juliet really isn’t dead she is just sleeping, but her parents and nurse don’t know. Which leads to her family and her nurse to freak out and start planning a funeral instead of a wedding. The reader can then predict that when the family and friends arrive to the funeral and they don’t see her things will start to get suspicious. Shakespeare includes many examples of dramatic irony throughout the play including act four where the audience and reader know something that the characters do not know to add dramatic effect and a longer story to watch.

Irony is when something happens other than what is expected. Kevin Powers shows irony in D when he explains how he was “taught your whole life there is no making up for what you are doing… then even your mother is so happy and proud” (Powers). He was taught his entire life one thing but is later praised for doing the opposite. Wilfred Owen uses irony in a different way in B. Owen is sarcastic when he says “you would not tell/… children ardent for some desperate glory” (owen). He does not believe children should be taught to fight war. Powers life was ironic because “you are a coward/and, really, cowardice got you into this mess because you wanted to be a man” (powers). The author shows irony by trying to avoid being a coward thus becoming more cowardice.

Here Othello is telling Desdemona that even God knows that she has been unfaithful as hell. Irony comes from that Othello is actually the one who is wrong as hell. Othello easily believes the most dishonest person thoughout the play and is willing to kill is wife becuase of that belief. That blind belief can attribute to the ignorance of Othello. Othello adamentaly believes that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him no matter how many times she swears that she wasn’t. Logically, Othello should listen to his wife, or even ask if she was unfaithful before deciding to kill her.

Irony in entertainment isn’t something new though. In greek tragedies, famous playwrights used irony to entertain audiences for years. Sophicles used irony in one of his most famous plays, “Oedipus” where a young couple, who were King and Queen of a land, were told by a prophecy that their son would kill the father. Frightened by this knowledge, they took their son and chained him to a mountain far away. A shepherd found the boy and raised him as his own. The boy grew to become a man, and, while walking on a path, was told to move so that a royal coach may pass. He didn’t want to move and ended up killing all of the guards and the king himself. He then ventured to the next town, which happened to be the city where his parents ruled, and wound up marrying the queen. When they found out what had happened, he took a pin and jabbed out his eyes. The Greeks knew that word as ironia, which is latin. They knew it to mean dissimulation, ignorance purposely affected.

R. B. Sharpe defines irony as “an attitude, a temper, a spirit in which one looks at life and art. It brings to light and emphasizes by art the contradictions of living.” G. G. Sedgewick gives the following definition of dramatic irony: “Dramatic irony, in brief, is the sense of contradiction felt by spectators of a drama who see a character acting in ignorance of his condition. This is dramatic irony in its concentrated and specific form: it grows … out of that pervasive and controlling knowledge which we have called general irony and which is the property peculiar and essential to the illusion of the theatre.”

R. B. Sharpe defines irony as “an attitude, a temper, a spirit in which one looks at life and art. It brings to light and emphasizes by art the contradictions of living.” G. G. Sedgewick gives the following definition of dramatic irony: “Dramatic irony, in brief, is the sense of contradiction felt by spectators of a drama who see a character acting in ignorance of his condition. This is dramatic irony in its concentrated and specific form: it grows … out of that pervasive and controlling knowledge which we have called general irony and which is the property peculiar and essential to the illusion of the theatre.”

R. B. Sharpe defines irony as “an attitude, a temper, a spirit in which one looks at life and art. It brings to light and emphasizes by art the contradictions of living.” G. G. Sedgewick gives the following definition of dramatic irony: “Dramatic irony, in brief, is the sense of contradiction felt by spectators of a drama who see a character acting in ignorance of his condition. This is dramatic irony in its concentrated and specific form: it grows … out of that pervasive and controlling knowledge which we have called general irony and which is the property peculiar and essential to the illusion of the theatre.”

Dramatic irony is a common literary tool used in modern literature that was used in Shakespeare's time to present the feeling of suspense in the audience. Chris Chandler is a journalist who is trying to figure out where the movement started in the book Pay It Forward,