dramatic irony

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dramatic irony

A contrast in storytelling, as in a play or novel, between what a character believes is true, as revealed by dialogue or action, and what the audience or reader knows is true.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dramatic irony

(Theatre) theatre the irony occurring when the implications of a situation, speech, etc, are understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dramat′ic i′rony

irony derived from the audience's understanding of a speech or a situation not grasped by the characters in a dramatic piece.

[1905–10]

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Noun

dramatic irony - (theater) irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play

dramatic art, dramaturgy, theater, theatre, dramatics - the art of writing and producing plays

irony - a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs

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The audience share a collective understanding of both the present and future in terms of time, and this can be shared with some theatrical characters and not with others, mostly depending on certain situations of dramatic irony. This overall relationship between temporality and dramatic form leads to suspense.

Temporality, Genre and Experience in the Age of Shakespeare: Forms of Time

??????a; drama: discrepant awareness and dramatic irony; and genre, innovation, and Johannine characterization.

The Fourth Gospel and the Manufacture of Minds in Ancient Historiography, Biography, Romance, and Drama

Dramatic irony highlights the reality that she has herself to thank for most of her troubles, with other obstacles arising from mere vagaries.

More Than Bones

The story drips with dramatic irony since readers hear the tale from both the assassin and the spy hired to protect the queen.

Boecker, Virginia. An Assassin's Guide to Love and Treason

Leigh values dramatic irony over melodrama, spectacle, storytelling and appealing characters, so it's a long wait for the shocking atrocity, and caricaturing the braying upper classes undermines efforts to condemn them.

PETERLOO (12A)

In dramatic irony, PTI applied a correction course through a belated 126 days dharna with PAT.

Do or die

The themes are brought out through the use of dramatic irony, suspense and foreshadow, among other styles.

Role of women in a man's world as portrayed in Ibsen's 'A Doll's House'

Theatrical and cinematic, the tale wields a subtle but powerful dramatic irony, undermining the characters' struggles as they construct a new reality for themselves while also safeguarding the dignity of each personage amidst a reign of barbarism.

Ibrahim Nasrallah: Gaza Weddings

Padmore's approach, and his undoubted skill as vocal narrator, gave the cycle consistency but the gain in dramatic irony soured and undercut the early songs' lyrical beauty.

Die Schone Mullerin

Valles said the completely different experiences of the two pave the way for a dramatic irony in the play, which he said is a key ingredient in any storytelling.

Let's talk about sex: Juan Ekis' '20 Questions' brings audience to seat of action

In one brilliant sequence, he uses dramatic irony to explain dramatic irony with a solemn attention to bizarre detail that is both ludicrous and educational.