Thursday, February 26, 2009

Dramatic Irony

Our next piece of literature, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, uses the literary device dramatic irony for several specific reasons. Without knowledge of the play, and only the literary device, try to attempt to answer the following questions:
What is dramatic irony?
Why do you think author's use it?
What does it do for our experience as readers?
Please give an example of dramatic irony from either literature , drama or movies.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Dramatic irony is drawn to characters having a dramatic action/scene. Authors use dramatic irony to have suspense in stories and novels to us readers. As readers, we see this as an interesting sensation. We tend to find it interesting to find out what’s going to happen next. It makes a cliff hanger for us because the dramatic structure of a story is very interesting. A dramatic irony is in another one of Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. As readers we wondered if they’d be together or not. Finding out that they both died for no reason. As readers we didn’t sense this coming. The dramatic irony in the graveyard was a shock. It made a really interesting ending to the play.

Unknown said...

Dramatic irony is irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. Authors use this tool to make a story or movie more interesting. Commonly dramatic irony is used in scary movies. The character doesn’t know what’s lurking around the corner but the audience does. This causes suspense and nerves. An example would be any scary movie one of my favorites is the shinning.

john said...

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows that an event is going to happen and the character does not know what is going to happen. Authors use it because it adds suspense and drama to the literary work or movie. One example of Dramatic irony is in Goodfellas when Tommy D dies. We know they are going to kill him but he doesn’t know. Another example of Dramatic irony is in The Godfather when we know Michael Corleone is going to kill Tattaglia and Barzini but they are unaware of this.

Alex said...

Dramatic Irony is a literary device that is used when the reader knows what will happen next but the characters in the novel do not know. Authors use dramatic irony to give the reader more thoughts about the book. Since they know what will happen, anyone can think what will happen to the characters as the event comes up. When your reading a story where you can wonder what will lead up to such a big event, you get excited to read more. A good example of dramatic irony would be the death of Romeo and Juliette. The reader knew for most of the story that Romeo and Juliette were going to die. Though many readers did not know how. Thinking about how the two lovers will die put a little more interest in the story.

FitretY said...

Dramatic irony is when there is a difference between the straight-forward meaning of something that occurs in a work of literature and the deeper meaning that the audience understands, but the characters do not. Authors might use dramatic irony to allow the readers to know more about the story than the characters so that they can better understand what is happening, why it is happening, and to better explain what may occur in the future. As readers dramatic irony causes the reader to enjoy the story more because they are not confused along with the characters, but rather understand what is going on and may concentrate on the story line. An example of dramatic irony in a work of literature is in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. In the novel, the audience knows who Romeo and Juliet are when they meet at the ball, but none of the other main characters know yet. Another example is when Juliet forged her death to be with Romeo, but the message was never sent to Romeo. Romeo believed that Juliet was truly dead, but the audience understood that this was not the case. These are two excellent examples of dramatic irony.

Joe said...

Dramatic Irony: Dramatic irony is used to give the readers more information than the characters in the book. Dramatic irony is not usually directly stated, but it is put into play using forshadowing and basic inferences. The readers know upcoming events before the characters know. Authors use dramatic irony to give the readers important information in order to better understand and enjoy the novel. As readers, we benefit greatly from dramatic irony. We learn more and are able to uncover more mysteries than if we were to be left with only the knowledge that the characters have. Many times, dramatic irony is seen in horor films. When we are watching, we have the ability to anticipate and prepare for something bad to happen even if the characters have no clue. To make the experience even more fulfilling, the writers can lead you to think that something is going to happen and then have nothing happen at all.

Alex Worcester said...

Dramatic irony is a literary device that gives the reader more knowledge than the character. I think that authors use dramatic irony because it plugs the reader into the book. It makes the reader empowered. It makes the book more addicting to read because it causes suspense because we know something that the character doesn't and we want to see what that character does. Does he/she do the right or wrong decision. Did he make the decision you would have made. Dramatic irony brings up all of these questions. It adds so much interest to a boo and that is why Julius Caesar was so popular. An example of dramatic Irony is in most horror movies. For instance Jason, We see the character in her room and we know that Jason is outside coming to kill her but she is completely unaware. We know more than the character and in this situation it adds a great deal of suspense. We think in our heads "run run run run" but the character is blissfully unaware of her impending doom/decapitation.
-Alex Worcester

Nick said...

Dramatic irony is the presentation of critical information to the audience from the author that the character is unaware of. Authors use dramatic irony as an attraction to the reader, it provides tension and thrill. For the reader it provides an urge to keep going in order to find out what will happen. Outside of the many scary movies that use this technique dramatic irony is also used in Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. Also one of the over looked example might be the Titanic, because we knew that the boat was destined to sink but all of the passengers were completely oblivious.

j.rose said...

Dramatic irony is an intense moment in a piece of literature when an audience knows what is about to happen, but the characters in the piece of literature do not. Authors use this technique because it heats up the story. The audience is normally on the edge of there seat to see how the issue plays out. It teaches readers to always expect the unexpected, and take in account all possible outcomes for a situation. A great example of dramatic irony is in The Goodfellas when Jimmy decides he is going to kill Morrie. The audience is aware of what is going to happen, but Morrie does not know he is going to die. This is very interesting to see how Morrie will react.

Isaac said...

Due to its context, dramatic irony is an outcome that is expected but at the same time unexpected. What is dramatic about it is that the audience can clearly understand what is happening when a character doesn't. This is often used in horror or thriller films in which an ominous atmosphere is enough to give suspense. Dramatic irony can also take form in twist endings which surprise the audience. One example of that is the movie I Am Legend in which we think the creatures are mindless monsters but in the end we see that they have a good reason for being hostile.

mirrorbender said...

Dramatic Irony is when the reader is given important information that is kept secret from the main character(s). Its main use in literature is to provide suspense. By letting g the audience in on the secret, the author is able to engage the reader by letting them know about what will happen if a character makes a wrong move, and it leaves readers biting their nail while rooting for the blissfully ignorant hero to avoid the trap that they know has been set for him. It makes the literary experience much more interesting and engaging for the reader when they have information that they wish that they could tell the characters in the story. An great example of dramatic irony can be found in the film August Rush, a film about a musical protégé who is searching for his lost parents. During one scene, August and his father are playing guitar together, but they do not know that they are father and son. This is agonizing for viewers, who do know about the relationship, and it keeps moviegoers glued to their seats to find out what happens next.

William Gould said...

Dramatic Irony occurs when the audience knows something the characters do not. Authors use this literary device to deepen the interest in their story. For the readers dramatic irony builds a connection between them and the plot making them more evolved in the fate of the characters. A specific example of dramatic irony occurring is in the movie Lion King when we the audience knows Scar is plotting Mufasa’s death even though the characters don’t.

will said...

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows more then the character. Author's use this literary device because it makes the piece of literature more suspenseful. For a reader dramatic irony puts us on the edge of our seat. All that I can think of is like in a horror movie when the audience knows that behind the door that the character is a bout to open is the monster. So the audience is like don't open the door.

Cherag said...

Dramatic irony is the dramatic effect achieved by leading an audience to understand an incongruity between a situation and the accompanying speeches, while the characters in the play remain unaware of the incongruity. The use of this literary devise is to create suspence for the reader. It gives readers somerthign to look on in the book and it makes us want to read more and explains correct structure in an essay when using dramatic irony. For the reader to see Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare makes it so that the reader wants to know if they will be able to proclaim true love infront of the world, which in the end they turned out be dead.

Abz Gingrande said...

"1. (noun) dramatic irony
is a particular kind of irony used on the stage or screen. It occurs when the audience knows more about a character than the character on stage does. Hence, in a childhood pantomime, you want to call to 'Jack' that 'the giant' is behind him - and you do! But in a play (or on TV), you simply cannot call out - yet the involvement you feel with the play is intense at that moment: you almost become a conspirator to the action. ".
I think author's use irony in their writings leave the readers to ponder on what is meant through the text. Irony creates a great closeness to a text and a feeling of satisfaction when the irony is recognized and understood.
In the show 24, a good example is the first season when Senator Palmer's aides and CTU both tell him that they believe Jack Bauer is a threat to him and his family and he's convinced Bauer holds him responsible for the deaths of his men in a mission some years ago; when in fact, Jack Bauer and his family are going through hell because Bauer is trying to keep him safe.