Irony

irony, figure of speech in which what is stated is not what is meant. The user of irony assumes that his reader or listener understands the concealed meaning of his statement. Perhaps the simplest form of irony is rhetorical irony, when, for effect, a speaker says the direct opposite of what she means. Thus, in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, when Mark Antony refers in his funeral oration to Brutus and his fellow assassins as "honorable men" he is really saying that they are totally dishonorable and not to be trusted. Dramatic irony occurs in a play when the audience knows facts of which the characters in the play are ignorant. The most sustained example of dramatic irony is undoubtedly Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, in which Oedipus searches to find the murderer of the former king of Thebes, only to discover that it is himself, a fact the audience has known all along.

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irony

Language device in which the real intent is concealed or contradicted by the literal meaning of words or a situation. Verbal irony, either spoken or written, arises from an awareness of contrast between what is and what ought to be. Dramatic irony, an incongruity in a theatrical work between what is expected and what occurs, depends on the structure of a play rather than its use of words, and it is often created by the audience's awareness of a fate in store for the characters that they themselves do not suspect. See also figure of speech.

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Irony

See also Last Laugh.

Alvaro

attempt to disarm accidentally causes opponent’s death. [Ital. Opera: Verdi, La Forza del Destino, Westerman, 316]

Arrigo

fight for freedom means opposing new found father. [Ital. Opera: Verdi, Sicilian Vespers, Westerman, 308–309]

Artemidorus

presents Caesar with scroll outlining conspiracy; it remains unopened. [Br. Lit.: Julius Caesar]

Barabas

perishes in trap he set for Turks. [Br. Lit.: The Jew of Malta]

Barnaby Rudge

Dennis, the public hangman, is sentenced to be hanged on his own scaffold. [Br. Lit.: Dickens Barnaby Rudge]

Bazaroff

reformed radical; dies accidentally. [Russ. Lit.: Fathers and Sons]

Bel-Ami

subtitled: “The History of a Scoundrel.” [Fr. Lit.: Bel-Ami]

Bigger Thomas

finds freedom through killing and life’s meaning through death. [Am. Lit.: Native Son, Magill I, 643–645]

Bishop, the

dying in a delirium, he speaks of pomp and luxury rather than salvation. [Br. Poetry: Browning “The Bishop Orders His Tomb”]

Carlos, Don

loves bride he procured for his father. [Ital. Opera: Verdi, Don Carlos, Westerman, 319]

Cassandra

true prophet, doomed to go unbelieved. [Gk. Myth.: Espy, 40]

Catch-22

pleading insanity to leave army indicates sanity. [Am. Lit.: Catch-22]

Claudius

emperor-scholar in soldier-worshiping nation. [Br. Lit.: I, Claudius]

Così fan tutte

illustrates comically some shortcomings of feminine fidelity. [Ger. Opera: Mozart, Cosi fan tutte, Westerman, 97–98]

Creon

victim of his own harsh tyranny. [Gk. Lit.: Antigone]

Defender of the Faith

Henry VIII’s pre-Reformation title, conferred by Leo X. [Br. Hist.: Benét, 258]

Gaigern, Baron

attempts to rob ballerina; becomes her lover. [Ger. Lit.: Grand Hotel]

Gift of the Magi, The

young couple sell their dearest possessions to buy Christmas gifts for one another, discover that the sacrifice made the gifts unusable. [Am. Lit.: O. Henry The Gift of the Magi in Benét, 395]

Harmony Society

embraced communism and celibacy; the latter caused their extinction. [Am. Hist.: Hart, 349]

John of Balue

imprisoned in an iron cage he invented. [Br. Lit.: Quentin Durward]

Magic Mountain, The

sanatorium as escape from “insane world.” [Ger. Lit.: The Magic Mountain, Magill I, 545–547]

Mayor of Casterbridge, The

Henchard dies in care of man he tyrannized. [Br. Lit.: The Mayor of Casterbridge, Magill I, 571–573]

Modest Proposal, A

essay in which Swift advises the Irish to eat their babies or sell them in order to relieve famine and reduce overpopulation. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 677]

Otternschlag, Dr.

attempting suicide, discovers will to live. [Ger. Lit.: Grand Hotel]

Pagliaccio

clown forced to be funny despite breaking heart. [Ital. Opera: Leoncavallo, Pagliacci, Espy, 339]

Patterne, Sir Willoughby

egoist’s actions lead to self-defeat. [Br. Lit.: The Egoist, Magill I, 241–242]

Point, Jack

jester who must be funny even when events break his heart. [Br. Opera: Gilbert & Sullivan The Yeomen of the Guard]

Polycrates

tyrant of Athens who, renowned for his continual good fortune, is ignominiously trapped and crucified by an envious ruler. [Gk. Myth.: Benét, 801]

Popeye

murderer; hanged for murder he did not commit. [Am. Lit.: Sanctuary]

R. U.R

. robots, manufactured for man’s ease, revolt. [Czech. Lit.: R. U.R.]

Rachel

executed as Jewess; revealed to be Christian clergy-man’s daughter. [Fr. Opera: Halevy, The Jewess, Westerman, 168]

Rigoletto

arranges murder of daughter’s seducer; she dies instead. [Ital. Opera: Verdi, Rigoletto, Westerman, 299–300]

Sitzkrieg

“phony war”; lull between Polish conquest and invasion of France. [Eur. Hist.: Hitler, 815–819]

Sohrab

unaware, engages in single combat with Rustum, the father he had been seeking, and is slain. [Br. Poetry: Sohrab and Rustum in Benét, 943]

War of 1812

Jackson’s New Orleans victory occurred after treaty was signed. [Am. Hist.: Hart, 893]