Irony in literature comes in three main types: dramatic, situational, and verbal. Irony creates a difference between what is expected and what is real, adding suspense and intrigue to storylines. Situational irony has an unexpected outcome, while verbal irony occurs when a character says something but means something else. Dramatic irony happens when the audience knows more than the characters. Irony can make people think, laugh, or shock them.
Dramatic irony, situational irony and verbal irony are the three main types of irony in literature. The basis of the irony is that there is a difference between what is expected and what is real. Overall, irony deals with the unexpected. The purpose of irony can be to make people think, to make people laugh, or simply to shock. Irony can also serve to add suspense and intrigue to story lines.
Situational irony, one of the easiest types of irony to recognize, implies that the actual outcome is very different from the intended outcome. If a character in a novel is a bad guy who robs a bank and puts many other people in danger, then it might be unexpected for him to get away with all the money he wants without getting caught. A beautiful and warm story about a little girl who receives a bird for her birthday might contain situational irony if it turns out that, unbeknownst to her parents, she is allergic to birds and quickly becomes ill, necessitating the bird’s removal. his new pet. Situational irony often helps keep readers interested and guessing what might happen next, because it’s not easy to predict.
Another major type of irony, verbal irony, occurs when a character says one thing but means something else entirely. Take two characters who are colleagues who work in an office and talk about their boss, Dr. Young, for example. One of them might say, “There’s nothing I’d like more than to see Dr. Young right now.” While the character saying this might mean they’d like to see their boss so they can punch the man, whom they despise, their coworker might think it means he thinks highly of their boss and would like to see him. . Verbal irony is sometimes easy to spot in literature; other times it is more subtle and requires some thought.
Dramatic irony, also a major type of irony, occurs in literature when one or more characters are missing a vital piece of information that has been provided to the audience. In a comedy, for example, if a couple has decided to separate rather than marry, but their unsuspecting families are busily preparing for their wedding, then this is considered dramatic irony. With dramatic irony, audiences always know more than the individual characters in a story.
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