What is dramatic irony?

A situation in plays where the words and actions are known to the audience but not to the character.

It's when the audience can see an event unfold before the character even knows it's going to happen.

Dramatic irony is a writer's technique that presents knowledge to the reader/audience that the characters do not know.

Dramatic Irony is when the audience know something that the characters do not. This creates an interesting dynamic because it will usually reveal something about what will happen later in the story or show us a detail about a character's personality.

Dramatic irony is when something is known to the audience but not to the character. It can be the secret of another character, an event, or information that is shared with the audience but not with the character.

Dramatic irony is a technique used in literature whereby the audience knows something that a character does not. Juliet's death in Romeo and Juliet is an example of this; Romeo kills himself because he believes Juliet is dead, but the audience knows she's simply asleep.

Dramatic irony is a literary technique by which you as an audience/reader member know more than the characters within the story. The characters' actions have a different meaning for the audience than they do for the actors or characters, and this device often lends itself to tragedy

Dramatic Irony is when that audience knows something that the characters do not.

For example in ‘An Inspector Calls’ Mr Birling calls the Titanic ‘unsinkable’ however because the play was written after the Titanic sank, we (the audience) know he is wrong, so dramatic irony is being used.

Dramatic Irony is a literary device used in various different plays/books, its when the audience's or reader's understanding of events etc surpasses that of its characters for example in Macbeth when king Duncan arrives at Macbeths castle he says "this castle hath a PLEASANT seat" this is dramatic irony as we know it is not actually going to be pleasant and we know that is where Duncan dies

Dramatic Irony, is mainly used in theatres or other types of media such as television shows or films. This is when the audience such as the viewers are aware of a certain piece of information this can be very crucial information however the characters in the play/show is unaware of this - thus they are left in the dark. An example would be if the audience in the play shout 'Don't enter the house' - the character is unaware of what is in the house and therefore doesn't suspect anything whilst the audience already knows what kind of dangers may lie in the house.

A literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions is clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.

Hi Justice,

In its simplest form - have you ever been to a pantomime at Christmas and the main character on stage can't see the person behind them and asks the audience where they are?

"They're behind you!" is the response from the audience and much hilarity is had when they turn around and the person hiding behind them moves out of sight.

This is dramatic irony. When the audience knows things about the story or the characters on stage that the characters do not.

Playwrights use this device a lot to get the audience to feel tension for the characters on stage.

Dramatic irony - where the audience knows something that the characters do not.

When the audience knows something the characters do not.

Dramatic irony is when the audience or reader are aware of the significance of something that the character is not. For example, in 'Macbeth' Lady Macbeth faints upon discovering King Duncan's death. However, we, as the audience, know that moments earlier she was smearing the guards in Duncan's blood! In this instance, this is important because it helps us understand how cunning and deceptive Lady Macbeth is.

Dramatic irony is when the audience of a play, or the reader of a story, knows something that a character in the play or the story, does not know. For example, a character may state, 'I'm really looking forward to getting back to my own house, and my own bed', after being away for two weeks. However, the reader knows that in his absence, his house has been burgled, and turned upside down. The reader knows that his optimism, looking forward to going home, is misplaced.