How Ironic! Verbal Irony, Situational Irony or Dramatic Irony?

Verbal IronyWhen an author or character says one thing but means something else.

• In verbal irony there is a discrepancy between the meaning of what the speaker says and what the situation indicates the speaker means by it.

• Verbal irony with an “edge” to it is sarcasm. If the speaker uses irony to give someone a “verbal jab,” that is sarcasm.

• The water in the building will be turned off for the next six hours. How wonderful!

(Having the water off is the opposite of wonderful.)

• You got straight A’s on your report card? I’m so disappointed!

(The speaker feels the opposite of disappointed.)

Teenagers and Parents excel at verbal irony:

After seeing that her son’s bedroom is still a disgusting pig sty, his mom says,

“Oh, I see you cleaned your room.

Verbal irony can also be expressed as overstatement or understatement.

• If my computer freezes again, I’m going to throw it out the window! – (The speaker is frustrated but overstates what he or she

will actually do.)

• I suppose that a seven-foot basketball player is rather tall. – (“Rather tall” understates the idea that the player is very

tall.

Situational Irony

Situational irony is an inconsistency between what the audience or reader expects, and what actually happens.

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony occurs when an audience or reader knows something that a character does not know. The audience is more aware than the characters in a work.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas – the viewer knows that the Grinch intends to ruin Christmas in Whoville, but the residents of Whoville don’t realize this.

And now for a delightful Irony Quiz!

you run into your date who is with another guy.

You break a date with your girlfriend so you can go to the ball game with the guys. When you go to the concession stand,

Movie: The audience knows that the wife poisoned the meal, but the husband doesn’t and he starts to eat it.

Picture #18

It’s such a thrill to find out that I’ll be spending the summer with a cast on my leg.

Juliet takes the sleeping potion** and Romeo thinks she’s dead so he kills himself.

** The audience knows this but Romeo does not!

Bill Gates winning a computer system.

Horror Movie: The audience knows that the teenagers should not go walking in the woods late at night, but the foolish teens think a midnight stroll would be romantic. Needless to say, they become the next victims.