Irony
Irony is a multifaceted literary device that has been utilized since ancient Greece in various forms of theater, encompassing both comic and tragic elements. The four primary subtypes of irony include verbal irony, dramatic irony, situational irony, and Socratic irony. Verbal irony involves a discrepancy between what is said and what is actually meant, often relying on context and tone for understanding. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience possesses knowledge that the characters do not, which creates a contrast that can amplify both humor and tension. Situational irony involves an outcome that is starkly different from what was expected, while Socratic irony refers to a character pretending to be ignorant to outsmart an opponent.
Historically, irony has been a significant narrative technique, seen in works from Aristophanes to Shakespeare, who expertly employed dramatic irony in plays like "Othello." The enduring appeal of irony continues into modern media, influencing genres ranging from satire in television to the twist endings characteristic of shows like "The Twilight Zone." In contemporary usage, irony has also evolved to describe a certain detachment from enthusiasm or sincerity, particularly in popular culture. Overall, irony serves as a powerful tool for storytelling, enhancing the complexity of characters and plot development while engaging audiences in unexpected ways.
On this Page
- Background
- Verbal irony occurs when a person says something that is contrary to his or her true feelings or situation, relying on their audience to understand the true meaning through factors such as context and tone. Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony, although the two are not synonymous. When, in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (ca. 1599), Marc Antony repeats that "Brutus is an honorable man" in a speech intended to sow doubt regarding Brutus’s morals, he is employing verbal irony. Verbal irony flourished in communities on the American frontier, where men shared similar experiences of hardship, often appearing in the acts of nineteenth-century minstrel performers such as Mart Taylor and John A. Stone. In mining camps during the California gold rush, where men greatly outnumbered women and lived in rags, Stone asked ironically what the difference between an honest and dishonest washerwoman was and replied, "Why de former irons your linen and de later one steels it." Everyone in the room understood the irony: the point of honesty or dishonesty was moot because there were no women and most of the men were compelled to wash and mend their own clothes.
- Impact
- Bibliography
Subject Terms
Irony
Irony is a literary device first used by the ancient Greeks in both comic and tragic theater. There are several common subtypes of irony: verbal, dramatic, situational, and Socratic. Verbal irony is a figure of speech in which the meaning is contrary to the words used. Dramatic irony is a plot device in which the audience knows more than the protagonist; there is a strong contrast between what the protagonist understands about his or her acts and what the plot unfolds about them. Situational irony arises when there is an incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs. Finally, Socratic irony entails a character feigning ignorance or stupidity to outwit an adversary.
Background
Aristotle (384–322 BCE), in his Nicomachean Ethics (350 BCE), chronicled the work of Greek comic playwright Aristophanes (384–322 BCE), who created the comic stock character of Eiron, a clever underdog who triumphs over his boastful opponent, Alazon, with use of wit. It is from this character that the term "irony" is derived; the type of irony employed in these plays has become known as Socratic irony.
Dramatic irony is a situational form of irony that also originated in Greece, in which the audience is aware of some important information of which the characters are unaware, causing the characters’ words and actions to take on a different meaning. Dramatic irony can be used for humor or suspense but is used particularly frequently in tragedies. The play Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles (ca. 497–406 BCE) and first performed in about 429 BCE, is a famous example. In it the audience knows that the stranger Oedipus has killed is his father and the queen he has married is his mother, but Oedipus himself does not discover these things until the play’s climax. William Shakespeare (1564–1619) was a master of dramatic irony, which appears in many of his plays, comedy and tragedy alike. In his Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (ca. 1603), Othello believes that his wife, Desdemona, has been unfaithful to him and that the scheming Iago is a true friend. The audience, however, being privy to Iago’s actions when Othello is not onstage, is aware that Desdemona is innocent and that Iago has lied about her in a plot to bring about Othello’s downfall.
Verbal irony occurs when a person says something that is contrary to his or her true feelings or situation, relying on their audience to understand the true meaning through factors such as context and tone. Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony, although the two are not synonymous. When, in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (ca. 1599), Marc Antony repeats that "Brutus is an honorable man" in a speech intended to sow doubt regarding Brutus’s morals, he is employing verbal irony. Verbal irony flourished in communities on the American frontier, where men shared similar experiences of hardship, often appearing in the acts of nineteenth-century minstrel performers such as Mart Taylor and John A. Stone. In mining camps during the California gold rush, where men greatly outnumbered women and lived in rags, Stone asked ironically what the difference between an honest and dishonest washerwoman was and replied, "Why de former irons your linen and de later one steels it." Everyone in the room understood the irony: the point of honesty or dishonesty was moot because there were no women and most of the men were compelled to wash and mend their own clothes.
Situational irony, in which the outcome of a situation is the opposite of what the characters involved (and sometimes the audience as well) have been led to believe it will be, has also been a common literary device for many centuries. Oedipus Rex, in addition to its dramatic irony, contains elements of situational irony as well. Given the prophecy that Oedipus will one day kill his father and marry his mother, his parents abandon him to prevent this from occurring. This leads Oedipus to grow up knowing nothing of his parents’ identities and bringing about the very circumstances that allow for the prophecy’s fulfillment. Another well-known example of situational irony is O. Henry’s short story "The Gift of the Magi," in which a woman sells her long hair to buy a chain for her husband’s prized pocket watch, only to learn that he has sold his pocket watch to buy her combs for her hair.
Impact
The many variations of irony have endured as literary and dramatic devices from the fables of Aesop to contemporary music. Verbal irony, in addition to its use in everyday conversation, is a major feature of satires such as The Colbert Report (2005–), a parodic news show mocking US politics. Situational irony was a favorite device of the well-regarded science-fiction series The Twilight Zone (1959–64, 1985-–89, 2002–3), whose episodes often ended with twists that subverted viewer expectations. The film director Alfred Hitchcock often made use of dramatic irony for the sake of suspense, as in his 1948 film Rope, centered around a dinner party taking place in a room in which, the audience knows, the body of a murder victim is hidden. In the detective series Columbo (1968–78, 1989–2003), the protagonist, Lieutenant Columbo, makes use of Socratic irony, feigning naiveté to get ahead of the criminals he pursues; they underestimate his investigative skills and relax their guard, enabling him to outwit them and solve the crime.
Beginning in the 1990s, the definition of irony came to include an attitude of detachment from life and a lack of sincere enthusiasm for anything. This definition of irony, popularized by television shows such as the highly successful sitcom Seinfeld, remains in common use in the twenty-first century.
Bibliography
Anderson, Amanda. The Powers of Distance: Cosmopolitanism and the Cultivation of Detachment. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2001. Print.
Booth, Wayne C. A Rhetoric of Irony. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1974. Print.
Dane, J. A. The Critical Mythology of Irony. Athens: U of Georgia P, 2011. Print.
Day, Amber. Satire and Dissent: Interventions in Contemporary Political Debate. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2011. Print.
Haiman, John. Talk is Cheap: Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Language. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.
Lear, Jonathan. A Case for Irony. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2011. Print.
Lievoise, Katrien, and Pierre Schoentjes. Translating Irony. Antwerp: Artesis U College, Dept. of Translators and Interpreters, 2010. Print.
Newman, Kevin. Irony on Occasion: From Schlegel and Kierkegaard to Derrica and de Man. New York: Fordham UP, 2012. Print.
Onyeoziri, Gloria Nne. Shaken Wisdom: Irony and Meaning in Postcolonial African Fiction. Charlottesville: U of Virginia P, 2011. Print.
Rainford, Lydia. She Changes by Intrigue: Irony, Femininity, and Feminism. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005. Print.