A Doll's House

In an act of both foreshadowing and dramatic irony, during Act One, Torvald criticizes Krogstad’s forgery and deception, declaring that such acts will inevitably have a poisonous effect on the man’s children:

Just think how a man with a thing like that on his conscience will always be having to lie and cheat and dissemble; he can never drop the mask, not even with his own wife and children. And the children—that’s the most terrible part of it, Nora [...] A fog of lies like that in a household, and it spreads disease and infection to every part of it. Every breath the children take in that kind of house is reeking evil germs.

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Nora, chafing at constantly being underestimated, ends up confiding in Mrs. Linde near the start of Act 1, seemingly wanting to discreetly unburden herself by sharing her secret about the loan. In an act of situational irony, though, Nora’s attempt to ease some of her worries and frustrations ultimately exacerbates her circumstances later in the play: 

Nora: You’re just like the rest of them. You all think I’m useless when it comes to anything really serious…

Mrs. Linde: Come, come…

Nora: You think I’ve never had anything much to contend with in this hard world.

Mrs. Linde: Nora dear, you’ve only just been telling me all the things you've had to put up with.

Nora: Pooh! They were just trivialities! [Softly.] I haven’t told you about the really big thing. [...] Nobody must know about it, Kristine, nobody but you.

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Dr. Rank’s enjoyment and indulgence of all things unhealthy and decadent following the diagnosis of his terminal illness is an example of situational irony, especially considering that he traces his spinal tuberculosis to his father’s own possession of these habits:

Torvald.: You seemed to be having a pretty good time upstairs yourself.

Rank: Capital! Why shouldn’t I? Why not make the most of things in this world? At least as much as one can, and for as long as one can. The wine was excellent [...] Well, why shouldn’t a man allow himself a jolly evening after a day well spent?

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As Nora and Torvald argue in the aftermath of the big reveal regarding her loan, Torvald asserts that no one could ever sacrifice their honor in the name of love, calling Nora a stupid child for thinking so in a perfect example of situational irony:

Nora: All the time Krogstad’s letter lay there, it never so much as crossed my mind that you would ever submit to that man’s conditions. I was absolutely convinced you would say to him: Tell the whole wide world if you like. [...] When that was done, I was absolutely convinced you would come forward and take everything on yourself, and say: I am the guilty one. [...]

Torvald: I would gladly toil day and night for you, Nora, enduring all manner of sorrow and distress. But nobody sacrifices his honor for the one he loves.

Nora: Hundreds and thousands of women have.

Torvald: Oh, you think and talk like a stupid child.

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