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Definition of Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given situation, and that of the... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a... read full definition
Key Examples in A Moveable Feast
Chapter 13: The Man Who Was Marked for Death
Explanation and Analysis—Walsh's Con:
In Chapter 13, Hemingway recalls a time when a colleague, Ernest Walsh, convinced him that he was guaranteed to win an award if he submitted work to Walsh's new magazine. The chapter ends on a note of dramatic irony when Hemingway and James Joyce, years later, realize that Walsh used pathos to manipulate both of them:
One day, years later, I met Joyce who was walking along the Boulevard St.-Germain after having been to a matinee alone....
“Now about Walsh,” Joyce said.
“A such and such alive is a such and such dead,” I said.
“Did he promise you that award?” Joyce asked.
“Yes.”
“I thought so,” Joyce said.
“Did he promise it to you?”
“Yes,” Joyce said. After a time he asked, “Do you think he promised it to Pound?”
“I don’t know.”
“Best not to ask him,” Joyce said. We left it at that.
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