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Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Key Examples in A Streetcar Named Desire
Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Liquor Goes Fast:
A moment of verbal irony occurs when Stanley picks up and inspects the bottle of whiskey that Blanche has been drinking from after arriving in New Orleans. As he holds the bottle up to the light, he comments:
STANLEY: Liquor goes fast in hot weather.
[He holds the bottle to the light to observe its depletion]
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Elysian Fields:
The journey Blanche takes to get to Stanley and Stella's apartment when she first arrives in New Orleans is full of allusions to Greek mythology. These allusions create situational irony for the audience, as they imply Blanche is headed for heaven when she certainly isn't. She tells Eunice and the woman sitting outside the Elysian Fields house that:
Unlock with LitCharts A+BLANCHE: They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!
Related Themes:
Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—50% Illusion:
During the interaction in Scene 2 where she’s being interrogated about the Belle Reve papers, Blanche teasingly (and ironically) “admits” to her tendency to deceive people. She does so by making a general statement about how women behave:
Unlock with LitCharts A+BLANCHE: I know I fib a good deal. After all, a woman's charm is fifty percent illusion.
Related Themes:
Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—In The Dark:
In an example of dramatic irony, Stella tells Blanche that Stanley’s violence is worth it to her, implying that this is the case because she's a physical, sexual person like her husband:
Unlock with LitCharts A+STELLA: But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark—that sort of make everything else seem—unimportant
Related Themes:
Scene 11
Explanation and Analysis—Kindness of Strangers:
In the final act of the play, Blanche's interaction with the doctor who comes to take her to the mental hospital is full of dramatic irony. As she is being led away, Blanche murmurs:
Unlock with LitCharts A+BLANCHE: Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers
Related Themes:
