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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 All's Well that Ends Well
Act 4, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—The Grave of It:
In Act 4, Scene 3, the First Lord employs a metaphor to assure the Second he won’t repeat what he’s being told, using a metaphor referring to death. Shakespeare also employs dramatic irony as the First Lord declares:
When you have spoken it, ’tis dead, and I am the grave of it.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Double-Meaning Prophesier:
Shakespeare utilizes dramatic irony and simile in Bertram’s dialogue as he talks to soldiers about Parolles. Bertram states:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I mean the business is not ended as fearing to hear of it hereafter. But shall we have this dialogue between the Fool and the Soldier? [...] He has deceived me like a double-meaning prophesier.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Parrolles the Cat:
Parrolles finds himself being interrogated in Act 4, Scene 3, completely unaware that his captors are his colleagues in disguise. The dialogue here features dramatic irony and verbal irony to depict Parolles’s deceit and foolishness. The Second Lord quietly mocks him to Bertram:
Unlock with LitCharts A+SECOND LORD (aside): This is your devoted friend, sir, the manifold linguist and the armipotent soldier.
BERTRAM (aside): I could endure anything before but a cat, and now he’s a cat to me.
Related Themes:
