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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 Arms and the Man
Act 2
Explanation and Analysis—Sergius and Petkoff:
In the following scene from Act 2, Sergius and Major Petkoff discuss the battle retrospectively, during which they recall the fact that Bluntschli was harbored by two Bulgarian women. This scene introduces dramatic irony to the Act, on account of the fact that the two men are unaware of Raina and Catherine's involvement in Bluntschli's escape:
PETKOFF: (grinning). Sergius: tell Catherine that queer story his friend told us about him—how he escaped after Slivnitza. You remember?—about his being hid by two women.
SERGIUS: (with bitter irony). Oh, yes, quite a romance. He was serving in the very battery I so unprofessionally charged. Being a thorough soldier, he ran away like the rest of them, with our cavalry at his heels. To escape their attentions, he had the good taste to take refuge in the chamber of some patriotic young Bulgarian lady.
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