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Anthropomorphism
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
Act 3, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Play the Knave :
In Act 3, Scene 2, Rosalind and Celia stumble upon Orlando and Jaques in the woods. In a moment of dramatic irony, Rosalind quickly makes a plan overheard by the audience, but not Orlando or Jaques:
Rosalind, [aside to Celia]: I will speak to him like a saucy lackey, and under that habit play the knave with him. [As Ganymede.] Do you hear, forester?
Orlando: Very well. What would you?
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Act 5, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Oliver and Aliena:
In Act 5, Orlando and Oliver debate the merit of Oliver's love for the shepherdess “Aliena.” Orlando questions the speed of the courtship. In a moment of dramatic irony, Oliver expresses his willingness to marry a shepherdess, with all of the potential consequences of that choice:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Neither call the giddiness of it in question, the poverty of her, the small acquaintance, my sudden wooing, nor her sudden consenting, but say with me “I love Aliena”; say with her that she loves me; consent with both that we may enjoy each other. It shall be to your good, for my father’s house and all the revenue that was old Sir Rowland’s will I estate upon you, and here live and die a shepherd.
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