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Idioms
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 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Act 2
Explanation and Analysis—Birthdays and Blowouts:
In a humorous moment in Act 2, Williams uses situational irony to momentarily ease the tension:
Unlock with LitCharts A+BIG DADDY: BIG MAMA, WILL YOU QUIT HORSIN'?—You're too old an' too fat fo' that sort of crazy kid stuff an' besides a woman with your blood pressure—she had two hundred last spring!—is riskin' a stroke when you mess around like that...
BIG MAMA: Here comes Big Daddy's birthday!
[Negroes in white jackets enter with an enormous birthday cake ablaze with candles and carrying buckets of champagne with satin ribbons about the bottle necks.]
Related Themes:
