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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
Act 1
Explanation and Analysis—Big Daddy's Cancer:
A major source of dramatic irony in the play is Big Daddy's cancer, which is kept a secret from Big Daddy and Big Mama until the end of the second act and the third act, respectively.
In Act 1, Big Mama and Big Daddy experience significant relief at this news, which is a lie told to them by Doctor Baugh to keep them hopeful; this false hope makes the other characters very uncomfortable and tense:
BIG MAMA: He's just one hundred per cent. Passed the examination with flying colors. Now that we know there's nothing wrong with Big Daddy but a spastic colon, I can tell you something. I was worried sick, half out of my mind, for fear that Big Daddy might have a thing like--
[Margaret cuts through this speech, jumping up and exclaiming shrilly:]
MARGARET: Brick, honey, aren't you going to give Big Daddy his birthday present?
Margaret's interruption characterizes the dramatic irony that pervades most of the play; she won't even let Big Mama say the word "cancer," as if saying it out loud would make the lie too much to bear. This instance of dramatic irony creates a discomfort in the reader that darkens the general mood of the play.
Related Themes:
Act 2
Explanation and Analysis—Birthdays and Blowouts:
In a humorous moment in Act 2, Williams uses situational irony to momentarily ease the tension:
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.]
It is ironic that the giant birthday cake appears just after Big Daddy reminds Big Mama of her high blood pressure, a condition often related to diet. It seems that Big Mama has given in to her decadent taste for Big Daddy's birthday, completely disregarding the birthday boy's wishes.
This situational irony continues later in the scene, when Big Daddy and Big Mama have a bad argument and she exits:
BIG MAMA: And I did, I did so much, I did love you!—I even loved your hate and your hardness, Big Daddy!
[She sobs and rushes awkwardly out onto the gallery.]
BIG DADDY [to himself]: Wouldn't it be funny if that was true...
[...] [He stands over his blazing birthday cake.]
Rather than celebrating and blowing out the candles, Big Daddy questions the lifelong love and devotion of the very wife who bought him his giant cake. Here, the situational irony does not ease the tension but amplifies it. Williams shows how larger issues can fracture life's little joys.
Related Themes:
