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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 Edward II
Act 2, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Queen's Lover:
Baldock and Spencer, two minor figures hoping to gain employment in the court of King Edward II, gossip about the royal family. They observe that the Queen seems pleased by news that Piers Gaveston has been recalled from exile in Ireland, and they incorrectly assume that the Queen and Gaveston are lovers in a scene rife with dramatic irony:
SPENCER
A friend of mine told me in secrecy
That he’s repealed and sent for back again,
And even now a post came from the court
With letters to our lady from the king,
And as she read, she smiled, which makes me think
‘It is about her lover Gaveston.BALDOCK
’Tis like enough, for since he was exiled
She neither walks abroad nor comes in sight.
But I had thought the match had been broke off
And that his banishment had changed her mind.SPENCER
Our lady’s first love is not wavering.
My life for thine, she will have Gaveston.
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