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Dialect
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 Far From the Madding Crowd
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Bathsheba's Ride:
In a moment of dramatic irony, the reader observes Bathsheba riding as if no one is watching her:
The girl, who wore no riding-habit, looked around for a moment as if to ensure herself that all humanity was out of view, then dexterously dropped backwards flat upon the pony’s back, her head over its tail, her feet against its shoulder and her eyes to the sky. The rapidity of her glide in this position was that of a kingfisher—its noiselessness that of a hawk [...]. Thus she passed under the level boughs.
Related Themes:
Chapter 18
Explanation and Analysis—Boldwood's Moods:
After Boldwood has become the target of Bathsheba’s joke valentine, the narrator reveals that, beneath his veneer of apparent calm, Boldwood is a deeply emotional person. This description is actually an instance of situational irony, as the unassuming Boldwood is revealed to be full of passion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+That stillness, which struck casual observers more than anything else in his character and habit [...] may have been the perfect balance of enormous antagonistic forces—positives and negatives in fine adjustment. His equilibrium disturbed, he was in extremity at once. [...]Bathsheba was far from dreaming that the dark and silent shape upon which she had so carelessly thrown a seed was a hotbed of tropic intensity. Had she known Boldwood’s moods, her blame would have been fearful, and the stain upon her heart ineradicable [...] she would have trembled at her responsibility.
