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Definition of Verbal Irony
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging outside and someone remarks "what... read full definition
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging... read full definition
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean... read full definition
Act 2, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Laying a Trap:
King Henry V’s conversation with the traitorous lords—the Earl of Cambridge, Lord Scroop, and Sir Thomas Grey—is deeply layered with verbal and dramatic irony, as they do not realize that the King already knows of their intended betrayal. Henry asks for their advice on punishing a commoner who has insulted him and, not recognizing the trap that the King has set for them, the lords advise him to offer no mercy:
SCROOP
Let him be punished, sovereign, lest example
Breed, by his sufferance, more of such a kind.KING HENRY
O, let us yet be merciful.CAMBRIDGE
So may your Highness, and yet punish too.GREY
Sir, you show great mercy if you give him life
After the taste of much correction.KING HENRY
Alas, your too much love and care of me
Are heavy orisons ’gainst this poor wretch.
Act 4, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—King in Disguise:
In a scene rife with verbal and dramatic irony, King Henry disguises himself among his soldiers in order to better understand their perception of the war and of himself as a leader.
Unlock with LitCharts A+KING HENRY
I myself heard the King say he would not
be ransomed.WILLIAMS
Ay, he said so to make us fight cheerfully,
but when our throats are cut, he may be ransomed and we ne’er the wiser.KING HENRY
If I live to see it, I will never trust his
word after.
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