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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
Key Examples in Le Morte d’Arthur
Book 3
Explanation and Analysis—Gawaine's Error:
In Volume 1, Book 3, Chapter 7, Gawaine's refusal to have mercy on a knight who killed his hounds leads him to accidentally behead the man's lover. This scene, laced with situational irony, foreshadows Gawaine's eventual role in the civil war that destroys the knights of the Round Table:
‘Thou shalt die,’ said Sir Gawain, ‘for slaying of my hounds.’
‘I will make amends,’ said the knight, ‘unto my power.’
Sir Gawain would no mercy have but unlaced his helm to have stricken off his head. Right so came his lady out of a chamber and fell over him, and so he smote off her head by misadventure.
‘Alas,’ said Gaheris, ‘that is foul and shamefully done, that shame shall never from you; also ye should give mercy unto them that ask mercy, for a knight without mercy is without worship.’
Related Themes:
Book 4
Explanation and Analysis—Arthur's Strength:
In Volume 1, Book 4, Chapter 9, Arthur (disguised) holds his own in a fight against Accolon, who Morgan le Fay has equipped with Excalibur. The dramatic irony of the scene helps build Arthur's kingly authority:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Then were they wroth both, and gave each other many sore strokes, but always Sir Arthur lost so much blood that it was marvel he stood on his feet, but he was so full of knighthood that knightly he endured the pain. [...] Accolon was so bold because of Excalibur that he waxed passing hardy. But all men that beheld him said they saw never knight fight so well as Arthur did considering the blood that he bled.
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Book 7
Explanation and Analysis—Family Reunion:
There is extended dramatic irony in Book 7 regarding Gareth's identity. The dramatic irony peaks in Volume 1, Book 7, Chapter 33, when Gareth and Gawaine unknowingly fight one another:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[...] Sir Gareth stood there alone; and there he saw an armed knight coming toward him. Then Sir Gareth took the duke’s shield, and mounted upon horseback, and so without bidding they ran together as it had been the thunder. And there that knight hurt Sir Gareth under the side with his spear. And then they alit and drew their swords, and gave great strokes that the bood trailed to the ground. And so they fought two hours.
[...][Linet] cried all on high, ‘Sir Gawain, Sir Gawain, leave thy fighting with thy brother Sir Gareth.’
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Explanation and Analysis—Egging on Beaumains:
In Volume 1, Book 7, Chapter 11, Linet marvels that Beaumains has continued to put up with her berating remarks the entire time they have been traveling together. Beaumains explains the situational irony:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[T]he more ye said the more ye angered me, and my wrath I wreaked upon them that I had ado withal. And therefore all the missaying that ye missaid me furthered me in my battle, and caused me to think to show and prove myself at the end what I was[...]
Related Themes:
Book 8
Explanation and Analysis—Love Potion:
An instance of both dramatic irony and situational irony occurs in Volume 1, Book 8, Chapter 24. The queen has given Dame Bragwaine and Gouvernail a love potion for La Beale Isoud to share with King Mark, but La Beale Isoud and Tristram unwittingly share it:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And then anon Sir Tristram took the sea, and La Beale Isoud; and when they were in their cabin, it happed so that they were thirsty, and they saw a little flacket of gold stand by them, and it seemed by the colour and the taste that it was noble wine.
Then Sir Tristram took the flacket in his hand, and said, ‘Madam Isoud, here is the best drink that ever ye drank, that Dame Bragwaine, your maiden, and Gouvernail, my servant, have kept for themself.’
Related Themes:
Book 12
Explanation and Analysis—Arrayed Like a Knight:
In Volume 2, Book 12, Chapter 4, Launcelot (banished by Guenever from Arthur's court) wanders bedraggled into the city of Corbin. The narrator uses a simile to highlight the dramatic irony of Launcelot's concealed identity:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And when Sir Castor was made knight, that same day he gave many gowns. And then Sir Castor sent for the fool – that was Sir Launcelot. And when he was come afore Sir Castor, he gave Sir Launcelot a robe of scarlet and all that longed unto him. And when Sir Launcelot was so arrayed like a knight, he was the seemliest man in all the court, and none so well made.
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Explanation and Analysis—Strange Bedfellows:
In Volume 2, Book 12, Chapter 8, Brisen tricks Launcelot into sleeping with Elaine of Corbin. Multiple layers of dramatic irony in this incident lead to a rift between Launcelot and Guenever when Guenever catches her lover asleep with another woman:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[Launcelot] leapt out of his bed as he had been a wood man, in his shirt, and the queen met him in the floor; and thus she said:
‘False traitor knight that thou art, look thou never abide in my court, and avoid my chamber, and not so hardy, thou false traitor knight that thou art, that ever thou come in my sight!’
‘Alas,’ said Sir Launcelot; and therewith he took such an heartly sorrow at her words that he fell down to the floor in a swoon. And therewithal Queen Guenever departed.
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Explanation and Analysis—Clueless Arthur:
In Volume 2, Book 12, Chapter 10, Launcelot returns to Arthur's court after his long absence, during which he was mentally unwell. Arthur's explanation for why Launcelot "went out of [his] mind" is laced with dramatic irony:
Unlock with LitCharts A+‘O Jesu,’ said King Arthur, ‘I marvel for what cause ye, Sir Launcelot, went out of your mind. I and many other deem it was for the love of fair Elaine, the daughter of King Pelles, by whom ye are noised that ye have gotten a child, and his name is Galahad, and men say he shall do marvels.’
[...]
And therewithal the king spake no more. But all Sir Launcelot's kin knew for whom he went out of his mind.
Related Themes:
Book 17
Explanation and Analysis—Hidden in Plain Sight:
In Volume 2, Book 17, Chapter 16, Launcelot wakes up after finding the Sangreal and being knocked out for 24 days for trying to get too close to it. There is situational irony in the revelation of where he has been this whole time:
Unlock with LitCharts A+‘Forsooth,’ said he, ‘I am whole of body, thanked be Our Lord; therefore, sirs, for God’s love tell me where I am.’
Then said they all that he was in the Castle of Carbonek.
Therewith came a gentlewoman and brought him a shirt of small linen cloth, but he changed not there, but took the hair to him again. ‘Sir,’ said they, ‘the quest of the Sangrail is achieved now right in you, that never shall ye see of the Sangrail no more than ye have seen.’
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