Pamela Literary Devices

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

Explanation and Analysis—No Time to Write:

In Letter 31, Pamela writes to her parents that she is coming home to them. This letter, the last before Pamela is cut off from letter-writing and takes up a journal instead, is full of dramatic irony:

I am now preparing for my Journey; and about taking Leave of my good Fellow-servants. And if I have not time to write, I must tell you the rest, when I am so happy as to be with you.

Explanation and Analysis—Worst Yet to Come:

In Letter 31, right after Pamela tells her parents that she is on her way to their house, the Editor breaks in to foreshadow the events Pamela will detail in her Journal. This foreshadowing leans heavily on dramatic irony:

Here it is necessary to observe, that the fair Pamela’s Tryals were not yet over; but the worst of all were to come, at a Time when she thought them all at an End, and that she was returning to her Father[...]

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Explanation and Analysis—Prescribed Letter:

In the Journal, Richardson reveals a bit of dramatic irony surrounding a letter Pamela supposedly sent to Mrs. Jervis after Mr. B. kidnapped her. The dramatic irony not only stirs up intrigue but also demonstrates that Pamela can be an unreliable narrator:

The Letter [Mr. B.] prescribed for me was this:
‘Dear Mrs. JERVIS,

‘I Have, instead of being driven, by Robin, to my dear Father’s, been carry’d off, to where I have no Liberty to tell. However, at present, I am not us’d hardly; and I write to beg you to let my dear Father and Mother, whose Hearts must be well-nigh broken, know, that I am well; and that I am, and, by the Grace of God, ever will be, their dutiful and honest Daughter, as well as

‘Your obliged Friend.

‘I must neither send Date nor Place; but have most solemn Assurances of honourable Usage.’

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Pamela: Dramatic Irony 3 key examples

Definition of Dramatic Irony