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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
Act 1, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Mr. Bunbury:
The scene in Act 1, Part 2 in which Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen arrive for tea at Algernon's flat is filled with instances of situational and dramatic irony. In order to get out of going to dinner at his aunt's house, Algernon invents an excuse involving his imaginary friend Bunbury:
Algernon: It is a great bore, and, I need hardly say, a terrible disappointment to me, but the fact is I have just had a telegram to say that my poor friend Bunbury is very ill again. [Exchanges glances with Jack.] They seem to think I should be with him.
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Explanation and Analysis—Proposals:
The majority of the humor in The Importance of Being Earnest stems from dramatic irony: the audience is always aware that Ernest does not exist and that Jack and Algernon are both pretending to be him, but the other characters are not. This dramatic irony is at its most palpable during the two parallel proposal scenes.
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Explanation and Analysis—Earnest vs. Ernest:
An ongoing source of irony in The Importance of Being Earnest is the relationship between the name "Ernest" and its homophone, the word "earnest." Throughout the play, both Gwendolen and Cecily express their desire to marry a man named Ernest, and in Act 1, Part 2, Gwendolen explains to Jack why Ernest is the only "safe" name for a husband:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Gwendolen: We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals... and my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence.
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Act 2, Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Novel and the Handbag:
A conversation between Cecily and Miss Prism in Act 2, Part 1 foreshadows the revelation that occurs at the end of the play:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Miss Prism: Do not speak slightingly of the three-volume novel, Cecily. I wrote one myself in earlier days.
Cecily: Did you really, Miss Prism? How wonderfully clever you are! I hope it did not end happily? I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much.
Miss Prism: The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.
Cecily: I suppose so. But it seems very unfair. And was your novel ever published?
Miss Prism: Alas! no. The manuscript unfortunately was abandoned. I use the word in the sense of lost or mislaid.
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Explanation and Analysis—A Brotherly Reunion:
The scene in which Jack arrives at his country estate and discovers Algernon masquerading as his brother is filled with dramatic irony. The audience is already aware of Algernon's presence and is awaiting the inevitable confrontation between the two men, which makes Jack's conversation with Cecily in Act 2, Part 1 quite ironic:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Cecily: Your brother Ernest. He arrived half an hour ago.
Jack: What nonsense! I haven't got a brother.
Cecily: Oh, don't say that. However badly he may have behaved to you in the past he is still your brother. You couldn't be so heartless as to disown him.
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Act 2, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Proposals:
The majority of the humor in The Importance of Being Earnest stems from dramatic irony: the audience is always aware that Ernest does not exist and that Jack and Algernon are both pretending to be him, but the other characters are not. This dramatic irony is at its most palpable during the two parallel proposal scenes.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Earnest vs. Ernest:
An ongoing source of irony in The Importance of Being Earnest is the relationship between the name "Ernest" and its homophone, the word "earnest." Throughout the play, both Gwendolen and Cecily express their desire to marry a man named Ernest, and in Act 1, Part 2, Gwendolen explains to Jack why Ernest is the only "safe" name for a husband:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Gwendolen: We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals... and my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Tea Party:
Gwendolen and Cecily's tea party during Act 2, Part 2 is filled with dramatic irony. The audience, aware that Jack and Algernon are both pretending to be Ernest, eagerly awaits the inevitable misunderstanding that results from this deception:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Cecily: Mr. Ernest Worthing and I are engaged to be married.
Gwendolen: [Quite politely, rising]. My darling Cecily, I think there must be some slight error. Mr. Ernest Worthing is engaged to me.
Explanation and Analysis—A Brotherly Reunion:
The scene in which Jack arrives at his country estate and discovers Algernon masquerading as his brother is filled with dramatic irony. The audience is already aware of Algernon's presence and is awaiting the inevitable confrontation between the two men, which makes Jack's conversation with Cecily in Act 2, Part 1 quite ironic:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Cecily: Your brother Ernest. He arrived half an hour ago.
Jack: What nonsense! I haven't got a brother.
Cecily: Oh, don't say that. However badly he may have behaved to you in the past he is still your brother. You couldn't be so heartless as to disown him.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—The Novel and the Handbag:
A conversation between Cecily and Miss Prism in Act 2, Part 1 foreshadows the revelation that occurs at the end of the play:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Miss Prism: Do not speak slightingly of the three-volume novel, Cecily. I wrote one myself in earlier days.
Cecily: Did you really, Miss Prism? How wonderfully clever you are! I hope it did not end happily? I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much.
Miss Prism: The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.
Cecily: I suppose so. But it seems very unfair. And was your novel ever published?
Miss Prism: Alas! no. The manuscript unfortunately was abandoned. I use the word in the sense of lost or mislaid.
Related Themes:
