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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
Verbal Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Verbal Irony:
In Act 3, Scene 2, Paulina describes Leontes's earlier crimes as trivial despite how unjust they were. Knowing that speaking truth to Leontes will only make his delusions more intractable, she rehabilitates the power of her language by speaking only through negation—that is, by interweaving truths with her characterization of each of Leontes's past actions as trivial. Through this use of verbal irony, Paulina impresses upon Leontes the abhorrence of what he has done.
Related Themes:
Verbal Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Leontes's Dreams:
While on trial in Act 3, Scene 2, Hermione declares that Leontes has conjured false accusations against her, as if dreaming them up: "My life stands in the level of your dreams." Leontes's response—"Your actions are my dreams"—is a source of dramatic irony: his intended meaning is that Hermione has enacted in reality what he has dreamed, that is, adultery. However, the audience knows that an alternative meaning of his response is true: Hermione's purported adultery is a mere figment of his imagination. Hermione never committed adultery, and Leontes has indeed "dream[ed]" her actions.
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Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Negation:
Through the motif of negation, "The Winter's Tale" illuminates how irrational human beliefs can be even in the face of clear evidence, as well as the female characters' lack of control over their own sexual reputations. Once Leontes falls prey to his unfounded belief that Hermione and Polixenes are having an affair, Hermione and Paulina find that their words can no longer persuade him to see the truth. In fact, Leontes asserts in Act 1, Scene 2 that a woman's word is always false: "Women say so, / That will say anything." As a result, the more Hermione claims that she is innocent, the more intractable Leontes's delusions become.
Instead, both Hermione and Paulina recuperate the power of their language by speaking only through negation. For example, when Hermione testifies in her own defense in Act 3, Scene 2, she declares:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Since what I am to say must be but that
Which contradicts my accusation, and
The testimony on my part no other
But what comes from myself, it shall scarce boot me
To say “Not guilty"
Related Themes:
