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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, scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Myself Would Be His Wife:
At the end of Act 1, Scene 4, Viola comments on the irony of her situation: as Cesario, she is tasked with wooing Olivia on Orsino's behalf, but as Viola, she desires Orsino for herself:
Viola: Yet a barful strife!
Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Maiden's Organ:
In Act 1, Scene 4, Orsino expresses his belief that Cesario's youth and feminine nature will make him more successful at wooing Olivia:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Orsino: She will attend it better in thy youth
Than in a nuncio’s of more grave aspect.
Viola: I think not so, my lord.
Orsino: Dear lad, believe it;
For they shall yet belie thy happy years
That say thou art a man. Diana’s lip
Is not more smooth and rubious, thy small pipe
Is as the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound,
And all is semblative a woman's part.
I know thy constellation is right apt
For this affair.
Related Themes:
Act 2, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Viola and Sebastian:
The fact that neither Viola nor Sebastian know that the other sibling is alive, while the audience knows that both have survived the shipwreck and are in Illyria, leads to numerous moments of dramatic irony.
In Act 2, Scene 1, Sebastian comments to Antonio that he and his sister look very much alike:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Sebastian: A lady, sir, though it was said she much
resembled me, was yet of many accounted beautiful.
Related Themes:
Act 2, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Yellow Stockings:
All the scenes of Twelfth Night involving the prank that Maria pulls on Malvolio (the entirety of Act 2, Scene 5, the first part of Act 3, Scene 4, and all of Act 4, Scene 2) can be characterized as extended moments of dramatic irony.
In Act 2, Scene 3, the audience receives a full description of the scheme that Maria has devised to humiliate Malvolio:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Maria: I will drop in his way some obscure epistles of
love, wherein by the color of his beard, the shape of
his leg, the manner of his gait, the expressure of his
eye, forehead, and complexion, he shall find himself
most feelingly personated.
Related Themes:
Act 2, scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Myself Would Be His Wife:
At the end of Act 1, Scene 4, Viola comments on the irony of her situation: as Cesario, she is tasked with wooing Olivia on Orsino's behalf, but as Viola, she desires Orsino for herself:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Viola: Yet a barful strife!
Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife.
Related Themes:
Act 3, scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Yellow Stockings:
All the scenes of Twelfth Night involving the prank that Maria pulls on Malvolio (the entirety of Act 2, Scene 5, the first part of Act 3, Scene 4, and all of Act 4, Scene 2) can be characterized as extended moments of dramatic irony.
In Act 2, Scene 3, the audience receives a full description of the scheme that Maria has devised to humiliate Malvolio:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Maria: I will drop in his way some obscure epistles of
love, wherein by the color of his beard, the shape of
his leg, the manner of his gait, the expressure of his
eye, forehead, and complexion, he shall find himself
most feelingly personated.
Related Themes:
Act 4, scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Yellow Stockings:
All the scenes of Twelfth Night involving the prank that Maria pulls on Malvolio (the entirety of Act 2, Scene 5, the first part of Act 3, Scene 4, and all of Act 4, Scene 2) can be characterized as extended moments of dramatic irony.
In Act 2, Scene 3, the audience receives a full description of the scheme that Maria has devised to humiliate Malvolio:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Maria: I will drop in his way some obscure epistles of
love, wherein by the color of his beard, the shape of
his leg, the manner of his gait, the expressure of his
eye, forehead, and complexion, he shall find himself
most feelingly personated.
Related Themes:
Act 5, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Viola and Sebastian:
The fact that neither Viola nor Sebastian know that the other sibling is alive, while the audience knows that both have survived the shipwreck and are in Illyria, leads to numerous moments of dramatic irony.
In Act 2, Scene 1, Sebastian comments to Antonio that he and his sister look very much alike:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Sebastian: A lady, sir, though it was said she much
resembled me, was yet of many accounted beautiful.
Related Themes:
