Watership Down
by Richard Adams

Watership Down: Dramatic Irony 2 key examples

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
Chapter 1: The Notice Board
Explanation and Analysis—Signpost:

In the following example of dramatic irony from Chapter 1, Adams includes the text of the human-made sign that Fiver finds so ominous:

[T]here was no passer-by to read the sharp, hard letters that cut straight as black knives across its white surface. They said:

THIS IDEALLY SITUATED ESTATE, COMPRISING SIX ACRES OF EXCELLENT BUILDING LAND, IS TO BE DEVELOPED WITH HIGH CLASS MODERN RESIDENCES BY SUTCH AND MARTIN, LIMITED, OF NEWBURY, BERKS.

Chapter 27: “You Can’t Imagine It Unless You’ve Been There”
Explanation and Analysis—Somber Tree:

In the following example of simile from Chapter 27, the narrator compares Pipkin's knowledge of Hazel's presumed demise to a "somber tree," one Pipkin has planted deep within himself:

When Pipkin had planted in himself, like some somber tree, the knowledge that Hazel would never return, his bewilderment exceeded his grief: and this bewilderment he saw on every side among his companions. Faced with no crisis of action and with nothing to prevent them from continuing their life in the warren as before, the rabbits were nevertheless overcome by the conviction that their luck was gone.

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