IRONY Derived from the Greek “eiron” The appearance of things differs

from their reality, whether in terms of meaning, situation, or action

TYPES OF IRONY VERBAL SITUATIONAL DRAMATIC

VERBAL IRONY Figure of speech Difference between what is

spoken and what is meant e.g. When you say "Interesting,"

when someone says something that really isn't interesting

Types of Verbal Irony Sarcasm e.g. A person reports to her friend that

rather than going to a medical doctor to treat her ovarian cancer, she has decided to see a spiritual healer instead. In response her friend says sarcastically, "Great idea! I hear they do fine work!”

* Element of ridicule, mockery

Overstatement (Hyperbole) The meaning is an exaggeration of what the speaker means e.g. This book weighs a ton.

Understatement Opposite to overstatement e.g. Plane about to crash due to

engine failure, and Captain says, “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped.”

SITUATIONAL IRONY Difference between what is

thought about a situation and what is actually the case

e.g. A shy, demure nun wins a Harley

Davidson bike in a lucky draw

DRAMATIC IRONY Difference between what is intended by

actions and what is their actual outcome

A situation in which the reader or audience knows more about the immediate circumstances or future events of a story than a character within it; thus the audience is able to see a discrepancy between characters' perceptions and the reality they face

e.g. Oedipus Rex Oedipus slays his own father and commits incest with

his mother (he was not aware of these facts). Oedipus says: A man is a fool if he thinks that he can

sin against his kinfolk and escape the wrath of the gods.

The audience, however, the moment it hears Oedipus make this declaration, knows

(1) the facts about Oedipus' parricide and incest, (2) the fact that Oedipus is unaware of these, (3) the fact that Oedipus will suffer terribly at this

revelation

WHY IRONY? Its indirectness, its refusal to state

something simply as "the way it is."

Entails the avoidance of sentimentality through the incorporation of multiple attitudes in a single work.