Types of Irony

What

Types of Irony

When

3/12/2018, 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM

Verbal Irony
Verbal irony is the use of words to mean something different from what a person actually says.

Verbal Irony is NOT Sarcasm! Most of the time, sarcasm and verbal irony are used interchangeably. However, while verbal irony implies a different meaning to what is actually said, sarcasm is mainly used to insult another person.

Juliet's statement in Romeo and Juliet can be considered verbal irony: "I will confess to you that I love him." She is speaking about loving Romeo, however, the other characters think she's speaking about Paris.
Dramatic Irony
This type of irony is popular in works of art such as movies, books, poems and plays.

It occurs when the audience is aware of something that the characters in the story are not aware of.

For example, in Act 4, scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is found "dead" in her bed. All of the characters think she is dead, however, the audience is aware that she has taken a sleeping potion.

Situational Irony
It involves a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. Situational irony occurs when the exact opposite of what is meant to happen, happens.

There is an example of situational irony in Romeo and Juliet as well. Shakespeare was a literary genius, after all!

The biggest example of situational irony from the play is when Romeo finds Juliet in the tomb, sleeping, and believes she is dead. He kills himself by drinking real poison. Juliet awakens and sees that Romeo is dead and she stabs herself. You don't expect that to happen after all the trouble they went through to be together!