Play the video on the right to stimulate the scary mood while reading the examples and quotes. ---------->
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- There are three types of irony. They are dramatic irony, verbal irony, and situational irony. In the novel Macbeth, William Shakespeare does an excellent job to use irony. First of all, lets look at the definition of the three types of irony.
- Dramatic Irony: Something that the readers know but the characters do not.
Example: One of the examples in the beginning of the novel is when Macbeth
says "For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires!/Let not light see my
black and deep desires” (1.4.58). This tells the readers that Macbeth will kill
Duncan because he is in his way of becoming the king. When he says "let not
light see my black and deep desires", he means that no one should know about
that he is the one who will kill Duncan. And this is an example of dramatic irony
because the readers know that Macbeth will kill Duncan but the characters
don't know about this yet.
b. Verbal Irony: It is a type of irony in which a person says or writes one thing and
means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the
literal meaning.
Example: After Macbeth knows about Duncan’s death, he says “Had I but died
an hour before this chance, / I had lived a blessed time; for, from this instant /
There's nothing serious inmortality: / All is but toys: renown and grace is dead”
(2.3.107-10). The other characters think that by this he means that his
amazing life has come to an end by the death of Duncan; if he had died but an
hour before, he would not have experienced the sorrow of Duncan's
assassination. However, he really means that if he didn’t kill Duncan on time,
he would have died because of the guilt and fear of being caught. This is an
example of verbal irony because what he is saying is totally different than what
he means. In another way there are two meanings to what he said.
c. Situational Irony: Irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that
is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what
was expected.
Example: In the beginning of the drama, Macbeth is feeling guilty about killing
Duncan, however Lady Macbeth is not. When the drama comes to an end, its
the opposite. In the beginning Lady Macbeth says “Glamis thou art, and
Cawdor, and shalt be/What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature;/It is too
full o' th' milk of human kindness/To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be
great,/Art not without ambition, but without /The illness should attend it”
(1.5.15-20). And at the end she dies because of the guilt that she has in her
mind. She says “Come, you spirit/That tend on mortal thoughts...Of direst
cruelty! make thick my blood” (1.5.50). Also, even the doctor says that “she is
troubled with thick-coming fancies” (5.3.47). At this point, Macbeth is not feeling
guilty since he has already killed Banquo and Macduff and is used to this.
- Dramatic Irony: Something that the readers know but the characters do not.