Dramatic irony
Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something the characters do not. Because of this understanding, the words of the characters take on a different meaning.
Pygmalion Example: In act 3, Dramatic irony occurs when Nepommuck claims Eliza is a Hungarian Princess; “NEPOMMUCK: Too perfectly. Can you show me any English woman who speaks English as it should be spoken? Only foreigners who have been taught to speak it speak it well.” “HOSTESS: Certainly she terrified me by the way she said How d'ye do. I had a schoolmistress who talked like that; and I was mortally afraid of her. But if she is not English what is she?” “NEPOMMUCK: Hungarian.” This is an ironic situation because the audience knows that Eliza is certainly not a Hungarian princess while the characters are convinced she is. Thus Nepommuck and his certainty become comedic. |