Dramatic Irony’s Definition According to A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket:
“Simply put, dramatic irony is when a person makes a harmless remark, and someone else who hears it knows something
that makes the remark have a different, and usually unpleasant, meaning.
For instance, if you were in a restaurant and said out loud, "I can't wait to eat the veal marsala I ordered," and there were
people around who knew that the veal marsala was poisoned and that you would die as soon as you took a bite, your
situation would be one of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is a cruel occurrence, one that is almost always upsetting, and
I'm sorry to have it appear in this story, but Violet, Klaus, and Sunny have such unfortunate lives that it was only a matter
of time before dramatic irony would rear its ugly head.
As you and I listen to Uncle Monty tell the three Baudelaire orphans that no harm will ever come to them in the Reptile
Room, we should be experiencing the strange feeling that accompanies the arrival of dramatic irony. This feeling is not
unlike the sinking in one's stomach when one is in an elevator that suddenly goes down, or when you are snug in bed and
your closet door suddenly creaks open to reveal the person who has been hiding there. For no matter how safe and happy
the three children felt, no matter how comforting Uncle Monty's words were, you and I know that soon Uncle Monty will
be dead and the Baudelaires will be miserable once again.”
Explain the famous Romeo and Juliet scene (5.3) using the definition of dramatic irony.
What tone shift does it give the play?
The Friar has given Juliet a potion to drink that makes her appear dead. She is to remain
this way until it is safe for her to escape with Romeo, her true love.
ROMEO: How often are men happy right before they die! They call it the lightness
before death. Oh, how can I call this lightness? Oh, my love! My wife! Death has
sucked the honey from your breath, but it has not yet ruined your beauty. You
haven’t been conquered. There is still red in your lips and in your cheeks. Death has
not yet turned them pale. Tybalt, are you lying there in your bloody death shroud? Oh, what better favor can I do for
you than to kill the man who killed you with the same hand that made you die young. Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear
Juliet, why are you still so beautiful? Should I believe that death is in love with you, and that the awful monster keeps
you here to be his mistress? I don’t like that idea, so I’ll stay with you. And I will never leave this tomb. Here, here I’ll
remain with worms that are your chamber-maids. Oh, I’ll rest here forever. I’ll forget about all the bad luck that has
troubled me. Eyes, look out for the last time! Arms, make your last embrace! And lips, you are the doors of breath. Seal
with a righteous kiss the deal I have made with death forever. (ROMEO kisses JULIET and takes out the poison) Come,
bitter poison, come, unsavory guide! You desperate pilot, let’s crash this sea-weary ship into the rocks! Here’s to my
love!
ROMEO drinks the poison.
Oh, that pharmacist was honest! His drugs work quickly. So I die with a kiss…
JULIET: What’s this here? It’s a cup, closed in my true love’s hand? Poison, I see, has been the cause of his death. How
rude! He drank it all, and didn’t leave any to help me afterward. I will kiss your lips. Perhaps there’s still some poison on
them, to make me die with a medicinal kiss. (she kisses ROMEO) Your lips are warm.
Oh, noise? Then I’ll be quick. Oh, good, a knife! My body will be your sheath. Rust inside my body and let me die.
(she stabs herself with ROMEO’s dagger and dies)