Irony

Definition of Irony
Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their meant that means isn't the same as the real that means of the phrases. It can also be a scenario that ends up in pretty a different manner than what is commonly anticipated. In easy words, it's miles a distinction between appearance and reality.

Types of Irony
On the grounds of the above definition, we distinguish basic types of irony: (1) verbal irony, and (2) situational irony. Verbal irony includes what one does no longer mean. For example, while in response to a silly idea, we say, “What a splendid idea!” This is verbal irony. Situational irony occurs while, for instance, a person is chuckling at the misfortune of another, even if the same misfortune is, unbeknownst to him, befalling him.

Difference Between Dramatic Irony and Situational Irony
Dramatic irony is frequently employed by way of writers in their works. In situational irony, both the characters and the target market are fully ignorant of the consequences of the real scenario. In dramatic irony, the characters are oblivious of the scenario, however the target audience is not. For example, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, we recognise well before the characters that they may be going to die. In real life circumstances, irony may be comical, bitter, or from time to time unbearably offensive.

Common Examples of Irony
Let us analyze a few interesting examples from our day by day lifestyles:

I posted a video on YouTube about how uninteresting and useless YouTube is.
The call of Britain’s largest canine changed into “Tiny.”
You snigger at a person who slipped stepping on a banana peel, and the next issue you already know, you’ve slipped too.
The butter is as smooth as a slab of marble.
“Oh first-rate! Now you have got broken my new camera.”
Short Examples of Verbal Irony
The medical doctor is as kind hearted as a wolf.
He took a a whole lot-needed vacation, backpacking inside the mountains. Unfortunately, he got here lower back lifeless tired.
His friend’s hand turned into as gentle as a rock.
The wasteland changed into as cool as a bed of burning coals.
The student become given ‘excellent’ on getting zero in the exam.
The roasted hen become as soft as a leather-based boot.
He became in this type of harried nation that he drove the entire way at 20 miles per hour.
He loved his job approximately as a good deal as a root canal.
My friend’s youngsters get alongside like cats and dogs.
Their new boss changed into as civilized as a shark.
The new supervisor is as friendly as a rattlesnake.
The climate turned into as balmy as a wintry weather day in Siberia.
A vehicle turned into parked proper in front of the no-parking sign.
The CEO of a huge tobacco employer stated he did not smoke.
The fear of long phrases is called “Hippopotomonstrosesquippedalio phobia.”
Irony Examples in Literature
Example #1: Romeo and Juliet (By William Shakespeare)
We stumble upon the following traces in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene V:

“Go ask his call: if he be married.
My grave is want to be my wedding bed.”

Juliet commands her nurse to find out who Romeo become, and says if he were married, then her wedding bed could be her grave. It is a verbal irony due to the fact the audience is aware of that she goes to die on her wedding ceremony bed.

Example #2: Julius Caesar (By William Shakespeare)
Shakespeare employs this verbal irony in Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II:

CASSIUS: ” ‘Tis authentic this god did shake.”

Cassius, despite knowing the mortal flaws of Caesar, calls him “this god”.

Example #3: Oedipus Rex (By Sophocles)
In the Greek drama Oedipus Rex, written by using Sophocles:

“Upon the assassin I invoke this curse – whether or not he is one guy and all unknown,
Or one of many – may additionally he wear out his life in misery to miserable doom!”

The above lines are an example of verbal and dramatic irony. It changed into anticipated that a person guilty of killing his father and marrying his very own mother added A curse on the town and its people. In the above-referred to traces, Oedipus curses the man who is the cause of the curse. He is blind to the truth that he himself is that guy, and as a result he's cursing himself. The target market, on the opposite hand, is aware of the state of affairs.

Example #4: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (By Samuel Coleridge)
Irony examples are now not most effective discovered in stage plays, however in poems too. In his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Coleridge wrote:

“Water, water, everywhere,
And all of the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.”

In the above-stated traces, the ship – blown via the south wind – is stranded within the uncharted sea. Ironically, there may be water everywhere, but they do not have a unmarried drop of drinkable water.

Example #5: The Gift of the Magi (By W.H. Auden)
This is an instance of situational irony, wherein the wife sells her most prized possession – her hair – to get her husband a Christmas present; and the husband sells his most expensive possession – the gold watch – to get his wife a Christmas present. By the end, it's far found out that neither has the utility of the existing bought with the aid of the other, as both sell their first-class things to provide the other one a gift. Combs, the present for the wife, is useless because she has offered her hair. The gold watch chain, the gift for the husband, is vain due to the fact he has offered the watch to get the combs. The situation will become ironic for such an incident.

Example #6: Othello (By William Shakespeare)
There are many examples of verbal irony, wherein the speaker means the opposite of what he says, in Othello by using Shakespeare, as given below:

OTHELLO: “O, thou art wise! ‘Tis certain” (IV.I.87), “Honest Iago . . . ” (V.II.88), (II.III.179) & (I.III.319), “I recognize, Iago, Thy honesty and love doth mince this matter” (II.III.251-52).

These few traces tell us how Othello uses irony to speak about Iago.

IAGO: “My lord, you already know I love you.” (III.III.136)

This shows that Iago simplest makes use of this word superficially, with quite the alternative that means.

Example #7: The Tell-Tale Heart (By Edgar Allan Poe)
In the fast story The Tell-Tale Heart, through Edgar Allan Poe, there are many instances of irony as given below:

The murderer poses that he's a sensible and sensible person, who takes every step very cautiously to kill the victim. However, the manner the old’s man eye prompts him to murder the victim may be very ironic. He behaves truely insanely at some point of the tale.
Another example of irony inside the same story is that the killer himself confesses his crime without being requested by using the police. The police are there just to analyze the shriek some neighbor has reported. However, their delayed live makes the killer very nervous, and he confesses his crime of murder in their presence. He even tells in which he has buried the lifeless body.
Function of Irony
Like all different figures of speech, irony brings approximately a few delivered meanings to a situation. Ironical statements and conditions in literature broaden readers’ interest. It makes a piece of literature extra intriguing, and forces the readers to use their imaginations to realise the underlying meanings of the texts. Moreover, actual existence is full of ironical expressions and conditions. Therefore, using irony brings a work of literature to the lifestyles.

Inversion Isocolon