Twelfth Night
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a play completely focused on the notions of performance, disguise, and deception. The characters are all acting in roles to meet their own goals, performing for the on-stage audience and deceiving everyone but the live audience off the stage. The use of dramatic irony is prevalent in order to engage and involve the audience, making them part of the play. Dramatic irony is a literary device wherein the audience is aware of pivotal information that the characters in the play are not (Baker). It contrasts what is real with what it appears to be as a tool to create humor (Singh 23). The audience is then part of the inside track, aware of the hidden truth behind the plot and the characters’ motives (Amir 290).
By being in on the secret, the audience takes greater meaning from allusions, hints, and foreshadowing, creating greater comedic effect. The audience is empowered, feeling more informed or even more intelligent than the characters. By the audience knowing what the characters do not, the characters can also appear foolish or ridiculous, making the plot more amusing and entertaining. (Amir 291). Dramatic irony is also a useful tool in building suspense and tension. Since the audience is aware of what deceptions have taken place, they are waiting tensely for the moment of revelation, when the entire list of characters becomes aware of the truth. This gives more weight to plot developments and dialogue, as the audience waits for the resolution of conflict. The use of dramatic irony is also utilized in order to gently examine key themes or to criticize aspects of society. By using comedy and humor through irony, social norms can be ridiculed without causing offense to the audience. This can result in greater introspection for the audience, as the norms are mocked and criticized in a way that is ridiculous and over the top, and therefore is non-threatening or insulting (Singh 26).
Dramatic irony is based upon three key
By being in on the secret, the audience takes greater meaning from allusions, hints, and foreshadowing, creating greater comedic effect. The audience is empowered, feeling more informed or even more intelligent than the characters. By the audience knowing what the characters do not, the characters can also appear foolish or ridiculous, making the plot more amusing and entertaining. (Amir 291). Dramatic irony is also a useful tool in building suspense and tension. Since the audience is aware of what deceptions have taken place, they are waiting tensely for the moment of revelation, when the entire list of characters becomes aware of the truth. This gives more weight to plot developments and dialogue, as the audience waits for the resolution of conflict. The use of dramatic irony is also utilized in order to gently examine key themes or to criticize aspects of society. By using comedy and humor through irony, social norms can be ridiculed without causing offense to the audience. This can result in greater introspection for the audience, as the norms are mocked and criticized in a way that is ridiculous and over the top, and therefore is non-threatening or insulting (Singh 26).
Dramatic irony is based upon three key
Cited: Amir, Ala. “Dramatic Irony in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night”. Journal of Missan Researchers. 20 Nov. 2008: 289- 298. Print. Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press, 1993. Print. Singh, Raj. “Humor, Irony, and Satire in Literature”. International Journal of English and Literature. 12 Oct. 2012: 26-42. Print. Baker, Lyman. Dramatic Irony. Critical Concepts. Kansas State University, 1999. Web. 6 March 2015.