Irony
Classify the irony
Score: 0/0Oedipus vows to find Laius's killer; the audience knows he is hunting himself.
Which type of irony is this?
Irony: A gap between what is said or expected and what is actually meant or happens.
Irony makes the reader do the work of seeing the gap between surface and truth, which is why it persuades where direct statement lectures.
Spot the Irony
Score: 0/0A gap between what is said or expected and what is actually meant or happens.
"A couple sell their most prized possessions to buy gifts that become useless."
Which work is this from?
Explore every literary device in the poetic devices hub.
Irony: common questions
What is irony in literature?
A gap between what is said or expected and what is actually meant or happens. Irony makes the reader do the work of seeing the gap between surface and truth, which is why it persuades where direct statement lectures.
What is an example of irony?
A classic example is "A couple sell their most prized possessions to buy gifts that become useless." (The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry).
What are the three main types of irony?
Verbal irony (saying the opposite of what you mean), situational irony (an outcome that reverses expectation, as in The Gift of the Magi) and dramatic irony (the audience knows what a character does not, as in Oedipus Rex).
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