Essays on Dramatic Irony

The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin’s The Story of An Hour is, on the surface, a romantic tale of a woman who wiles away the boring, husbandless hours she encounters alone in her room, waiting for her spouse to return. Through a strange mix-up concerning his death, and subsequent resurrection, she finds herself suffering from a life-ending heart attack herself. Those around her believe she has died from the sheer joy of find her husband has not died after all. Anybody who truly knew her would know she had actually died from a tragically broken heart, for she was a woman forlorn ...

Dramatic or tragic irony is a concept that originated in Greek tragedy. It is the idea that a character’s words when spoken against another are actually a reference to themselves (Dictionary.com) In dramatic irony the actions that are perpetrated by a character may be in opposition to what the audience knows is the truth (Dictionary. Com). This paper will look at dramatic irony in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Dramatic irony occurs at the beginning of the play when it is revealed that Oedipus is seeking the murderer of Laius King of Thebes. Oedipus wants to find the killer ...

There is never an opportune moment for death. Death occurs when people least expect it. Edgar Allen Poe in his “The Cask of Amontillado” and Kate Chopin in her “The Story of an Hour” talk about how death comes at inopportune moments - when it is least expected. Death is the central theme in both of these works, with the protagonists wishing for someone else’s death. The results however are completely different. Even though the protagonists wish for the other person to die, they really do not have a strong reason for them to die. Montresor talks of ...

Outlining Aristotle’s Theory of Tragedy, a brief discussion on the definition of tragedy can be delivered. According to the Theory of Tragedy, it is a kind of literature that presents replication of several serious actions of different magnitudes compiled with each brand of artistic as well as linguistic embellishment (Jeong-Hyok Seo). In addition to that, the literature has been divided into many parts in the form of continuous actions sometimes not descriptive. At the end of the play, the several incidents create distinct misfortune and fear that ends in accomplishing grief. Considering the tragedy as a literary genre, ...

In his day Richard Harding Davis (1864 – 1916) was a celebrated journalist who specialized in covering natural disasters and wars, often putting himself in dangerous situations in order to get a good story. He also wrote several novels and plays, and many short stories, based on his experiences outside the USA, covering wars and traveling in Central and South America. He was commercially very successful. ‘A Charmed Life’ is set in the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the male protagonist, Chesterton, is an American journalist in Cuba covering the action. As as story it is typical of his work: it has ...

'A & P' is a story about a checkout boy whose name is Sammy. The boy gives up his job following his boss’ unsympathetic speech to some three teenage girls. A keen analysis of the story reveals that in this work, John Updike, the author, portrays a contrast of two worldviews – the individualistic, non-conformist, and free-spirited views of the three teenage girls against the conventional, stoic, and conservative views of Mr. Lengel, Sammy’s manager. In this work, I have keenly analyzed the interpretations of two critics, Toni Saldivar and Walter Wells. To start with, I have given my own analysis and the ...

Literary Techniques in Tartuffe by Moliere

Moliere uses the comical play Tartuffe to show the hypocrisy of the religious people at that time. Tartuffe is a highly religious individual but he fails to impress certain people in the house such as Damis. These people feel that they must expose the hypocrisy of the man. The author through Orgon shows the way people can be gullible towards religious people. Orgon goes to the extent of even offering the daughter in marriage to Tartuffe. He even decides to leave his property as inheritance to Tartuffe. The author uses several literary techniques. He uses comedy, irony, sarcasm and ...