Dramatic Irony

Question 1

What is dramatic irony?

Answer 1

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something that the characters on stage don’t.

Question 2

Give one effect that dramatic irony can have on an audience.

Answer 2

Dramatic irony can make an audience feel more involved in the story, because they understand the consequences of characters’ actions better than the characters do.

Question 3

Explain why there is dramatic irony at the following points in the play:
a) In Act 2, Scene 1, when
Benvolio and Mercutio
wonder where Romeo is.
b) In Act 4, Scene 1, when
Juliet meets Paris at
Friar Lawrence’s cell.

Answer 3

a) Mercutio tries to “conjure”
Romeo by teasing him
about Rosaline, but the
audience know that
Romeo has already
moved on from Rosaline
and fallen in love with
Juliet.
b) Paris calls Juliet “my
wife”, but the audience
knows that Juliet is
already Romeo’s wife and
doesn’t intend to marry
Paris.

Question 4

Give an example of dramatic irony from Act 1 and explain what effect it has.

Answer 4

When Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love in act 1 scene 5, the audience knows that they belong to rival families but Romeo and Juliet are unaware of this. They only find out at the end of the scene. This gives the scene a tragic undertone, because the audience knows that the young lovers will have to struggle to be together.

Question 5

Explain how Juliet’s fake death creates dramatic irony in the play.
What effect does this have on the audience?

Answer 5

Juliet’s fake death creates dramatic irony because most of the characters think she is really dead, but the audience knows she’s alive. This causes frustration for the audience — they can see that the pain that Romeo and the Capulets are going through is unnecessary, and they know that Romeo wouldn’t be planning to kill himself if he knew the truth there was no.