Dramatic Irony:
Dramatic
irony is a dialogue or a situation in a play when the words and actions of the
characters of a work of literature have a different meaning for the reader than
they do for the characters. This is the result of the reader having a greater
knowledge than the characters themselves. It is used both in tragedy and in
comedy to heighten respective effects.
Example of Dramatic Irony:
In “Oedipus Rex” when Oedipus says, “I, Oedipus, whom all men call great” he
knows that he is really great but the audience knows that he is the most
ignoble.