IRONY …Or ironically many of the ironic sayings in Alannis Morrisette’s song “Isn’t It Ironic?” may not be ironic… which is ironic.

Definition  Definition: A Figure of speech. A contradiction of expectation between what is said and what is meant or an incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs. Often connected to a fatalistic or pessimistic view of life.

Types of Irony – Dramatic Irony  Definition of Dramatic Irony - A situation in which the audience knows something about present or future circumstances that the character does not know. Sometimes referred to as “tragic irony”

Types of Irony – Dramatic Irony  Dramatic example: Oedipus Rex by Sophocles in which Oedipus searches to find the murderer of the former king of Thebes, only to discover that it is himself, which is known to the audience all along.

Types of Irony – Verbal Irony  Definition of Verbal Irony - A contradiction of expectation between what is said and what is meant

Types of Irony – Verbal Irony  Verbal example: Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare "Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honorable man“  Other examples (similes): –“As soft as concrete” –“As clear as mud” –“As pleasant as a root canal”  Sometimes verbal irony is linked to “sarcasm” and other literary devices such as “hyperbole and understatement”

Types of Irony – Situational Irony  Definition of Situational Irony - A contradiction of expectation between what might be expected and what actually occurs often connected to a fatalistic / pessimistic view of life.

Types of Irony – Situational Irony  Situational example: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge: Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink ; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink  It’s all SALT water and is undrinkable.

Subsets of Irony – Cosmic Irony  One subset of Situational Irony is Cosmic Irony. It is based on the assumptions that the gods or fates are toying with human beings. In art:  In O. Henry's story The Gift of the Magi, a young couple are too poor to buy each other Christmas gifts. The man finally pawns his heirloom pocket watch to buy his wife a set of combs for her long, beautiful, prized hair. She, meanwhile, cuts off her treasured hair to sell it to a wig-maker for money to buy her husband a watch-chain. O. HenryThe Gift of the MagiO. HenryThe Gift of the Magi

Subsets of Irony – Cosmic Irony In history:  In 1974 the Consumer Product Safety Commission had to recall 80,000 of its own lapel buttons promoting "toy safety", because the buttons had sharp edges, used lead paint, and had small clips that could be broken off and subsequently swallowed. Consumer Product Safety CommissionConsumer Product Safety Commission  Importing Cane Toads to Australia to protect the environment only to create worse environmental problems for Australia. Cane ToadsCane Toads  Jim Fixx, who did much to popularize jogging as a form of healthy exercise in his 1977 book The Complete Book of Running, died at the age of 52 of a heart attack (a death associated with sedentary, unhealthy lifestyles) while out jogging Jim Fixxjoggingheart attack Jim Fixxjoggingheart attack

Subsets of Irony – Historical Irony  Historical irony is, in essence, cosmic irony with the addition of time. It is also a subset of Situational Irony.  Example: World War I (sometimes called “The Great War”) was also referred to as “The War to End All Wars”… which led to WWII.  Example: Alfred Nobel invented TNT (dynamite) to help save lives in mines and it was later used to take far more lives as a military explosive (hence, the invention of “The Nobel Prize” to encourage peace).

Why is this ironic?