Dramatic Irony of the Titanic

Dramatic irony, regardless of the medium it is portrayed in, is defined as a situation in which the audience knows information that the characters do not. During the composition of a script, writers often turn to this technique because it establishes an interesting connection between the audience and characters. Simple dialogue between characters is now interpreted a different way due to the audience’s knowledge of the characters fate. Within the industry there are numerous films that take advantage of dramatic irony, but the one that I presumed to be of great importance was the Titanic.
Though the release date was nearly ten years ago, Titanic is still considered one of the greatest movies produced. The production, cinematography, and editing is without a doubt a key factor to the success of the film, but that alone does not result in achieving the title as one of the most successful movies of all time. The reason for the Titanic’s success is due to the re-creation of a tragic moment in America’s history.
In late 1908, White Star Line announced its construction of “ the world’s largest passenger steamship upon completion” (The Titanic History). At completion, the ship dubbed the Olympic, but now known as the Titanic, was 883 feet long and 104 feet high. The massive amounts of media surrounding the construction of the ship flamed a spark of excitement in people all of the country. The extensive media coverage continued for three years until the ships completion. Everyone wanted to be the first to travel on such an iconic ship, but only 2200 were able to secure a spot. The Titanic set sail on April 10th, 1912 from the port of South Hampton as its passengers and crew were beaming with excitement for the journey ahead of them. Unf...

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...etween the audience and the film. But by the audience understanding the fate of the characters, the connection continuously grew stronger with the film because the audience took the characters words and situations and viewed it in a different light. The audience had a predetermined compassion for the characters because unlike the audience, they do not have insight on what is going to happen. The use of dramatic irony in this film entailed to a heightened awareness of the audience and enabling the establishment for a greater connection to the dialogue, the characters, and the story overall.

Works Cited

Landau Jon (Producer), & Cameron James (Director). 19 December 1997. Titanic.
United States of America: 20th Century Fox.
The Titanic History. (n.d.). The Titanic History. Retrieved May 16, 2014, from http://www.historyofthetitanic.org