Examples Of Dramatic Irony In The Scarlet Letter

The definition of irony, according to Laurence Perrine, involves discrepancy or incongruity while it has a “contrast in which one term of the contrast in some way morks the other term” (177). He also includes three types of ironies; however, there are two more important ironies: dramatic irony and irony of situation. Dramatic irony is the contrast between “what a character says and what the reader knows to be true” (178). And irony of situation is “the discrepancy is between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment…” (178). The theme that fits with those ironies is the reversal of stereotypes. Reversal of stereotypes, defined by Shirley Barlow, is when someone “simply refuses any longer to accept... stereotypes unless

Dramatic irony is the readers knowing that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl while his friends and the townspeople do not know. At the start of the book, the readers know that Dimmesdale was the father because of what happens in chapter three. In that chapter, the crowds taunts Hester and the child while Dimmesdale offers a passionate plea to reveal the father so he could be guilt-free even if he “were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee” (62). And if that is not clear enough, in chapter eight, Dimmesdale defends that Pearl should stay with Hester because God gave her the children and the knowledge to rise it “which no other mortal being can possess” (105). Dimmesdale defends a child, that most of the pastors do not like, because he is the father of that child. And the reason why the pastors distrust the child is because of Hester’s sin of adultery, the sin that causes her to wear the scarlet

In chapter two, the readers notices a woman walking up to the scaffold and later noticed the “embroidered and illuminated” scarlet letter (51). At first, it was treated as a warning for others of “women’s frailty and sinful passion” (74) while preachers and moralists mention that her crime is "the reality of sin" (74). Then, later on the novel, the townspeople begin to interpret the symbol as able and the “symbol of her calling” (149). And the last transformation of the meaning behind the scarlet letter changes into a symbol of healing for the women in the town, who are facing “recurring trials of wounded, wasted, wronged, misplaced, or erring and sinful passion” (149). And Hester is made out to be an angel and her scarlet letter has "the effect of the cross on a nun's bosom” (150). The reason that this is an irony of situation because the scarlet letter transforms throughout the novel. And so does Hester as she becomes more of a legend and grows more stronger and more at peace through her suffering. Meanwhile, Ethan Frome tells a tale of a man who has to live forever suffering and grows weaker for