Irony in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

When you are reading a novel or a play, can you determine when irony is being used? Do you understand the purpose of irony and why authors often use it? Irony is a contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality. It forms a shared understanding with the reader and can make moments comical, surprising, or suspenseful. In the play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, the overall purpose of irony is to increase the level of engagement and develop deeper levels of meanings in the text.

To start off, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to make the play thrilling and to emphasize a central idea. For example, in the beginning of the play, the reader knows that Romeo and Juliet are enemies in a long-standing quarrel between their two established families in Verona, but Romeo and Juliet are unknown of it. In Act I, scene 5, the suspense was enhanced when Romeo and Juliet flirted at the Capulet’s masquerade ball and Juliet asked Nurse for his name, “My only love, sprung from my only hate! / Too early seen unknown, and known too late! / Prodigious birth of love it is to me / That I must love a loathèd enemy” (I, 5, 139-142). At this moment, the reader is built with tension because they know that Romeo and Juliet are both enemies to one another. It is undisclosed to Romeo and Juliet that they are enemies until after they have fallen in love with each other. That makes the reader eager to know what is going to happen next. To add, Romeo tries to tell Tybalt that he has a reason for them to love one another, but he could not have done that without telling him that Juliet was his bride:

I do protest I never injured thee,

But love thee better than thou canst devise,

Till thou shalt know the reason of my love;

And so, good C...

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... I will dew; / Or, wanting that, with tears distilled by moans” (V, 3, 12-14). This was interesting and unexpected because Paris was actually in love with Juliet and he even asked Romeo to lie beside Juliet after Romeo slain him. Given these points, Shakespeare used situational irony in the play Romeo and Juliet to be of interest to the reader and make sure that things are not dull or tiresome.

In conclusion, throughout the play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, irony is used to give a pleasurable satisfaction as well as a deeper connection with the writer or the text. Shakespeare uses the three different types of irony: dramatic, verbal, and situational to astonish, excite, and entertain the reader. The use of irony allows the reader to explore and ponder on the various levels of meaning and arrive at an understanding that was hinted by the author.