Dramatic Irony in Romeo and Juliet

 

      Dramatic irony occurs in fiction or drama where the reader knows

more about the true state of affairs than the characters do.

 

        Romeo and Juliet has lots of examples of dramatic irony. The

biggest example is in the chorus. The reader knows the plot and the ending

basically they read the whole book knowing what will happen.

      In act one scene five, Romeo and Juliet dance together not knowing

that the other is from their enemy's families. The reader is informed on

this.

 

      When the nurse enters in act 2 scene 4, the characters just think

that the nurse is just a stranger yet we all know from before, the nurse is

there to talk to Romeo about Juliet.

 

      Act three scene one, Romeo tries to tell Tybalt how much he loves

him but Tybalt can't understand not knowing that Romeo and Tybalt's cousin

Juliet were bride and groom. In the same scene Romeo gets in trouble for

both Tybalt's death and Mercutio's death when Tybalt took Mercutio's life.

In the latter part of Act 3, Juliet's parents and Paris constantly tell

Juliet that she will marry Paris and that she needs a man so she would not

be so sad, and the whole time she has her marriage with Romeo of which

everyone else is clueless about. Also when everyone thinks that Juliet is

crying over Tybalt's death, the reader knows that the crying is for Romeo.

 

      The very beginning of act four Paris thinks that Juliet will want

to marry him, Juliet we know despises Paris. In scene five of act four

everybody thinks that Juliet is dead, but earlier we read about Friar

Lawrence's sleeping potion, and Juliet just looks dead.

 

      In act five scene one Romeo leaves Mantua while a letter is being

sent to him, but he doesn't know of the letter and thinks that Juliet is

dead. In scene three Paris thinks that Romeo has come to do bad things to

the bodies of the Capulet monument, the reader knows that Romeo had come in

love and because of Paris not knowing this it ends up in his death. Friar

Lawrence is on his way to get Juliet so that Romeo could be informed but

Romeo is already there still totally clueless and drinks poison to his

death. Friar Lawrence arrives where dead Romeo is and Juliet wakes up and

asks where Romeo is when he is there the whole time.

 

      The end of this book is loaded with dramatic irony, which is the

climax of the book and the part of the book that you're most into.