Compare and contrast the ways in which Shaw and Dickens present irony
through their narrative voice in The Devil's Disciple and A Tale of
Two Cities.
The most obvious contrast between the two texts is the fact that 'A
Tale of Two Cities' is a novel, while 'The Devil's Disciple' is a
play. This difference of genre makes the use of the narrative voice
vary greatly, despite the fact that both authors are trying to convey
opinions and create images through the narrator.
In its original form, 'A Tale of Two Cities' was meant to be read in
instalments. The use of the narrative voice is crucial for reminding
the reading audience of what happened previously in the tale. The
voice also sets the scene quickly, taking the reader to the specific
setting for that instalment. This is particularly crucial in 'A Tale
of Two Cities' because of the switches across the channel and within a
country the separate characters backgrounds. While none of this deals
explicitly with the irony in the narrative voice, it is crucial to
realise that Dickens voice is employed in many jobs, not only least
acting as a signpost to the reader to explain where in history and
geography Dickens is taking the reader in a specific instalment.
Shaw's voice does not have such a multi faceted job, if the audience
are watching the play rather than reading it. In the case of watching
the play, the scene is set, the characters are played by actors and
the narrative voice becomes redundant to the audience, if not the
actors, because all the asides are being performed by the cast.
For the purpose of this essay, I will consider the reading audience of
Shaw, as opposed to the viewing audience. I will do this because if
the narrative voice becomes red...
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...ed by the
narrator itself. For example in an introductory passage to 'The
Devil's Disciple' Shaw writes, 'They have convinced both Americans and
English that the most high minded course for them to pursue is to kill
as many of one another as possible, and that military operations to
that end are in full swing, morally supported by confident requests
from the clergy of both sides for the blessing of God on their arms.'
this sentence is ironic to the reader because the reader can see the
fault in both sides, as it seems obvious to an objective person that
both are wrong. This type of irony is not for comic affect, nor
relief, but for Shaw's political aim of illustrating how pointless the
war is and how ironic it is that neither side can realise the
opposition's point of view or how ironic it is that they are trying to
use the same force against one another.
In the novel Lord of the flies by William Golding, he applies two different types of irony. He applies verbal irony, which is when the author says or writes one thing but means something else. He also applies situational irony, which is when the situation involves actions that have an effect that is opposite from what was intended.
In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Geoffrey Chaucer masterfully frames an informal homily. Through the use of verbal and situational irony, Chaucer is able to accentuate the moral characteristics of the Pardoner. The essence of the story is exemplified by the blatant discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the message of his story. By analyzing this contrast, the reader can place himself in the mind of the Pardoner in order to account for his psychology.
Charles loved to incorporate prisons and peasants in his writing, reflecting the life of the lower class and his father, John Dickens. He wrote with a realistic genre, portraying everything exactly the way it should be without much elaboration. While writing the book A Tale of Two Cities, Charles read Thomas Carlyle’s history of the French Revolution, which he incorporated in the plot of the novel. Charles Dickens focused mainly on the motifs of prisons, self-sacrifice, rebirth, and the mystery of love in his works. These motifs came from his lifetime experiences. (Karen
In both A Streetcar Named Desire and Hamlet, Tennessee Williams and William Shakespeare, respectively, demonstrate their abilities to create engaging plays which work on several levels in order to produce the desired effect. One of the most important characteristics of these plays is the playwrights' success in using their words to create the worlds surrounding their works. Both Shakespeare and Williams effectively use irony in the aforementioned plays, both in the plot and with specific symbolism, to create mildly existential environments where effective irony is a confirmation of fate and justice. Immediately apparent to the reader upon completion of these two works is the glaring appearance of irony in the plays' plots. For example, in A Streetcar Named Desire, a great deal of dramatic irony is created when the audience is made aware of details that characters are ignorant to.
First off, what is irony? Many people are under the impression that irony is just when something happens that you don't expect (or that you really hoped wouldn't happen). In reality, true irony only happens when a situation is the exact opposite of what you would expect. Irony abounds throughout The Crucible as characters who believe they are combating the Devil’s handiwork actually perform it themselves. There are several ironies in Act 1 that center around Abigail Williams. In her conversation with John, Abigail claims that he helped her realize all the lies she was told by two-faced people in Salem who only publicly adhere to the conventions of respectable society (pg. 22). The irony is that, in the face of John’s rejection, Abigail turns
The French Revolution, beginning in 1789, served as a force for exposing man’s inhumanity to man because of the unjust actions that arose in all aspects of human existence during this time period. Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities examines the extent to which man will travel to achieve what he believes is essential to life. A look into every aspect of this epoch in both France and England reveals the faults that enable man to overlook the value of another individual’s life. Throughout the novel, Dickens analyzes the concept of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man as a force motivated by inordinate greed, destructive power, and conspicuous injustice.
A Tale of Two Cities In every great novel, there is a theme that is constant throughout the story. One of the better known themes portrays the fight of good verses evil. Different authors portray this in different ways. Some use colors, while others use seasons to show the contrast. Still, others go for the obvious and use characters.
the play, it seemed that Othello was the only one who didn't know the truth.
The first thing to register when considering irony in Socrates, is that in no passage of Plato 's work does Socrates or any of his associates refer to him as an ironist. Rather, it was his opponents who accused him to be an eiron, that is, someone who practices irony . This, has to do with the fact that up until Socrates ' times, the standard understanding of the Greek word eironeia was exclusively that of deception or dissembling . More precisely, as David Wolfsdorf shows discussing a passage from Oppian 's On Hunting, erioneia '[...] is the use of deception to profit at the expense of another by presenting oneself as benign in an effort to disarm the intended victim [...] ' .
Susan Gable’s Trifles is focused on discovering the killer of a local farmer in the twentieth century. In this play the amount of irony is abundant and the irony always relates to solving the murder. The two types of irony that are most easily discerned in Trifles are verbal and situational irony. Irony is when an author uses words or a situation to convey the opposite of what they truly mean. Verbal irony is when a character says one thing but they mean the other. This can be seen in the way the men dismiss the women. Situational irony is when the setting is the opposite of what one would think it would be for what the play is. This is seen through the setting being in a kitchen and various other aspects of the
The short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe and poem, “A Poison Tree” by William Blake both a theme of revenge. The poem and short story tell of the main character being infuriated with an enemy and wanting to seek revenge. Both authors use first person point of view and dramatic irony to develop the theme of revenge.
Depending on how the reader and author see it, humour can be interpreted in multiple ways. In both Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, different aspects of irony are implemented to create an entertaining story line. The use of dramatic irony portrays the characters in an irrational and humorous light, through the verbal exchanges among those with alter egos; foolish actions originating from adverse situations; and the implications of dramatic irony in love.
In Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, many women were being accused of witchcraft. The people of the town knew how controversial it was, but the fear instilled in them caused them to go along with the lies. They are forced to choose between survival and what they believe is right, as Puritans. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller depicts his message that self preservation overrides personal morals through imagery and situational irony.
This paper is to explain the use of irony of a phrase from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. The story is set during the time of the French Revolution and the phrase was the slogan of the revolutionaries: “The Republic One and the Indivisible of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death.” Each term of this phrase will be defined and once defined one will be able to see the extreme irony of it.
Have you ever watched a movie and thought “Wow! Those characters are so very different, but they are in two very similar situations?” That is just what the creator of the work wants you to see. They have used what is called a character foil. A character foil is a double or a mirror of characters. This allows you to see alternative versions of the story play out and help intensify the work. Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” and Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man” both use character foils to highlight the conflicts and themes which help intensify the drama for the audience.