Question

What are the three examples of irony in ‘Romeo and Juliet’?

Answer 1

Hint: Irony is indeed a narrative device where there is a comparison or absurdity amongst what is expected of a circumstance or what is actually happening. It may be a disparity here between literal meaning and the overall meaning of anything that is said. William Shakespeare's famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet is all about two young Italian legendary lovers whose tragedies eventually settle their family feud.

Complete answer:
The play mentioned here is William Shakespeare's famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet is all about two young Italian legendary lovers whose tragedies eventually settle their family feud.

Irony is indeed a narrative device where there is a comparison or absurdity amongst what is expected of a circumstance or what is actually happening. It may even be the contrast between how much predicted and what usually happens. Irony could then be categorized into three types: verbal, dramatic, and situational irony.

Examples of irony stated here in this play would be;
Firstly situational irony. The occurrences turn out to be the polar opposite of what's been predicted. Whatever the characters and the viewer believe should happen doesn't always turn out to be it. The happy couple, do spend an eternity together within Shakespeare's play, but maybe not in the manner the crowd had anticipated.

Secondly verbal irony. The terms express the polar opposite of the author's (or speaker's) intended context. Two households, both alike in dignity,... begins the Prologue in Act I, for instance. After you first encounter this, you might believe that the following families are very honorable or dignified. That being said, as the play progresses, it becomes clear how each household is fiercely competitive. They are equally despicable.

Finally the dramatic irony (even termed as tragic irony). A protagonist in a story or a play may be unaware of facts or occurrences that are known to you - and certain individuals in the work. The spectator, for example, is aware that Juliet ingested a sleeping pill and isn't actually dead. Just because of that, the crowd is far more affected by Romeo's demise to suicide.


Note: A paradox seems to be an argument that would be both correct or incorrect at the very same time. Paradoxes are cognitive patterns that show how human thoughts can often go awry, even though we use completely sensible reasoning to get through it. However, one of the most important aspects of paradoxes is that they seem to be logical. They are not absolute nonsense, but it's only after we think about them that we know their reasoning is self-defeating.