Irony


Irony describes the way that one point of view undermines another. We can describe these two points of view as naive (the literal meaning) and ironic (the intended meaning).
 
naive (literal) ironic (the intended meaning)
The literal meaning often perceives the world as it ought, could, should, or might be. 
Irony has a more cynical and satirical--and some might say realistic--perspective than the naive view.

I. Consider this ex. of verbal irony: The weather is really great today. (But in actuality, it's cold and awful out.)

Wow, you look like you're comfortable. (But in actuality, you just got rained on and are dripping wet.)
ironic view
You just got rained on and are not comfortable because you're dripping wet.

naive view
The weather's great, and you're feeling comfortable.

In situational irony, the ironic/intended view has more significance than the naive/literal view, because it gets at the truth of the matter.

II. Dramatic irony happens when the audience shares a secret with one of the characters onstage that most of the other characters don't know. In this way, there's a dissonance between the audience's point of view, and the characters' knowledge. Consider this example from The Lion King.

ironic view
Scar wants to kill Simba when he tells him to run away.

naive view
Scar is trying to protect Simba when he tells him to run away.

In this example, too, the ironic view holds more weight than the naive view, because it influences Simba's fate; his lack of knowledge puts him in peril.

III. Romantic irony, as described by Fetzer, does not create two opposing points of view or a hierarchy of meaning, but rather what he calls a "bifocal view" (21). In this way, two views are offered that create a syncretism: two co-existing albeit differing points of view. This more horizontal viewpoint is important because it creates a doubling of meaning, and we will explore other forms of doubling in the second unit. Consider this example from Goethe's Sufferings of Young Werther:
naive view
 ironic view
Lotte is innocent and friendly.
Lotte is a seductive siren, flirting with Werther because she is lonely.

Both views of Lotte may be true. At the same time, the ironic view does not necessarily undermine the naive view; they are both, in a sense, true.

In this way, romantic irony opens up a skeptical, questioning, but also more open view of the world.

Works Cited

Fetzer, John Francis. "Romantic Irony." European Romanticism: Literary Cross-Currents, Modes, and Models. Ed. Gerhart Hoffmeister. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1990. 19-36.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. The Sufferings of Young Werther. Trans. Harry Steinhauer. NY: Norton, 1970. Print.


Wendy C. Nielsen, Feb. 7, 2012