The Element of Irony
It is significant that the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” uses comedic imagery in the first act. That is, it is the application of a character’s image in one line to represent another. In this way, the character appears comical to the audience. In Act 1, Scene 1, Lysander and Demetrius are fighting over their beloved, and her father expresses the wish of Theseus, Duke of Athens, that Hermia marries Demetrius (Shakespeare, 2022). The play also uses irony to demonstrate humor. For example, when Oberon asks Puck to squeeze the juice of a magic flower over the eyes of rustic wearing Athenian clothes. As a consequence, Puck squeezes this juice into Lysander’s eyes because that is what he is wearing (Shakespeare, 2022). Thus, through irony, a comic situation is created. Furthermore, Shakespeare applies interlude when Quince reads aloud without punctuation or rules of syntax.
The Dramatic Irony
The dramatic irony in “Trifles” heightens the growth of suspense and tension. This occurs when the women find information clues being found about life in the Wright family. The ladies conduct their own investigation and investigate the canary who died with a broken neck. They know that Mrs. Wright loved the bird, therefore, by means of deduction, the viewers already establish for themselves that Mr. Wright killed the bird (Saei Dibavar, 2022). At the same time, there is other evidence that reinforces the viewers’ confidence in the veracity of their own version. For instance, Mrs. Wright’s instability, which is evident through her sewing, leads the women and the audience to believe that Mrs. Wright is to blame (Saei Dibavar, 2022). Accordingly, this situation is a dramatic irony in Trifles because authorities such as the prosecutor and the sheriff fail to notice these clues. Therefore, it indicates that the audience has more information than they receive.
References
Saei Dibavar, S. (2022). Privileged empathy in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles. A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, 1-7. Web.
Shakespeare, W. (2022). A midsummer night’s dream. Sheba Blake Publishing.