Irony in Shakespeare Essay by The Research Group

This paper looks at William Shakespeare's use of the power of dramatic irony. His comedies especially are thickly strewn with it as the plots of plays like "As You Like It" and "Twelfth Night" depend on silly plot devices that can only be maintained through a heavy reliance on ironic understandings between the dramatist and the audience. Such an understanding in the comedic plays allows us to appreciate the fallibility of humanity. Shakespeare relies less heavily on irony in the tragedies, although in both "Macbeth" and "Hamlet" the playwright has relied on the use of dramatic irony both to heighten the sense of suspense in the play and to call into question the fitness of both Hamlet and Claudius to serve as king.