The definition of irony is when the opposite happens from what is expected. However, the definition for dramatic irony is when one character doesn't know what is really going on, but the audience does. Sometimes other characters also know what is going on, but another character is out of the loop, and the audience knows this as well. For instance, in Act V of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the audience and Friar Lawrence know...
The definition of irony is when the opposite happens from what is expected. However, the definition for dramatic irony is when one character doesn't know what is really going on, but the audience does. Sometimes other characters also know what is going on, but another character is out of the loop, and the audience knows this as well. For instance, in Act V of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the audience and Friar Lawrence know that Juliet is alive, but Romeo and Paris do not. As a result, Romeo makes a rash decision to buy himself some poison and go to Juliet's tomb to die alongside her. The fact that Paris is there, and that the two men fight, does not make the scene ironic because one would expect Paris to grieve the loss of his fiance. Also, one would expect the two rivals to fight. Next, the eerie setting and Romeo flying to Juliet's side are both expected based on the tone and mood of the play. Therefore, as Romeo commits suicide under the belief that his love is dead--but the audience knows she is only sleeping and yet alive--dramatic irony is created.
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