Literature Glossary

Irony

Definition:

According to Gen-X heartthrob Ethan Hawke's slacker alter ego Troy Dyer, irony can be defined as "when the actual meaning is the complete opposite from the literal meaning." Okay, okay, so Reality Bites might not be the fount of all wisdom, but you have to admit that he's right when it comes to irony… well, almost.

Irony comes in many forms, most of which do indeed have to do with contradicting actual and literal meanings. Verbal irony, for example, has to do with the tension between what is said and what is really meant. You've probably used this more than a little in your own life, like when you say, "I'm fine," when really you mean just the opposite. Liar.

Situational irony, on the other hand, plays with the difference between expectations and reality. For example, Shawshank Redemption's Andy was "straight as an arrow" on the outside, but once he got thrown in the slammer—a place where crooks are put in timeout—he became a crook. And imaginary friend Tyler Durden in Fight Club is ironically there to help the narrator find real, honest meaning in his life. 

Situational irony's often at the heart of a plot twist, too, like when—spoiler alert—the kid in The Sixth Sense who "sees dead people," finally figures out that his psychologist's one of those dead people, too.

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something—usually a lot of things—that the characters don't. Remember You've Got Mail? Wake up, Meg Ryan: Tom Hanks is that very same dude you've been chatting it up with online, and he doesn't look like a Clark bar. To be fair, he doesn't look like Clark Gable, either. Sorry, Tom.

Irony can be funny, but it's not, by any means, the same thing as comedy or satire. It often gets used for comedic effect, but some irony is downright tragic (like the fact that Meg Ryan doesn't know she's looking her true love right in the eye).

Famous ironists include Jonathan Swift, Jane Austen, and Stephen Colbert, but it's used all over the place in literature, movies, television, and just about everywhere in between.

To see irony in action, check out our analysis of verbal irony in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and Emma, dramatic irony in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and situational irony in O. Henry's short story "The Gift of the Magi."