Is He Serious?

And Other Ironies

Ms. Rhee
IB English IV
May 27, 2017
Irony
- takes expectations upends the message
- signifier = something with meaning
- i.e. roads = journeys, traveling
- expected meaning vs. ironic meaning
- roads = journeys vs. untravelled roads
Waiting for Godot
- two men who feel stuck
- waiting for change down road
- never think to travel road
- BUT roads symbolize journeys
- characters stuck in ironic
mode
The Importance of Being Earnest

- being earnest, a Victorian value

- two characters posing as Ernest
- spend most of play lying
- dramatic irony = audience knows
- irony = commentary on Victorian values
Other Examples
- Leonard Bast, Howards End
- Septimus Warren Smith, Mrs. Dalloway
- Katherine Minola, The Taming of the Shrew
 Key Takeaways
Slide 4: What was the most useful thing you learned from this chapter?

- need to understand traditional symbols

- context is KEY
- irony and its impact = commentary
- multivocal irony: irony for everyone
- irony
everything