23 will harm him. Dramatic irony results through the imbalance of knowledge between
the character and the audience. Only we in the audience see the full picture; our understanding is often enhanced because we, but not as a particular character, were
“present” in a previous scene. In fact, because we are “present” to all of the scenes in the play, while every character is sometimes absent, we know more than anyone of
them. Dramatic Irony is used very widely by playwrights of all ages, primarily because it is a device by means of which the audience and the playwright can be
brought into a shared secret; we acquire an immediate knowledge of the characters and revel in knowing things which they do not.
D. Mistaken Identity
One specialized kind of irony is that of mistaken identity. Some plays in fact have plots entirely dependent on the device of mistaken identity. In this situation, some of
the characters on the stage are simply unaware of the identity of other characters while the audience knows who everybody is. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night makes use
of this device through the character of Viola. An even better example is provided by the well-known eighteenth century comedy, Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to
Conquer, or in Oscar Wilde’s Importance of Being Ernest. In those plays, the ways in which the characters mistake the identities of the others provide the central humor of
the plays.
E. Pathos
It is the quality which moves the audience to pity, tenderness, or sorrow. Usually we observe pathos in situations where there is a helpless character, one who suffers
because of certain sadness. When the character is caught up in sorrow and we pity her more often “her” than “him” we consider her pathetic.
F. Parody
Quite often a playwright will write a play which is an obvious parody of another play, usually of a serious nature. Usually the actions, kinds of characters, and language are
all satirized in a parody- an excellent example being Henry Fielding’s famous parody of the heroic tragedy of Dryden in his The Tragedy of Tragedies, or The Life and
Death of Tom Thumb the Great. In this parody, Fielding humorously satirizes some
24 forty-two plays by mocking their serious employed dramatic convetions of character
and speech.
G. Didacticism
When a playwright is consciously lecturing us on certain moral priciples- and generally the superiority of moral good- he or she is usually didactic. Some
playwrights have some lessons to teach us and through both the actions and the speeches of the characters the playwright presents his or her argument. If the
didacticism of the playwright is associated very strongly with a certain well-known system or doctrine political, philosophical, religious the playwright and the play are
often described as doctrinaire.
H. Assignment
