English Literature GCSE
Dramatic Irony
What Dramatic Irony means in English Literature GCSE, as defined for Eduqas, OCR, Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Dramatic Irony
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
When the audience knows something that the characters on stage do not.
When the audience knows something the characters do not.
When the audience knows something that the characters do not.
A situation where the audience knows something that the characters do not, creating tension or a deeper layer of meaning. In Henry V, the epilogue reveals that Henry's achievements will be lost by his son, which the characters celebrating the victory at Agincourt do not know.
When the audience knows a crucial piece of information that one or more characters do not. Example: The audience knows Juliet is only sleeping, but Romeo believes she is dead.
When the audience knows something that a character does not. For example, the audience knows Jimmie is unlikely to return, even as Jo clings to the hope that he will.
Topics that use Dramatic Irony
- An Inspector Calls (Eduqas GCSE)
- Blood Brothers (Eduqas GCSE)
- Component 1 (Eduqas GCSE)
- Macbeth (Eduqas GCSE)
- Othello (Eduqas GCSE)
- Romeo and Juliet (Eduqas GCSE)
- Section A (20%) Post 1914 Prose/Drama (Eduqas GCSE)
- Section A (20%) Shakespeare (Eduqas GCSE)
- Subject Content (Eduqas GCSE)
- The History Boys (Eduqas GCSE)
- A Taste of Honey (OCR GCSE)
- Blood Brothers (OCR GCSE)
- Exploring poetry and Shakespeare (02) (OCR GCSE)
- Henry V (OCR GCSE)
- Modern prose or drama (OCR GCSE)
- Romeo and Juliet (OCR GCSE)
- Shakespeare (OCR GCSE)
- An Inspector Calls (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- Macbeth (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- Much Ado About Nothing (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- Romeo and Juliet (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- Shakespeare (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- Shakespeare and Post-1914 Literature (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- Shakespeare Play (choice of: Macbeth, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice) (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- The Merchant of Venice (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- Twelfth Night (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
Related terms
Using Dramatic Irony in the exam
Definition questions usually carry one or two marks, and examiners look for the precise wording. Write the definition from memory, check it against the version above, and then use the term in a longer answer on the same topic so it sticks.
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