Irony (from the Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία
eirōneía, meaning dissimulation or feigned ignorance)
[1] is a
rhetorical device,
literary technique, or situation in which there is an incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident meaning of words or actions.
Verbal and situational irony are often used for emphasis in the assertion of a truth. The ironic form of
simile, irony used in
sarcasm, and some forms of
litotes emphasize one's meaning by the deliberate use of language which states the opposite of the truth or drastically and obviously understates a factual connection.
In fictional dramatic irony, the author causes a character (acting as the author's mouthpiece) to speak or act in a way contrary to the truth. This technique highlights the literal facts by portraying a fictional person who is strikingly ignorant of them.
In certain kinds of situational or historical irony, a factual truth is highlighted by some person's complete ignorance of it or his belief in the opposite of it. However, this state of affairs does not occur by human design. In some religious contexts, such situations have been seen as the deliberate work of
Divine Providence to emphasize facts and to taunt humans for not being aware of them when they could easily have been enlightened (this is similar to human use of irony). Such ironies are often more evident, or more striking, when viewed retrospectively in the light of later developments which make the truth of past situations obvious to all.
Much irony involves commentary that heightens tension in the life situation of someone who needs to learn an easily known fact but somehow fails to learn it.