Previous
Dialect
Definition of Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given situation, and that of the... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a... read full definition
Moll’s Crimes Escalate
Explanation and Analysis—Moll Stealing the Package:
During the height of her criminal activity, Moll stations herself by a series of carriages looking for someone to steal from and starts talking to a woman who is carrying a package. The woman explains that she is worried about leaving the package in the carriage with her child while loading the carriage because she worries someone will steal it. In an example of dramatic irony, Moll convinces the woman to trust her with the package and then walks away with it:
The Maid had a great Bundle under Arm […] and I said, you had best put your Bundle into the Coach too; No, says she, I am afraid some body should slip it away from the Child; give it me then, said I, and I’ll take care of it; do then, says she, and be sure you take care of it.
[...]
As soon as I had got the Bundle, and the Maid was out of Sight, I goes on towards the Ale-house, where the Porter’s Wife was, so that if I had met her, I had then only been going to give her the Bundle […] but as I did not meet her I walk’d away.
This is an example of dramatic irony because readers are aware that Moll is going to steal the package from the woman even as she says that she will take care of it. This isn’t because Moll is a heartless criminal, but because she is living in poverty and has no other way to make a living. Despite the fact that Moll lies to and steals from this woman, readers are on her side, as the use of irony helps make clear.
Related Themes:
