The Rivals: Dramatic Irony 5 key examples

Knowing that Lydia’s beloved Ensign Beverley and the “young Absolute” Lucy laments are in fact one and the same person, Fag can barely contain his laughter at the current situation. Duty-bound to keep his master’s secret, as Lucy entreats Fag to give Beverley encouragement in the face of his impending competition, Fag can only respond by emphatically declaring that Beverley will be heartbroken. Although Fag and the audience know that Beverley and Absolute are the same person, Lucy and Lydia do not, making Lucy’s expression of distress at this situation both genuine and deeply ironic.

Absolute’s manufactured confusion and shock upon hearing his father ask if he has any prior knowledge of Lydia is extremely comical. His speech is deliberately energetic—note the exclamation points concluding five of his 10 sentences. Another three of Absolute’s remarks are phrased as questions, and even his two statements that end with a period contain language laced with doubt (“I don’t remember” and “I think I do recollect”). Absolute’s bald-faced lie to his father is deeply ironic considering the fact that he is already engaged in a different form of deception when it comes to his actual courtship of Lydia, who thinks he is nothing more than a poor ensign. From this moment on, Absolute must maintain two lies at once, fooling both the woman he intends to court and his own father, all whilst knowing that his secret must eventually come out if he ever does intend to really marry her.

The letter-writer’s metaphorical comparison of Mrs. Malaprop to a she-dragon is vivid and rich. These creatures of legend are heavily associated with habits of greed and hoarding. By describing Lydia’s guardian in these terms, the letter implies that Mrs. Malaprop is excessive in her efforts to manage her ward’s life and future. 

There is an additional layer of dramatic irony in this letter-reading scene due to the fact that Absolute is the one who wrote this letter. As Mrs. Malaprop reads his insulting words back to him, it becomes clear that Absolute’s many layers of deception are starting to pile up around him to a height that will soon become unmanageable. Later, in Act 4, Scene 2, this very metaphor comes back to haunt him when Mrs. Malaprop realizes who Absolute truly is, and he must answer for yet another of his lies.

In the quote above, Acres metaphorically refers to himself as a “devil,” while Absolute plays along, comparing him to a “determined dog.” Both metaphors are made with the apparent intent to intimidate Acres’s duel opponent, but instead they only reveal Acres’s lack of gentlemanly honor. Acres’s desire to preemptively scare the man on the receiving end of his challenge before the challenge has even been issued or accepted is supremely unchivalrous, displaying his cowardice and his unwillingness to fight fairly. This scene is also an instance of dramatic irony because the audience knows that Acres’s chosen fearsome messenger is actually the very man he wants to scare off. Therefore, Absolute is agreeing in this scene to deliver Acres’s not-so-intimidating message to himself, and the effect of Acres’s devilish metaphors are thus succinctly nipped in the bud.

As Absolute tries to prevent his father from discovering that he is heading to the duel, he scrambles to come up with a plausible explanation for his suspicious behavior on the street. Disguise uncovered, Absolute chooses to enact a new form of deception by lying about his intended destination and purpose, claiming he is bringing his betrothed a trinket—only for Sir Anthony to discover his sword. Remember, at the very start of this scene, Absolute enters the stage alone and bemoans to himself (and the listening audience) that Faulkland is “never punctual” and he “shall be obliged to go without him” to the duel. Thus, Absolute’s claim that the sword has a romantic (if suicidal) purpose is a hilarious moment of dramatic irony, for both he and the audience know that the weapon he carries is intended for a very different use.