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Literary Devices
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
Dramatic Irony
Explanation and Analysis:
While Hester possesses some motherly intuition, she is unaware of her son's gambling habits until they result in his death at the end of "The Rocking-Horse Winner." Hester's ignorance in this regard creates moments of dramatic irony, in which the reader knows crucial information about Hester's family that Hester herself does not. Speaking to her son, Hester observes:
My family has been a gambling family, and you won't know till you grow up how much damage it has done. But it has done damage.
Hester believes that Paul will only be exposed to the world of gambling in the future, once he has grown and matured. Tragically however, as the reader knows, it is already too late for Paul: the social pressure to acquire material wealth has already ensnared his young mind. Observing the financial stress that his parents are under, Paul begins gambling to help "silence the whisperings of the house," only to find that greed can never truly be satisfied. Hester's obliviousness to her son's plight—as well as her own unwitting role in bringing about his untimely death—is encompassed in this moment of dramatic irony. She speaks of the consequences of gambling as if they've already taken their toll on her family, not realizing, as the reader does, the imminent danger posed by this particular form of greed.
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