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Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Act 2, Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—Lost Souls:
In Act 2, Scene 5, the Friar attempts once more to convince Giovanni that he must turn away from his sinful path of destruction. However, in a moment of situational irony, just as the Friar is about to finish stating his point, Giovanni cuts him off to make a statement of his own:
Friar: Why, leave her yet.
The throne of mercy is above your trespass.
Yet time is left you both –
Giovanni: To embrace each other;
Else let all time be struck quite out of number.
She is like me, and I like her, resolved.
Friar: No more; I’ll visit her. This grieves me most:
Things being thus, a pair of souls are lost.
In the passage above, Giovanni interrupts the Friar, twisting the priest’s unfinished phrase to argue in favor of deepening his relationship with his sister Annabella. The conclusion Giovanni reaches is so unexpected and opposite to the augment the clergyman was attempting to impart that he gives up on his counseling efforts. Seeing that all hope of convincing Giovanni is lost, the Friar instead declares Giovanni’s soul is lost as well.
The Friar’s expression of disappointment in Giovanni leads to a comically bleak moment of dramatic irony in the very next scene (Act 2, Scene 6), as Florio inquires about Giovanni’s whereabouts:
Florio: Where’s Giovanni?
Annabella: Newly walked abroad,
And, as I heard him say, gone to the Friar,
His reverend tutor.
Florio: That’s a blessèd man,
A man made up of holiness. I hope
He’ll teach him how to gain another world.
Unfortunately for Florio, his expression of hope that the Friar will be of assistance to his son comes too late. His ignorance to the fact that the Friar has already forsworn his son as a lost cause serves as a reminder to the audience that Giovanni currently possesses a pristine reputation—and likewise illustrates just how far he will fall once his depravity is revealed.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 6
Explanation and Analysis—Lost Souls:
In Act 2, Scene 5, the Friar attempts once more to convince Giovanni that he must turn away from his sinful path of destruction. However, in a moment of situational irony, just as the Friar is about to finish stating his point, Giovanni cuts him off to make a statement of his own:
Friar: Why, leave her yet.
The throne of mercy is above your trespass.
Yet time is left you both –
Giovanni: To embrace each other;
Else let all time be struck quite out of number.
She is like me, and I like her, resolved.
Friar: No more; I’ll visit her. This grieves me most:
Things being thus, a pair of souls are lost.
In the passage above, Giovanni interrupts the Friar, twisting the priest’s unfinished phrase to argue in favor of deepening his relationship with his sister Annabella. The conclusion Giovanni reaches is so unexpected and opposite to the augment the clergyman was attempting to impart that he gives up on his counseling efforts. Seeing that all hope of convincing Giovanni is lost, the Friar instead declares Giovanni’s soul is lost as well.
The Friar’s expression of disappointment in Giovanni leads to a comically bleak moment of dramatic irony in the very next scene (Act 2, Scene 6), as Florio inquires about Giovanni’s whereabouts:
Florio: Where’s Giovanni?
Annabella: Newly walked abroad,
And, as I heard him say, gone to the Friar,
His reverend tutor.
Florio: That’s a blessèd man,
A man made up of holiness. I hope
He’ll teach him how to gain another world.
Unfortunately for Florio, his expression of hope that the Friar will be of assistance to his son comes too late. His ignorance to the fact that the Friar has already forsworn his son as a lost cause serves as a reminder to the audience that Giovanni currently possesses a pristine reputation—and likewise illustrates just how far he will fall once his depravity is revealed.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—I'm Confirmed!:
For the majority of Act 3, Scene 2, Giovanni listens from an overhead balcony—his presence known only to the audience—as Soranzo attempts to woo Annabella. This is a perfect moment of dramatic irony, as Soranzo bares his heart to not only the woman he professes to love, but to her brother (and lover) as well:
Soranzo: Have you not will to love?
Annabella: Not you.
Soranzo: Whom then?
Annabella: That’s as the Fates infer.
Giovanni [Aside]: Of those I’m regent now.
Soranzo: What mean you, sweet?
Annabella: To live and die a maid.
Soranzo: Oh, that’s unfit.
Giovanni [Aside]: Here’s one can say that’s but a woman’s note.
Soranzo: Did you but see my heart, then would you swear –
Annabella: That you were dead.
Giovanni [Aside]: That’s true, or somewhat near it.
Soranzo: See you these true love’s tears?
Annabella: No.
Giovanni’s short quips add humor and levity to the scene, which would otherwise consist solely of Soranzo’s pitifully one-sided declarations of love. There is further irony present in the fact that one of Annabella’s strategies to defer Soranzo’s affections is her declared desire “to live and die a maid.” This statement is a blatant lie, as she has already slept with her brother and is therefore no longer a maid.
As Soranzo continues his attempt to win Annabella’s heart, his language grows more ardent and figurative:
Soranzo: Mistress, to leave those fruitless strifes of wit,
I know I have loved you long, and loved you truly.
Not hope of what you have, but what you are
Have drawn me on; then let me not in vain
Still feel the rigour of your chaste disdain.
I’m sick, and sick to th’heart.
Annabella: Help! Aqua-vitae!
Soranzo: What mean you?
Annabella: Why, I thought you had been sick!
Soranzo: Do you mock my love?
Giovanni [Aside]: There, sir, she was too nimble.
Soranzo [Aside]: ’Tis plain; she laughs at me.
[...]
Giovanni [Aside]: I’m confirmed!
Soranzo’s haphazard foray into the flowery language of love does little to help his cause, as Annabella’s humorous attempt at matching him in conversation only highlights the divide between the two—and by extension her affinity with Giovanni! With each response Annabella gives to Soranzo, Giovanni becomes more assured of his sister’s love for him, regardless of the fact that the conversation ends with Annabella’s promise to wed Soranzo should she ever have a nuptial ceremony.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—A Brother's Love:
Following Annabella’s collapse and the subsequent discovery of her pregnancy, Giovanni brings the Friar to check on his sister. In a moment of dramatic irony, Florio ignorantly interprets his son’s actions as a sign of his pure-hearted brotherly love for his equally pure (and, more specifically, virginal) sister:
Giovanni: Sir, with what speed I could, I did my best
To draw this holy man from forth his cell
To visit my sick sister, that with words
Of ghostly comfort in this time of need
He might absolve her, whether she live or die.
Florio: ’Twas well done, Giovanni: thou herein
Hast showed a Christian’s care, a brother’s love.
Florio, under the mistaken impression that Annabella is suffering from a non-existent disease known as “maid’s sickness,” proudly commends Giovanni’s efforts to care for his sister. The fact that Annabella is not a "maid"—that is, a virgin—at all contributes to the irony of this scene. As he thanks his son, praising him for demonstrating the strength of a brother’s love and his Christian caring, Florio ends up making a fool of himself. This moment is a perfect example of dramatic irony, as the audience knows that Giovanni and Annabella are engaged in a very different sort of love that is decidedly un-Christian.
Related Themes:
Act 4, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Put Out Her Eyes:
In Act 4, Scene 3, following Soranzo’s discovery of Annabella’s pregnancy, Vasquez endeavors to assist his master in determining who fathered her child. Although he promises Puttana both protection for herself and relief for her mistress in return for a confession regarding the identity of Annabella’s lover, his attitude quickly takes a violent turn once he receives the information he seeks. In a swift and sudden moment of situational irony, Puttana’s desire to assure the safety of herself and the woman she serves instead results in her own immediate demise:
Vasquez: Come, sirs, take me this old, damnable hag, gag her instantly, and put out her eyes! Quickly, quickly!
[The Banditti seize Puttana.]
Puttana: Vasquez, Vasquez!
Vasquez: Gag her, I say! ’Sfoot, d’ee suffer her to prate? What, d’ee fumble about? Let me come to her. I’ll help your old gums, you toad-bellied bitch!
[He gags Puttana.]
Sirs, carry her closely into the coal-house, and put out her eyes instantly. If she roars, slit her nose. D’ee hear? Be speedy and sure.
Forgoing all of the promises he gave Puttana mere moments prior to her confession, Vasquez violently betrays her trust by ordering a gruesome mutilation as a punishment for her encouragement of the incestuous relationship between Annabella and Giovanni. The cruel repercussions he visits upon Puttana for acts that were not truly her own are extreme and shocking, hammering home the consequences that befall her for her complicity.
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