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Definition of Verbal Irony
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging outside and someone remarks "what... read full definition
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging... read full definition
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean... read full definition
Act 4, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Parrolles the Cat:
Parrolles finds himself being interrogated in Act 4, Scene 3, completely unaware that his captors are his colleagues in disguise. The dialogue here features dramatic irony and verbal irony to depict Parolles’s deceit and foolishness. The Second Lord quietly mocks him to Bertram:
SECOND LORD (aside): This is your devoted friend, sir, the manifold linguist and the armipotent soldier.
BERTRAM (aside): I could endure anything before but a cat, and now he’s a cat to me.
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