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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—Dark is Light:
Dumaine, Longaville, and the king mock Berowne’s interest in Rosaline. In so doing, Dumaine in particular employs verbal irony:
DUMAINE
To look like her are chimney-sweepers black.LONGAVILLE
And since her time are colliers counted bright.KING
And Ethiopes of their sweet complexion crack.DUMAINE
Dark needs no candle now, for dark is light.
Scholars believe the role of Rosaline was probably meant to be played by a woman with dark features. This is reflected in the jibes the men offer in these lines. Dumaine says that coal-covered chimney sweepers are jealous of her. Longaville adds that even coal miners are now considered beautiful; the king adds that Ethiopians are proud of their complexion now. In a final blow, Dumaine says ironically that candles are unnecessary now, since darkness is now considered light.
The racist mocking of Rosaline’s “dark” features is obviously problematic. Dumaine’s use of irony speaks to a general air of reversal in this scene. Dumaine jokes that Rosaline’s “dark” features are now considered “light,” aligning “light” with fair features, goodness, and beauty. This line hearkens back to the king’s earlier reference to the Devil (“Black is the badge of Hell”). A shift in aesthetic preference is linked to a moral evolution, change, or decline.
Further, this is the scene in which each lord is revealed to have compromised their oath to Ferdinand by falling in love with one of the Frenchwomen. After encountering the beauty of the ladies of the French court, each one of these men has undergone a kind of moral compromise. They are saved from full hypocrisy only by Berowne’s rhetorical skills. In a sense, the lords have all decided that “dark is light,” ironically choosing to pursue the very thing they have sworn off. Love, previously maligned, is defended as passionately as Rosaline is here. In this way, Dumaine’s poor joke falls in line with the tone and import of the scene.
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