Romeo and Juliet Act IV

Paris and Juliet's Meeting at Friar Lawrence's Cell

Romeo and Juliet  is full of scenario's where the audience knows something the character does not, this literary device is called Dramatic Irony. When Capulet tries to marry off Juliet to Paris, when Romeo decides to kill himself because Juliet is dead, when Romeo is sulking after the party and his friends think he is still hung up over Rosaline, all of these are examples of Dramatic Irony and there are even more examples which can be found here. Sometimes only one character does not know the truth about what is going on, while other times all but a few are oblivious to plans being made behind their backs, but no matter how many characters know the audience is completely aware of the truth at any given moment during the play.

Act four has many good examples of Dramatic Irony. In this Act Paris and Juliet talk, Juliet's family gets ready for the wedding, Juliet takes the sleeping potion, and her family mourns their loss, each part of that includes some degree of Dramatic Irony. One of my favorite examples is how Paris not only thinks Juliet is mourning the loss of Tybalt but also has no idea that Juliet is married to the exiled Romeo. This is and example of Dramatic Irony where mainly Paris is the one who is out of the loop because the only other people involved in the scene are Friar Lawrence and Juliet who are both aware of the secrets.
This quote from Paris shows all of the things that he does not know about Juliet's current condition: "Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt's death, / And therefore have I little talked of love; / For Venus smiles not in a house of tears" (IV. i. 6-8.) The first piece of irony here is that Juliet is weeping for Tybalt's death, which we know is not the whole story, mainly she is sad because Romeo has been exiled the day after their marriage. The second, more subtle piece of this Dramatic Irony is that he talks about Venus not being present in a house of mourning which is true, but it is more that Romeo and Juliet's love is not being blessed by Venus than Paris and Juliet's.
The exchange between Juliet and Paris happens shortly after Paris is saying this to Friar Lawrence and their conversation includes more Dramatic Irony mainly based around the fact that Paris knows nothing about a relationship between Juliet and Romeo. Because he is unaware of this Paris ends up making a big fool out of himself by allowing Juliet to continue mocking him and his oblivious attitude towards their current situation. This conversation moves the plot forward because you are able to see that Juliet has no interest in marrying Paris and right after that she receives the sleeping potion from Friar Lawrence.

It's not only Paris who makes himself look silly in this act though, most of the Capulet family ends up joining him when they find Juliet "dead" in her bed the next morning. Some people may not feel that their mourning makes them look silly in the same respect that Paris did when Juliet was subtly insulting him but I feel that because of the Dramatic Irony they both end up looking foolish. The Nurse and Lady Capulet do their fair share of shouting, as all martyrs should when they see the young dead, and Capulet suddenly is extremely fond of his daughter though just the day before he was screaming at and insulting her. These acts are just as foolish because of their melodrama mixed with hypocrisy.

To see how they acted watch this video:

The biggest part of this scene that is Dramatic Irony would be how they all describe Juliet as she lays "dead" and how they talk about a funeral because the audience knows she is not truly dead at all, as does Friar Lawrence who is counseling the Capulets during the scene. One good example of the degree of Dramatic Irony is this quote from Capulet, "Her blood is settled, and her joints are stiff; / Life and these lips have long been separated. / Death lies on her like and untimely frost / Upon the sweetest flower of all the field" (IV. v. 26-30.) To anyone who did not know the back story behind the quote it would seem like a stricken father talking sweetly of his dead daughter, but the audience who has been following the story knows that Juliet is nowhere near dead at the time of this quote. The fact that Capulet is talking about Juliet as being dead, even though she does appear to be, is the Dramatic Irony of this quote. One of the best examples of what this type of Irony is would be when he talks about life being gone from her lips because the audience knows that she is still alive but Capulet hasn't the faintest idea. It really adds suspense to the play because Friar Lawrence has to continue the charade and assist the Capulet families in mourning the death of their daughter who isn't truly dead.

Dramatic Irony is a key component in Act IV of Romeo and Juliet. The play is full of secrets and plots only a few of the characters know about. From Romeo and Juliet's marriage to Juliet's faked death nothing is as it seems and someone is always out of the loop. Dramatic Irony often aids in creating suspense or moving the plot forward which makes it helpful overall. Not only is it prominent in Act IV but this literary device can be found throughout the entire play assisting in audience understanding and enjoyment.

Works Cited:

Domblewski, Carol. "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet." Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. N. pag. Print.