Click the link to open the pdf file: The Three Most Common Uses of Irony. (The Oatmeal is the name of the comic, and the artist also refers to himself as "The Oatmeal.") You can post here.
This comic covers dramatic, situational, and verbal irony. Read the comic and reread Act III Scene i. Identify at least three examples of irony from the text and describe the effect. Don't repeat examples. If other students have used your examples, you can discuss your interpretation of the effects by replying in the comments.
For example: We know that this play is called The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, and there are numerous warnings and portents that Caesar's murder is coming. We know that Caesar is doomed, but he doesn't seem aware. This is dramatic irony.
In describing the effect, we might consider: What do you think about Caesar's character? Do you feel more sympathetic toward him knowing he is doomed to die? Or does he just seem like a stubborn fool, walking to his own death?
Begin describing effect in terms of your feelings toward the character.
For all discussions of literary elements, I want you all to
begin going further and considering: What does this element "do"
here? For example, doctors can
begin by identifying. "This
cell here in the pancreas is a cancer cell." But doctors must go further if they want to treat that
cancer. They must consider:
"What does this cancer cell do?
How does it affect the surrounding cells? How does it affect the organ, and the person?"
Literature is not exactly like biology. But a clear sign to me that you understand the form and function of a text, is your ability to describe the effects on you as a reader.
Bonus: In The Oatmeal comic, what is ironic about the Oatmeal's final thought on irony?
What I found was ironic in Act III scene i was that I knew that Brutus was in on the conspiracy and that he was going to kill Caesar but Caesar didnt know that. It was an example of dramatic irony in that Caesar was surprised that Brutus was the one that killed him and we, the readers, knew it all along.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in this scene, it was ironic that Antony was going to speak because I knew that Antony would give an arousing speech to show that the people that killed Caesar did a bad thing and it didnt surprise me when Antony did in scene ii.
Im going ot try the bonus---> I think what was ironic about his last statement on irony was that he said that irony is subjective and in his last line he said it depends on how obnoxious the listener "feels". Subjectivity is dependent on the feelings on the person.
Stef_Henry,
DeleteCan you point to evidence in the text, that might give clues to the reader that Antony could give an "arousing speech?" This could be ironic if Antony's skills are revealed to Brutus, after Caesar's murder, and Brutus ignores these signs. Why does Cassius think it's such a bad idea? Point to lines from the text.
-Mr. Shellhase
One of the most obvious irony in Act III Scene I, can be shown in the beginning of the act that what the soothsayer warned Caesar of beware the ides of March actually got him. Also, when Mark Antony, says "O mighty Caesar! Dost thou lie so low?", it shows irony in the fact that Caesar was the highest person in the the time he was ruling. The final irony would be when Brutus says "Grant that, and then death is a benefit", showing of how unbeneficial the murder of him was.
ReplyDeleteI would actually sympathize for Caesar's death because the conspirators were just jealous of Caesar's revolution of Rome and claimed him to be a dictator just to stir up some fuel to start in the hatred of Caesar's reign. It was not like Caesar was deliberately against the Senators, more like the opposite.
There were many aspects of irony throughout Act III scene i, the most glaring being the situational irony in which Caesar dies at the feet of Pompey, whom Caesar had gotten killed. Caesar had violated and triumphed against Pompey, but he then dies at Pompey's feet. They effect that had on my view of Caesar, is that I feel more sympathetic towards him, because he died such a violent and undignified death, and on top of that a major achievement of his was violated in a way.
ReplyDeleteIn another section of Act III scene i, I detected verbal irony when Brutus says that the conspirators acted as friends to Caesar, when they in fact brutally killed him in a very unfriendly matter. One stab to the heart would have killed Caesar, but they chose to stab him 23 times, which was overkill (pun intended). They effect of this was that I viewed Brutus in a very bad light. He seems shallow, with a foggy concept of right and wrong.
Lastly I detected verbal irony when in Mark Antony's speech he says "For Brutus is an honorable man; so are they all honorable men", were Mark Antony obviously felt that Brutus and the conspirators were wicked and had to pay for their unfathomably bad deed(Act III scene i line 91-92. The effect this had is that Mark Antony seems loyal to Caesar, and hurt by the other's injustice.
Bonus: He made this whole segment in his website to explain to readers on this information, and stresses that we understand, and then calls the readers obnoxious for really thinking about his ideas.
Caesar wasn't the one that killed Pompey, so it wasn't his achievement. I also do not think that the conspirators purposely "violated" Caesar's achievement. It just so happened that Caesar died in front of the statue of Pompey.
DeleteOne of the first verbal irony I detected was also when Mark Antony said "For Brutus is an honorable man; so are they all honorable men," when truthfully he thought the conspirators were awful and wicked. I also thought that Mark Antony seems more loyal to Caesar and that he loves Caesar, possibly more than his own life. I also feel that Caesar is really lucky to have such a loyal friend whom you can count on for anything (although at the same time Caesar isn't lucky because there were more nobles who despised him such as the conspirators). @ Josef, although Caesar wasn't the one who physically killed Pompey he was the one who caused his death. He ordered his one-time supporter to have Pompey killed. It's just like Caesar ordering his army to attack the opposing side in a battle but he gets the credit gaining victory since he lead the army. So I think Pompey getting killed was Caesar's achievement.
DeleteJosef, I wrote that Caesar got Pompey killed, which implies that he himself didn't kill him. Also, I noted that I felt that his achievement got violated, not that the conspirators placed Caesar at that exact spot to kill him. I was implying that this coincidence was ironic, though not intended.
DeleteOne example of situational irnoy, was Ceasar dying on the foot of Pompeys statue. Caesar and Ponmep were allies in a triumvant, until Caesar killed him and became the only person left in the triumvant. Also, to me it was extremely ironic how Caesars best frined, Brutus, ended up killing Caesar. A best friend is someone who always has your back, but instead, Brutus STABBED Caesar in the back. Also, it is ironic how Brutus was reluctant to join the conspirators in the beginning, but in the end, he was one stabbed Caesar. It is also ironic how Caesar dismissed the soothsayer as crazy and he thought the soothsayer was wrong becuase it was already the ides of March, and nothing happened. In reality, Caesar was killed later on in the day! These are my examples of irony in Act 3 Scene 1.
ReplyDeleteThe affect of Caesar dying on the foot of Pompey, shows that caesar was wrong for killing Pompey, and he got revenge in a way. Also, i began to think less of Brutus since he was Caesars frined, and he stabbed him in the back, literally. Also, i blame Caesar for his death because he should'nt have been so conceited and cocky and should've at least paid attention to and took heed to the soothsayers warning.
DeleteI agree how ironic it is how Brutus was reluctant to be part of the conspirator's plan but ended up stabbing Caesar and making the worst wound on Caesar's body. I also agree how ironic it is when Brutus, who was a good friend of Caesar, ended up betraying Caesar. What a backstabber! This made me dislike Brutus a lot more. To me, betraying your friend, especially in an extreme way is one of the worst sins anyone can commit. I feel bad for Caesar because e thought that he was surrounded mostly by friends and supporters when he was actually surrounded by traitors and people who are envious of his power and accomplishment.
DeleteThere are many examples of irony in Act III. One example is of Caesar dying in front of a statue of Pompey. Caesar had Pompey killed and then had his head shipped to him, so dying at the foot of his statue is an example of situational irony. Another example of irony is how all along we as the readers knew that Brutus was part of the conspiracy, but Caesar was very surprised when Brutus stabbed him as well. That is an example of dramatic irony. Another example of irony was how Brutus was previously going on about how awful the conspiracy was, and then he ended up stabbing Caesar himself and telling others to put his blood on their hands.
ReplyDeleteBonus: What is ironic about the webcomic is that the comic was dedicated to discussing irony, and then at the end the author proceeds to say that people are obnoxious for discussing such things on the internet.
There were many aspects of irony throughout Act III. For example, the most obvious irony was the situational irony in which Caesar dies at the feet of Pompey. The fact that Caesar had gotten killed right in front of Pompey's feet who he had triumphed makes it so ironic. The effect that had on my view of Caesar the fact that I felt bad for Caesar because he accomplished so much and died such a terrible death.
ReplyDeleteAnother example would be the verbal irony in Antony's speech. The speech draws much of its power from repetition. Antony kept mentioning Brutus’s claim that Caesar was “ambitious." Similarly, each time Antony declares how “honourable” a man Brutus is, which made it obvious that he was being sarcastic. This changed my view by emphasizing his loyalty to Caesar.
One example of dramatic irony is basically the fact that the reader already knew about Caesar's death before Caesar himself did. Also, the part where Brutus was going on and on about how the conspiracy was cruel while him, being friends with Caesar was part of it.
Bonus: The irony of the webcomic was the fact that the entire comic was dedicated to show irony. Then, at the end, the author straight out just says how obnoxious the readers and how they basically "feel."
I agree with your verbal irony. The repetition of Brutus being an "honorable man" does make it sound sarcastic. The usage of repetition helps change the crowd's opinion and that's what makes Antony a great orator. I think Antony's speech emphasized his loyalty towards Caesar too.
DeleteThere are a lot of examples of different kind of irony that can be found in act 3 scene 1. One example of verbal irony is when Metellus said, "Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar, Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat An humble heart." Truthfully however, Metellus is a conspirator, which means he didn't show up in front of Caesar as a modest man who lower himself in dignity. He has a conspirator heart, meaning he plans to kill Caesar as someone who can over power Caesar. Also, he probably didn't mean Caesar is most high, mighty, and most powerful because is he did, he wouldn't have the guts to kill Caesar. The effect this irony had on me was that it made me think Metellus is dishonest man with an evil heart whom you shouldn't trust. The irony also made me feel bad for Caesar because he receiving "compliments" that weren't meant to be true by Metellus when in fact Caesar is powerful since he rose to the top and he is a great general who won many battles.
ReplyDeleteAn example of situational irony is when Caesar said "Yet in the number I do know but one That unassailable holds on his rank." This is an irony because Caesar is saying that he is unassailable, meaning that he is unable to be attacked, questioned, or undefeated when he ended up being assassinated. This made me think of how oblivious Caesar and it also made me think that Caesar was being arrogant and too full of himself. I feel sympathetic for him because he can't open his eyes and see the reality where anyone can be attacked. Since he didn't see the reality, he ended up dying.
An example of dramatic irony is when Brutus, after murdering Caesar, said, "Then we’ll go out, even to the marketplace, and, waving our bloody swords over our heads, let’s cry, “Peace, freedom, and liberty!” however, we as an audience know that there won't be peace and liberty since a civil war will follow: Octavian and Antony vs. Conspirators. Also, Octavian's side will win and Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus will rise as leaders of Rome with power. This made me feel that Brutus is oblivious of the consequences his actions will cause. It also made me feel bad for Caesar because here is man who accomplish so much for Rome but got killed by someone who thought getting rid him would bring Rome peace while there was peace when Caesar was alive. This irony also made me a little happy because Brutus will suffer the consequences of the crime he committed.
Bonus: Oatmeal's website is all about explaining irony and and shows examples so that we readers can understand, but at the end Oatmeal says that the readers are obnoxious and they just only "feel."
DeleteOne aspect of irony I saw in Julius Caesar was the irony in Act II, scene ii, where Caesar believes that he will not be harmed if he goes to the Senate (this irony was actually prevalent until Act III, scene i). This is situational irony because for the most part, the audience already came into the theater knowing that Caesar would die. This gives the effect that the Caesar in the play is left in the dark, unaware of what will happen to him.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of irony I saw was in Act III, scene i and ii, where Brutus allows Antony to speak to the crowd, but Antony ends up enraging the crowd and setting the stage for war. I think this is situational irony because Brutus allowed Antony to speak so he could contribute to the cause, but Antony instead became a detriment. The effect of this situational irony is that Brutus appears unintelligent by having Caesar's close friend give a speech to the crowd. Adding to Valentina's comment, there was also verbal irony when Antony repeated the line of "honorable men" in Act III scene ii - although he continues to say that they are honorable, he continues to make statements in his speech that contradict that. The effect of this verbal irony is that the crowd gradually starts disbelieving that Brutus and company are honorable, and they start believing that the conspirators did this for personal gain.
Finally, the most obvious irony in the whole play is Caesar's death. Caesar falls at the foot of Pompey's statue, which shows situation irony since Pompey was Caesar's hated enemy who was brutally murdered by Caesar's army for power.
Sorry Mr. Shellhase - that post was talking about Irony in general. Here's just some analysis of Act III -
DeleteOne example of irony I saw was in Act III, scene i and ii, where Brutus allows Antony to speak to the crowd, but Antony ends up enraging the crowd and setting the stage for war. I think this is situational irony because Brutus allowed Antony to speak so he could contribute to the cause, but Antony instead became a detriment. The effect of this situational irony is that Brutus appears unintelligent by having Caesar's close friend give a speech to the crowd. Adding to Valentina's comment, there was also verbal irony when Antony repeated the line of "honorable men" in Act III scene ii - although he continues to say that they are honorable, he continues to make statements in his speech that contradict that. The effect of this verbal irony is that the crowd gradually starts disbelieving that Brutus and company are honorable, and they start believing that the conspirators did this for personal gain.
Another example of irony I saw was just before Caesar's death, when he is speaking to the senate and says that he is "constant as the North Star" (3.1.67) and lines later he is brutally stabbed to death. I think this is an example of irony because he boasts that he is immovable and resolute, which portrays a sense of grandeur. However, the act of Caesar dying shows that he can in fact be moved and is not as powerful as he says he is in this line. Although Caesar says this in the play mainly to show his state of mind and how he cannot be swayed, we can also tie this line to how he views himself and the power he thinks he has. This irony makes me feel like Caesar's words here in line 66 are just empty words, with no real proof to back that up.
Finally, one the most obvious examples of irony in the whole play is Caesar's death in Act III, scene i. Caesar falls at the foot of Pompey's statue, which shows situation irony since Pompey was Caesar's hated enemy who was brutally murdered by Caesar's army for power.
In Act 3 scene 3, there is verbal irony when the plebeians speak to Cinna, and that they are going to kill him. There is verbal irony because when Cinna says," I am Cinna the poet!" and the plebeian says," Tear him for his bad verses." This portrays sarcasm because the plebeian did not care if he was a good or bad poet, he just wanted him dead. This is also shows how bloodthirsty the Romans are.
ReplyDeleteOne of the examples of irony present in Act III Sc. 2, such as the death of Caesar in front of Pompey's statue, had some effects on me as a reader. Caesar's death in front of Pompey's statue shows me that one may have their greatest defeat from their greatest triumph. This made it all the more dramatic for me. Also, the fact that Caesar died at the hands of one of his dearest friends, Brutus, made it much more heart wrenching in a way. It made me think of what was going on through Caesar's head, and how I would feel if a dear friend betrayed me like that. Another example that had an effect on me was the dramatic irony of Antony betraying the conspirators by vouching for Caesar in front of the plebeians; this made me think that there were actually people who still adored by Caesar, although he was portrayed by the conspirators as a threat to the republic and the conspirators were respected and honored politicians made the stacks more uneven for Antony, and makes me admire him for even attempting such a thing for his friend. So this example of irony is sort of to make me take sides for once in the story, as throughout the story I sympathized for both the conspirators and the conspirators.
ReplyDeleteI feel less sympathetic for Caesar as he's about to die, as I take in to account as to how many people warned him to be careful on the Ides of March. Soothsayers, the portents he saw himself, and his wife's dreams all were premonitions to what was about to unravel; yet he was too stubborn and his ego was too large for him not to stay idle on the Ides of March and this worked for the conspirators plan in the long run.
Bonus: Oatmeal explains that it all depends on how "obnoxious the listener feels like being that day" on how they understand irony but his work mainly consists of explaining irony and tries to show examples of irony;so in way he amusingly says that his work is useless as we'll be too obnoxious to understand his explanations.
Sorry for not indenting, the blog messed up my indentations, paragraph 2 starts at "I feel less....March."
DeleteSorry Mir. I know this is not the best format for posting longer writing. Please let me know if you're aware of a better resource or application for group sharing on the web.
Delete-Mr. Shellhase
To elaborate on what Daniel B’s comment, Caesar’s famous last words were “Et tu, Brute” so the class, being students educated in world history, knew that Brutus had to kill Caesar. Ironically, Brutus is one of the last conspirators to agree to join the resistance. This makes me pity Brutus for succumbing to peer- pressure.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Brutus encourages his fellow murderers to bathe their hands and sword in Caesar’s blood. This is very ironic since one would expect Brutus to grieve over the death of his best friend instead of coaxing others to further disrespect his gruesome corpse. This makes me view brutus as dishonorable.
Finally, when Caesar says, “These couchings and these lowly courtsies, Might fire the blood of ordinary men” (which means your meaningless gestures might excite an ordinary man) he believes that he is above the seemingly respectful gestures and knows that Metellus, the character that at the time Caesar is referring to, is “kissing up” to Caesar. In fact, he is not above anything because he doesn’t know that he will be assassinated. This makes me view Caesar as foolish.
I agree with your third point. This made me view Caesar as arrogant, foolish, and an oblivious person. Commenting on your second point: I wouldn't expect Brutus to grieve over the death of Caesar because he's the one who made the worst wound on Caesar's body and when he decided to join the conspirators he automatically became a traitor who loves the Roman Republic more than Caesar and possibly his own life.
DeleteThere are many examples of irony in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Scene 3 Act 1. One obvious example may be the situational irony of Julius Caesar's death. He died on Pompey statue's basis. The defeat of Pompey in the hands of Caesar was the thing that made Caesar popular. He also had his head sent to him after murdering him indirectly.
ReplyDeleteAnother irony may be when the conspirator brutally murdered Caesar, even though they could have killed him with one single stab, or a death in a non-painful way, however he received 23 stabs. In line 116, he claimed that "we", the conspirator, was Caesar's friend, and friends are meant to be kind to each other, and not backstabbing (literally and figuratively) each other.
Bonus : The entire Oatmeal's website is meant to explain irony, and to understand it, we must feel obnoxious, since the author stated that irony on their site is debatable. (guessing)
Act 3 Scene i contained many example of irony. The first example is one we've talked about a lot, Caesar dying at Pompey's statue. This is because Caesar had Pompey killed before. The death of Caesar came right on the statue of his defeated enemy, which is situation irony. Another example of irony is the fact that the soothsayer warned Caesar of "the ides of march". This is what shows that Caesar is doomed for his death. I do not feel sympathetic for Caesar in this situation. I agree that he did not take these warnings seriously and walked into his own death.
ReplyDeleteThe last example is when Antony enrages everyone by speaking. This is dramatical irony in my opinion, because you didn't expect this to happen at all. You expected him to lie and show the crowd that the deathof Caesar was for a good cause.
Bonus: The irony in this is that it explains irony, but then the writer says "It's all about how obnoxious the reader is feeling that day".
-------------------One example of situational irony that I found in pg 103 of Act III Scene I when Cassius said, “So oft as that shall be, so often shall the knot of us be called the men that gave their country liberty.” I understood this as irony because Cassius had thought that they would be hailed as heroes that saved their country from tyranny. As events unfolded, we learn that the audience was convinced to go against the assassins and even pursued to kill them. I had thought that the audience would actually call these men as heroes so I was surprised too.
ReplyDelete------------------An example of verbal irony was when Antony had told Brutus that he would comply with Brutus’ plans if he was granted safety. I thought that Antony actually meant to believe Brutus and reason with him in Caesar’s assassination. Antony hadn’t really seemed that devoted to Caesar in the past scenes. Just after Brutus and the other senators left, Antony starts speaking to Caesar’s body that he would avenge him and that there will be bloodshed. This made me sort of sympathize with him and agree that Caesar was brutally murdered and that he must’ve been a good man to have such devotion from someone like Antony.
------------------Another example was when Antony asked to speak at Caesar’s funeral in Page 111, Act III Scene I. Brutus didn’t really pay heed to Antony’s motive when he said “It shall advantage more than do us wrong.” He had merely thought when Antony would speak, he would just protest and win. Later, Antony’s speech ended up doing harm to Brutus and the senators. I thought that Brutus was being foolish when he was ignorant about Antony’s desire to speak. It made me reconsider Brutus from what I thought about him all along: a clever man who’s willing to give up for Rome.
-----------------Oatmeal: Oh wow, the author’s just describing how obnoxious the readers are. It’s funny because he took all the time to write the definitions, meanings, and examples down. At the end, he says it depends on the author, readers, and characters. What is that supposed to mean? That irony depends on our point of view?
In Act III of Julius Caesar, there were many acts of irony performed. One example of dramatic irony is of how, after the assassination of Caesar, Antony shakes the hands of the conspirators. The characters seem like they think that shaking their hands with Antony is a way that Antony is showing his support for them but in reality, Antony just wants to put Caesar's death on their hands and, in turn, they have to carry the burden of that with them for the rest of their lives. The effect that this has on me is that I start to think about what kind of person Antony is because of the act that he is smart enough to make people think that he is supporting them, but he has ulterior motives.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Alisha's post (because this website would not allow me to reply to her comment), I also feel that Caesar, being assassinated in front of the Pompey statue was extremely ironic because of the fact that Pompey was killed in the hands of Caesar and Pompey's head was sent to his home. But at the same time, dying in front of a statue that, basically, represents exactly how much Caesar achieved during his life time and being as brutally murdered as he was, it draws sympathy from me. Also, the fact that the audience knew that Caesar would be assassinated but Caesar, himself, didn't. The effect that this has on me is seeing, yet another, example of exactly how widespread our media communications is and how much it can bring people together because of one specific topic. When I think of Caesar, the first thing that comes to mind is the assassination. Okay, fine, it WAS. Now, I think of blood. And lots of it. But I never read Julius Caesar before we started reading in class and the fact that, if someone just heard the name Julius Caesar, without any knowledge of the book, whatsoever, except for the assassination, they would immediately think "assassination" and this shows exactly how far media communications has brought us.
In seeing irony used in the play, I don't really feel sympathy toward him, nor think that he is a fool for walking into his own death in terms of him going to his own assassination. This is because of the fact that he is, in fact, human. I mean, they say to keep walking on in life and don't look back and I think that that's what he did. He lived. In reality though, say, someone you knew, walked up to you on the street and that person sort of has a knack for telling the future, but not in terms of serious topics, like predicting death. So, say that person walks up to you and tells you to take caution on so and so day because your friends will be carrying out a plan to assassinate you. What would you think? Think about it, really though. Because I would see this as total craziness but then, my spouse comes up to me and tells me to take caution that day also. By this time, I will actually really think about it and take caution throughout the day and , depending on how important the plans on my agenda are for the day, I might just stay home for the day if my plans aren't all that important. Better safe then sorry, right?
But, for all we knew, he might have just trusted his friends a lot, or he's extremely confident that nothing bad would happen.
Bonus: The irony of the comics is the fact that the entire comic is about forms of irony and how irony is played out but then, the author goes to end the comic by saying that the degree of irony is really depending on the storyteller, the characters and how obnoxious the reader feels like being that day.
The situation irony that we have talked about in class was when Caesar died in front of Pompey's statue because Caesar had ordered for Pompey to be killed and even went to the lengths to have his head sent to him. A dramatic irony was when Antony made a pact with the conspirators by shaking their hands and later on when he spoke his oration, he back-stabbed them and turned the whole crowd against them.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel any sympathy for Caesar because he walked into his own death by not heeding the warnings of the soothsayer. Also even though he saw Cassius as a threat to him, he did not do anything to relieve this feeling. Basically he allowed Cassius to assassinate him and to turn his friends against him.
Bonus: The whole PDF talks about the different types of irony and how they are used, however later on it says that these examples of irony may be questionable or even debatable.
With your second example of situational Irony (the one where Antony shakes hands) Do you think perhaps this was pre-meditated? Maybe Antony new but he was holding it in and putting on a calm face for the conspirators so they'd think he was alright, But under that façade he was planning how to avenge his dear friend Caesar.
DeleteThat's my personal opinion.
In act III scene one, there were many examples of irony that were dispersed throughout the scene. One example was when Caesar was assassinated, he fell and died at the foot of a stature of Pompey. This is an example of situational irony because Caesar defeated Pompey in a battle and was going to be king but at the last second fell down at the foot of Pompey's statue. This showed how Pompey was "standing" over Caesar at his death.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of irony shown in act III scene I was the purpose of killing Caesar. When Brutus and Cassius killed Caesar, they did it to benefit the Roman Empire by preventing Caesar from becoming a king. Instead, after Caesar's death, the citizens found out that it was Brutus, Cassius and other people responsible for Caesar's death. This sparked outrage which lead to civil war. While Caesar's death was to prevent chaos and offer peace, the opposite happened which showed situational irony.
Lastly, another sample of irony is after Caesar's assassination, the conspirators scream out " Liberty, Freedom, Tyranny is dead". They believed that killing Cesar would solve all their problems but instead, they would only make their problems worse.
An aspect of irony that I noticed in Act III Scene I is that the senators show a great deal of respect towards Caesar before they assassinate him. Each of the senators is kneeling while speaking to Caesar and Metellus refers to him as “great Caesar”. This part of the scene displays dramatic irony because the reader knows that the senators are going to attempt to assassinate Caesar, but Caesar does not. During the scenario, Caesar thought that the senators were on his side, but instead the senators were about to execute their conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect of irony that I noticed was when Mark Antony acted like he was on Brutus’s side after Caesar’s assassination. Although he agrees not to blame the conspirators for Caesar’s death, he enrages the crowd and sets a spark for a civil war. The situational irony comes from how Brutus allowed Antony, who was one of Caesar’s closest friends, to give a funeral oration. Instead of adding to supporting Brutus, the oration created more trouble for him.
Lastly, an example of verbal irony is present when Antony says “Friends am I with you all and love you all,” to the conspirators. Although it had seemed as if Antony sided with them, he later says “That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!” , addressing the conspirators as butchers. This shows how he did not really favor the conspirators because he calls them by a class lower than the senators.
I feel sympathetic towards Caesar because he was doomed to die. Although his ambition was out of control, Caesar was able to strengthen the Roman military and bring order to the chaotic republic. He did not deserve a violent and treacherous death at the hands of his friends.
In Act 3 scene i there are several examples of irony. The first example is the one the class has discussed a lot about. It is Caesar dying at the foot of Pompey's statue. Caesar had Pompey killed and had his head shipped to him. Caesar dies at the foot of Pompey's statue, the man who he had killed. This is situation irony. Another example of irony would be Caesar dying in the senate. Supposedly since Caesar is the dictator he is most powerful in the senate. Yet that was the place where he was killed. This is also situation irony. The last example of irony would be Anthony shaking hands with the conspiracy. You would expect Mark Anthony to be ashamed and to talk against the conspiracy and keep his distance from them. Instead he shook their hands which were filled with Caesars blood and made peace. This is another example of situation irony.
ReplyDeleteI think that Caesar was a fool for walking into his death because the soothsayer had already told him that he was doomed. He was warned more than once about his death on the ides of March but he was to stubborn and full of pride to listen. I believe Caesar walked freely in his own death.
DeleteOne instance of irony in act III scene i was that Caesar was assassinated right in front of the statue of the very man who he had had killed only a few years prior. It also made Caesar seem like an unfortunate victim of his own triumph; to make an analogy, it's like Bill Gates filing for bankruptcy, or losing a lost object only to find it exactly where it belonged.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of irony in act III scene i was the events that occurred after Caesar's death. The conspirators all had decided to kill Caesar in order to restore the republic back to its former glory and peace. However, the complete opposite occurred; Rome fell into a civil war, and an Empire, not a republic, arose.
Oatmeal's website explains the different types of irony, but ironically ends the piece by saying that irony is dependent on the reader, the characters, and their feelings, which is the complete opposite of the rules we were given only a few paragraphs before.
An overused example of irony I will mention is the death of Caesar on Pompey's statue. I found this irony to a greater extent due to the fact that Pompey was mentioned for his military achievements in Act 1. Another example of irony that I encountered was how Anthony shook the bloody hands of the conspirators but really had negative views about them, as shown later in the text. This in a way makes him deceitful like the conspirators. Lastly, I noticed irony in that the plebians could be so easily influenced especially after the death of their leader. I felt this was ironic in that Caesar left them much money in his will. I cannot help feeling compassionate toward Caesar. He was betrayed by those he believed in. If one of my close friends wanted me dead, I would be VERY emotional about it. There must have been great pain in the last moment of his life when he saw Brutus stab him. I did not see Caesar as a fool. I saw myself when my friend tells me the answer to a math problem but I cannot figure it out. This is because he had many hints but wasn't able to get the idea.
ReplyDeleteAn example of situational irony is when Caesar dies at the foot of Pompey's statue. This is situational irony because Caesar and Pompey were not on good terms with each other. They both even caused a civil war. When Pompey died, Caesar had Pompey's head shipped to him.
ReplyDeleteVerbal irony is also present in Julius Caesar. In act 3, scene 2, line 91, Antony says, "For Brutus is an honorable man." Antony doesn't mean this because Brutus took part in killing his friend, Caesar.
Readers know that Brutus will take part in killing Caesar. However, Caesar, himself does not know. In act 3, scene 1. He finds out when he is stabbed and becomes very surprised. This is dramatic irony.
BONUS: The irony is that the Oatmeal explains all the types of irony but at the end, it says that it depends on how obnoxious the listener feels like being that day.
An example of dramatic irony is how Caesar is completely unaware of what is going on, Caesar doesn't listen to the Soothslayer's warnings, and is stuck up on things that aren't even important.Brutus kneels to Caesar, but Caesar is like an innocent little child unaware of everything around him, while us, the readers all know he is going to die by the hand of Brutus.
ReplyDeleteAn example of situational irony is also related to Brutus. Brutus, a close friend of Caesar was part of the plot to kill Caesar,in III.i.57, Brutus kisses Caesar's hand, the irony is how he shows so much affection right before he is going to kill him, and Caesar is still completely unaware of what is going on. If i didn't know that Brutus was going to kill him before reading Julius Caesar, I would've thought Brutus backed out from the plot, but clearly he didn't and is a terrible person and friend.---[In my opinion.]
An example of verbal irony, is when Cassius says:"The men that gave thier country liberty," and the conspirators say " Liberty, Freedom, Tyranny is dead." This "freedom" that they supposedly thought they got eventually caused Rome to turn into an empire and the Republic was gone.
An example of situational irony is when Caesar dies in the foot in Pompey's statue. Caesar had Pompey killed a while back and it's a coincidence that he dies in front of the man he killed. (Or just his statue.)
ReplyDeleteAn example of dramatic irony is when Caesar had been warned about the ides of March but he goes out anyway. We know he shouldn't leave but he purposely says in the beginning of the act, "The ides of March are come." As if he's saying, "It's the ides of March! No problem! I'm still going out!" And later, he gets stabbed to death.
An example of verbal irony is when Cassius says, "What enterprise, Popilius?" on page 95, line 15. He doesn't actually mean that he doesn't know what's going on when Poilius wishes him luck. It seems like he's saying it sarcastically and pretending to be oblivious and acting like he's not going to stab Caesar later on in the day. (Which he does...)
An example of situational irony in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is when Caesar died in front of Pompey's statue. It is an example of irony because he and Pompey were enemies during their lifetimes. Caesar had Pompey killed and his head sent to him. He dies in front of his statue, showing situational irony.
ReplyDeleteDramatic irony is portrayed is Scene 3 Line 133, when Cassius says " The men that gave their country liberty". We as the audience know that they didn't give the country liberty. A long period of civil wars broke out after Caesar's death and there was a struggle for power. However, that is unknown to Cassius and the people of Rome, but we as the audience are able to understand that it will happen in the future. We can also tell that Cassius was basically just jealous of Caesar's rise in power, so he talks about Caesar as if he was a tyrant, saying that they have freed the country men. This is obviously false because after he died, he nephew came into power and ended the Roman Republic.
Verbal irony is shown in Line 245-247 when Brutus says "Our reasons are so full of good regard That were you, Antony, the son of Caesar, You should be satisfied" He doesn't actually want Antony to be happy, but he knows he cannot kill Antony as well. Antony wants to say something in Caesar's funeral, and Brutus tells him that. But then, when talking to Cassius Brutus explains that he will talk before Antony and tell the city folk his side. He doesn't mean what he says to Antony.
Bonus: The author made a five page explanation on the three types of irony. In the end, he says that it is obnoxius that people are wasting their time reading it, which is pointless
Situational Irony: An example of situational irony is when Brutus kisses Caesars hand in Act 3, Scene 1, where he says, "I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery." I find that ironic because he stabs Caesar right after he kisses his hand. It seems like Brutus is showing some sympathy or regret towards Caesar before he kill him.
ReplyDeleteDramatic Irony: An example of dramatic irony is almost every character in Julius Caesar knows about the conspiracy but him. When Atremidorus tries to warn Caesar, he (of course) ignores it and calls him a crazy man. Julius Caesar was supposed to be intelligent yet he seems ignorant and foolish for not paying attention to the warnings.
Verbal Irony: An example of verbal irony Cassius was afraid that Popilius found out about the conspiracy. Popilius just meant as a "Have a nice day" but he misinterpreted it. He then tells Brutus, "If this be known, Cassius or Caesar never shall turn back, For I will slay myself." This shows readers that either Caesar die or the conspirators.
Throughout act III there were many examples of Irony but the ones that struck me the most were when Caesar died at the foot of Pompeii's statue (Since Caesar had him killed), this is an example f situational irony. Another example of Irony I saw was how Caesar did not know that Brutus was part of the conspiracy even though he was actually like one of the most active members, this is dramatic irony, another example of dramatic Irony is when Antony shakes hands with the blood covered conspirators another example that Is saw of irony in act III was when Antony says "Brutus is an honorable man" (act III, Scene 2, line 91) , this is Ironic because Brutus actually killed Antony's friend, and this is verbal irony.
ReplyDeleteBonus: The oatmeal explains the three types of Irony, but then at the end he calls the readers obnoxious and he completely contradicts what he said in the previous paragraphs.
Also, I do feel sympathy for Caesar because he was completely convinced that Cassius (maybe he had a little suspicion about Cassius), Brutus, and the others that took part in his assassination were actually his friends, and I personally feel sympathy for anyone who gets betrayed by someone they thought was their friend.
DeleteI think of Caesar as a very powerful guy that wasn't really paying attention to what was happening around him, If he actually thought about it, he might of seen signs that lead to his murder, and he might of saved himself, such as the soothslayer warning.
I think Caesar was really suspicious about Cassius because in Act I scene ii Caesar said
Delete" Let me have men about me that are fat, Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights. Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous."
This shows that Caesar is almost afraid of Cassius. He also had some bad relationship with some other people.
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ReplyDeleteThe whole speech of Mark Antony was a form of irony because at the beginning of the speech he said that he will not do something but by the end of the speech he does it anyways. For an example, he says that he doesn't want to speak against Brutus, but does anyway. He said that he will not be reading the will of Caesar to the plebeians but he does so anyways. He states he isn't there to praise Caesar but most of his speech is praising Caesar. He also states that he does not want to turn the plebeians against Brutus, but he does so anyways.
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