2。 Literature Review about Irony来自优Y尔L论W文Q网wWw.YouERw.com 加QQ7520~18766

The term irony has its roots in the Greek word “eironeia” that refers to a comic character in drama。 It first appeared in Plato’s The Republic as a rhetoric use that leads others foolish。 The word came into English as a figure of speech in the 16th century and it has become a literary term containing awareness of the world。 There is a definition of irony in M。 H。 Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary Terms:” Verbal irony is a statement in which the meaning that a speaker employs is sharply different from the meaning that is ostensibly expressed。” (2009:160)With the development and enrichment of the rhetoric use of irony, its definition is becoming much broader。 In general, however, irony contains such a principle that there exists an inconsistency between literal meaning and real meaning, action and result, appearance and reality。 

Irony can be pided into three subtypes, namely, verbal irony, dramatic irony and situational irony。 Verbal irony is traditionally attributed to a kind of trope that there is a disagreement between what the speaker says and what the speaker means。 This kind of irony usually suggests the speaker’s real and deep opinions or comments which are totally different from its surface meaning。 There is usually an explicit expression of one’s attitude in the ironic statement, but with indications in the overall speech-situation that the speaker intends a different and opposite attitudes。 Verbal irony is distinguished from dramatic irony and situational irony in that it is produced by speakers on purpose。 For example, if one says, "I'm not angry。" but reveals an angry emotion through his voice while truly trying to claim he's not angry, it is not verbal irony by virtue of its verbal manifestation (but it would be situational irony)。 However, if the same speaker says the same words and intends to express that he is angry by claiming he is not, and this would be verbal irony。 Such a distinction illustrates an important aspect of verbal irony—speakers speak with implied meanings that are intentionally contradictory to the propositions in the words themselves。 

Dramatic irony exploits the device of giving the readers or listeners an item of information that at least one of the characters in the narrative is unaware of, so placing the spectators a step ahead of at least one of the characters。 According to Stanton’s Modern Language Notes, dramatic irony has three stages—installation, exploitation, and resolution (often also called preparation, suspension, and resolution) —producing dramatic conflict in what one character relies or appears to rely upon, the contrary of which is known by observers (especially the audience; sometimes to other characters within the drama) to be true。 In conclusion, it means that the reader or watcher or listener knows something that some of the characters in the piece are not aware of or realize。 (1956: 420)

Situational irony is a relatively modern use of the term, and it usually describes a sharp disagreement between the expected results and actual results in a certain situation。 Lars Elleström writes in his Divine Madness: On Interpreting Literature, Music and the Visual Arts: Situational irony is most broadly defined as a situation where the outcome is incongruous with what was expected, but it is also more generally understood as a situation that includes contradictions or sharp contrasts。 (2002: 51)论文网

This thesis deals with the repeated use of irony in Pride and Prejudice and the contribution of irony to characterization, plot development and theme expression in this work。

1。 Verbal Irony in Characterization

1。1 Main Character

1。1。1 Elizabeth Bennet

Elizabeth Bennet is the heroine of this novel, whose love with Mr。 Darcy is the main line of the whole story。 In spite of this fact, Jane Austen still uses a lot of irony on the heroine。 And this kind of irony is mainly applied through the contrast between different characteristics of Elizabeth during the development of plots, in order to vividly portray the character by irony。