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Definition of Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given situation, and that of the... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a... read full definition
Act 3, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Injurious Villain:
In a scene rife with dramatic irony, Balthazar and Lorenzo vow to avenge the murder of Serberine, which they orchestrated. They feign ignorance when the Page in court tells them of the murder:
BALTHAZAR: Is Serberine slain, that loved his Lord so well?
Injurious villain, murderer of his friend!LORENZO: Hath Pedringano murdered Serberine?
My Lord, let me entreat you to take the pains
To exasperate and hasten his revenge
With your complaints unto my Lord the King.
This their dissension breeds a greater doubt.
Previously, Lorenzo bribed Pedringano, a servant in the household of Bel-Imperia, for information regarding her actions and whereabouts. Later, he orders Serberine, Balthazar's servant, to murder Pedringano in order to hide evidence of his involvement in the murder. When Serberine himself is later imprisoned, Lorenzo traitorously declines to offer him any aid or assistance despite their arrangement. Berberine, too, is swiftly executed.
Though the audience is aware of Lorenzo’s pivotal role in this chain of revenge and violence, he continues to feign innocence. Ironically, his description of Serberine as an “injurious villain” and a “murderer of his friend” more closely fits his own behavior in the play. Lorenzo’s invocation of the idea of revenge is also ironic, as he and Lorenzo are the principal subjects of Hieronimo’s own revenge plot.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 6
Explanation and Analysis—Pedringano's Pardon:
Kyd employs dramatic irony to achieve a darkly comedic effect in Act 3, when Pedringano, formerly a servant of Bel-Imperia, is sentenced to death and executed. Under the false impression that Lorenzo has sent a letter granting him a pardon for the murder of Serberine, Pedringano boastfully confesses to his crime:
PEDRINGANO: Gramercy, boy, but it was time to come;
For I had written to my Lord anew
A nearer matter that concerneth him,
For fear his Lordship had forgotten me,
But sith he hath remembered me so well [...]HIERONIMO: Stand forth, thou monster, murderer of men;
And here, for satisfaction of the world,
Confess thy folly and repent thy fault;
For there's thy place of execution.PEDRINGANO: This is short work: well, to your marshalship
First I confess, nor fear I death therefore,
I am the man, 'twas I slew Serberine.
In a previous scene, the young boy sent as a messenger peeks into the box and realizes that there is no pardon. The audience, then, is aware that Lorenzo intends for Pedringano to be executed in order to remove one more witness to his own crimes. The scene is darkly ironic, as Pedringano makes a mockery of the trial under the false impression that he is safe.
Related Themes:
