What are Examples of Dramatic Irony in Hamlet?

What Are Examples Of Dramatic Irony In Hamlet?

The tragic play Hamlet by William Shakespeare is filled with instances of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is used in this tragedy to keep the audience interested. Act I Scene V is one instance of this. Hamlet is shown the truth of how the King died when his ghost materializes. Denmark perceives the King to have been bitten by a snake. But in reality, the ghost tells Hamlet, his two friends, and the audience that Hamlet’s uncle Claudius was the one who poisoned the old Danish king and took his kingdom.

Act Sc. 5: The Ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius poisoned him to death, spreading the myth that he was bitten by a snake, a story that every Dane believes to be true. Dramatic irony ensues since only Hamlet and the readers are aware of the truth that Claudius killed Hamlet’s father. We feel sympathy for Hamlet and start to despise Claudius after learning this information: “Now Hamlet hear……..Now wears his crown.”

At the very end of Act III, Scene 5: Hamlet swears to his two companions, Marcellus and Horatio, that they will not tell anyone what they have just heard and seen. We feel sorry for Hamlet because he has chosen to “put antic disposition on”—that is, to act insane to trick the other characters, conceal his own emotions, and keep his revenge plans for his father’s death a secret. Not even his closest companions Marcellus and Horatio, nor the readers, are aware that he is acting insane, which leads to dramatic irony.

Act II, Scene 1: Ophelia informs her father Polonius about Hamlet’s unusual actions. Polonius concludes right away that Hamlet is “madly in love” with Ophelia and that he has become insane as a result of her following his advice and rejecting Hamlet’s love. The fact that Hamlet is merely acting insane is known only to the readers.