In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to build anticipation and engagement with his audience and to additionally shape the plot. Dramatic Irony is used by writers often and the literary term means when the audience knows something that the characters do not know of yet. Dramatic irony greatly shapes the plot of this story due to the fact that if there wasn’t dramatic irony, the play would not be the same and as exciting. There have been many examples of significant dramatic irony throughout the play but the dramatic irony when Tybalt got killed by Romeo and when Ms. Capulet told Juliet she will be married to Paris. One of the by far most famous examples of dramatic irony in the play happened in Act 3, scene 1. In Act 3, scene 1, a fight broke out because Tybalt was incredibly angry about Romeo showing up at the Capulet’s party. Mercutio tries to step in to defend Romeo, but it resulted in …show more content…
Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mom, was informing Juliet that she would be married to Paris in 3 days. The dramatic irony here was that the audience knows that she is married to Romeo and the other characters do not know. If her family knew she was married to someone that was in their enemy's household, it would create conflict. Lady Capulet wanted to talk to her daughter, Juliet, about marrying Paris. "Well, girl, thou weep'st not so much for his death. As that the villain lives which slaughter'd him”(3.5.80-81). Little does Lady Capulet know that the villain she was referring to was her daughter's husband. Juliet’s mother understands that she is upset about Tybalt’s death so she wants her to get married soon so her grief can pass by quicker. Juliet was however not that upset about Tybalt's death and she was mostly upset about Romeo being banned. Lady Capulet wanting her daughter to marry someone when she is already married in secret effects the majority of the characters' decisions after this