Summary Essay on Dramatic Irony in "She's the Man"
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Course
English 30-1
Institution
12th Grade
This is an essay on She's the Man, a film similar to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and thoroughly explains the usage of dramatic irony in making the film more intense and engaging. There are multiple instances in which dramatic irony is used and this essay goes on with a full-length description of th...
Dramatic irony, when used correctly, can make any piece of work, whether it’s a book or
movie, much more interesting and engaging. She’s The Man, directed by Andy Fickman, is a
romantic comedy that almost entirely depends on the usage of dramatic irony to intensify its
events. When the audience knows what’s going on but the characters don’t, everything just
becomes twice as dramatic and funny. Throughout the film, Viola cross-dresses as her twin
brother Sebastian, in an attempt to get on the soccer team, which isn’t as open-minded to
female players. Things get chaotic when girls start falling for Viola’s disguise and even more
confused when Sebastian and Viola end up at the same place, looking like the same person.
Moments of dramatic irony play a huge role throughout the film to enhance the humour in
events such as the bar scene, Orsino and Olivia’s date, and Sebastian’s gender reveal.
Dramatic irony is used in the bar scene to make it more entertaining, as the scene would
serve no purpose if the audience didn’t already know what was going on. In the bar scene, girls
are showing their affection for Viola, who’s disguised as Sebastian, and the popular boys at
Illyria High School are watching all of this. What makes this scene funny is that the girls that are
showing their affection for Viola are actually her own female friends involved in a plan to make
Viola seem more popular. Watching the reaction of the popular boys becomes even more
amusing when they say things like, “Did she really just say that to Sebastian?” (Fickman). The
audience knows that these girls aren’t in a relationship with Viola, but since the boys don’t know
that, they become really surprised when they see all this affection being shown to Viola. If the
audience didn’t know about this, the scene wouldn’t have any humour in it, as there’s nothing
funny in watching a guy being shown affection to. By using dramatic irony, this scene becomes
quite hilarious and is possibly one of the funniest scenes in the entire film. Like the bar scene,
Orsino and Olivia’s date is another scene that depends heavily on dramatic irony.
Orsino and Olivia’s first date uses dramatic irony to make the scene funny and clearer to
the audience. If dramatic irony had not been used, the scene wouldn’t have fit the plot of the film
and the audience would have been confused at the unusual event. Orsino and Olivia are joined
by Viola and Eunice on their first date, but Orsino is the only one of the four that is actually
interested in his date. Olivia keeps saying that “it’s great to have a real man around,” in an
attempt to make Viola jealous (Fickman). Making Viola jealous was the only reason Olivia
decided to go on a date with Orsino in the first place, as she doesn’t even like him. Viola is
unaware of this and gets jealous because Orsino is with another woman. If the audience wasn’t
aware of this either, they would question the plot because until this scene it was clear that Viola
and Orsino would end up together at some point. By using dramatic irony, this scene becomes
funny because the audience can have a good laugh at how ridiculous the double date is.
Dramatic irony not only makes this scene ridiculous but also helps the audience find Sebastian’s
“gender reveal” hilarious.
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