What is Situational Irony? Definition and Examples

Situational Irony Definition Literature

What is situational irony in literature?

Situational irony has played an important role in literature and stage plays for hundreds of years. Here are a few situational irony examples in literature:

• In The Story of an Hour, Louise is told her husband is dead. But despite the morbid circumstance, and the fact Luise had no ill will towards her husband, she feels an overwhelming sense of joy. But when her husband returns alive, she suffers a heart attack and dies. This is an example of situational irony because it’s the opposite of what we’d expect from a grieving widow.
• In American Psycho, Patrick Bateman confesses to committing a series of murders – but is laughed off. This is an example of situational irony because we expect he’s going to be punished for his crimes but he isn’t.
• In Macbeth, the title character murders the king as a means to an end. But Macbeth soon finds out that he has to keep killing in order to protect his throne. This is an example of situational irony because the situation was meant to put an end to Macbeth’s killings, but in reality, it only exacerbated them.
  
  

Not every example of situational irony is as grandiose as these are. Most situational irony examples are subtle. Let’s dive into some more situational irony examples in film and TV to find out.

Situational Irony Synonyms and Antonyms

Situational vs. dramatic irony

In movies and television, we need situational irony to keep things unexpected and interesting. It would be extremely boring if everything always turned out how we expected. That’s not how real life works and it’s not how fictional entertainment works either.

One of the biggest questions involves the difference between dramatic and situational irony. In this section, we’ll set the record straight. Dramatic and situational irony both involve the difference between expectations and reality. The element that makes them different is time.

With situational irony, we learn at the same time as the characters that our expectations were different than reality. With dramatic irony, we know in advance that the character's expectations are not the reality of the situation. And that creates tension. 

We'll cover dramatic irony in more detail in a different post.

Let's move onto some situational irony examples that will help understand this concept even further. As you'll see, there are many ways to employ this form of irony — for humor, suspense, or drama. 

What is Situational Irony Used For?

Use situational irony for suspense

Let's jump into a quick example of situational irony from one of David Fincher’s best movies: Zodiac. In this example, we expect something sinister to happen. But when it doesn’t, our expectations are upset. We imported the Zodiac screenplay into StudioBinder’s screenwriting software to take a closer look at the scene in question.

Here, the members of Spinal Tap are shocked to find that their prop is tinier than expected – but hey, that’s what happens when you don’t distinguish inches from feet.

Situational Irony Defined in Drama

Apply situational irony for drama

In The Dark Knight, the Joker kidnaps District Attorney Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne’s on-and-off-again girlfriend Rachel. When The Joker gives Batman their locations, we believe he’s forcing Batman to choose between love (Rachel) and logic (Dent).  

[SPOILER ALERT] 

And he is, just not exactly how we expect...he switched their addresses so Batman ends up saving Harvey instead of Rachel. A cruel use of situational irony, indeed.

In the next section, we’ll define the various permutations of situational irony so you can see how intricate and nuanced this concept is.

Cosmic Irony Definition

How to use cosmic irony

Cosmic irony is just one subtype of situational irony – and it's defined by the inclusion of a supernatural twist. We still have a situation in which reality and expectation are different but there is an additional element — a "higher power" is involved.

This higher power could be God, the Universe, fate, or even aliens. Cosmic irony is also known as "irony of fate," which might help give you an idea of how it all works. 

In Monty Python’s The Life of Brian, the title character falls off of a tall building, but is rescued by an alien ship. Check out the scene below.

There is a lot more to explore with poetic irony, including examples from movies and TV. Check out our article on poetic irony below.

Learn more about poetic irony →

Define Situational Irony Subtypes

How to use Structural irony

Structural irony is a subtype of situational irony – and it can have two very different effects whether it's used in comedy or drama. Structural irony occurs when the perspective of an unreliable narrator or naive protagonist is different from the reality of the situation.

In some cases, the unreliable narrator may simply be lying to the audience; or they may have convinced themselves of a faulty truth. Either way, when the entire story is built around this ignorance or deception, you get structural irony. 

[SPOILERS AGAIN]