Irony & Myth

 

Friends, In the first part we tried to understand the two terms, Allegory, Flat and Round Character.

Today I have come with the II Part of Literary Terms in which we are going to explore the two literary terms and those are: Irony and Myth. These two terms will be discussed under the umbrella of its origin, definitions and examples.

Friends, as far as the literary terms are concerned, they always help us to understand a particular piece of Literature and Criticism as well.

In our previous videos we have explored the details about Literature and Literary terms....

So, without wasting much time let’s begin and see What do Irony and Myth mean ?....

Friends, in our previous video on Literary Terms Part-I, we have seen what does literary term mean? What is its significance? And how do they help us in understanding a piece of literature or criticism? So, I won’t repeat it again here. So, let’s see the origin of the term Irony:

Irony:

Origin:

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, “The term irony has its roots in the Greek comic character Eiron,(आयरन) a clever underdog who by his wit repeatedly triumphs over the boastful character Alazon. The Socratic irony of the Platonic dialogues derives from this comic origin.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica

The word came into English as a figure of speech in the 16th century as similar to the French ironie. It derives from the Latin ironia and ultimately from the Greek

 

Definition:

Slide- Chris Baldick states, “Irony is a subtly humourous perception of inconsistency, in which an apparently straightforward statement of event is undermined by its context so as to give it a very different significance.”

As a literary device, irony is a contrast or incongruity between expectations for a situation and what a reality is. This can be a difference between the surface meaning of something that is said and the underlying meaning. It can also be a difference between what might be expected to happen and what actually occurs. http://www.literarydevices.com/contrast/

 From literary perspective, it can be defined as:

“Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. It may also be a situation that ends up in quite a different way than what is generally anticipated. In simple words, it is a difference between appearance and reality.” https://literarydevices.net/figure-of-speech/

 

In short, it can be defined as, “a kind of tool which is used to tell or share the story or any piece of literature forming a contrast between how thing seem and how they really are.

 

Types:

Friends, there are certain types of Irony and its subtypes and those are:

I.    Dramatic Irony:

(Mick) Dramatic irony occurs when audience or viewers have more information than the characters in a particular piece of literature. It had been derived in Greek Tragedy and mostly leads to the tragic result. http://www.literarydevices.com/verbal-irony/

From Example- Shakespeare’s Othello in which the audience is aware that Desdemona is faithful, though Othello doesn’t know this.   

1.      Tragic Irony

 II. Verbal Irony:

(Mick) Verbal irony takes place when the speaker says something in sharp contrast to his or her actual meaning. The speaker often makes a statement that seems very direct, yet indicates that the opposite is in fact true, or what the speaker really means. It may consists of ‘ironic simils’ for example: ‘as soft as scrub paper’ ‘as cool as tea’ 

http://www.literarydevices.com/verbal-irony/

The subtypes of Verbal Irony are:

1.   Sarcasm

2.   Understatement

3.   Overstatement

4.   Socratic Irony

 

III.            Situational Irony:

Situational irony consists of a situation in which the result comes in a different way rather than the expected one. There are contradictions present in this situational irony. In short, situational irony is that in which exactly opposite to our/audience’s expectations occurs.

Example: The owner of the hotel is struggling for meal.

                             The Police station gets robbed                      

The subtypes of Verbal Irony are:

1.   Cosmic Irony

2.   Poetic Irony

3.   Structural Irony

4.   Historic Irony

 

·       Myth:

Friends, it is supposed that Myth is a story belonging to the ancient culture or which has been continuously running the stream of tradition with superb supernatural elements and ideas.

These Myths might have been formed to extend and unveil the ides regarding formation of the earth, evolution of human beings, existence of animals and other beings on the earth and so on.

And it might be the reason...Once upon a time happens to be the typical opening line for most of the myths. It does not carry the concert foundation or truth and mostly highlight the values, culture, tradition, customs, etc.       

 

Origin:

Many myths came into existence in the early period of civilizations have properly run for many years and finally became the part of cultural consciousnesses, explaining the existence of human beings, their culture, lifestyle and many more. There are many myths across the globe and Mythology is the study of myth.

 

Slide- The word Myth comes from Ancient Greek word Muthos which means Word or Speech.

Slide-Until the 17th or 18th century, mythology was used to mean a moral, fable, allegory or a parable, or collection of traditional stories. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Myth#Etymology)

 Definition:

Slide- Collins’ Dictionary defines it as, “A myth is a well-known story which was made up in the past to explain natural events or to justify religious beliefs or social customs.”

Thomas Mann says, “The myth is the foundation of life; it is the timeless schema, the pious formula into which life flows when it reproduces its traits out of the unconscious.”

Chris Baldick says, The term has wide range of meaning which can be divided into two parts, Rationalist and Romantic versions: in the first, a myth is a false or unreliable story or belief while in the second myth is a superior intuitive mode of cosmic understanding.        

In most literary context the second, i,e. Romantic Myth, kind of usage prevails.  

It intends to:

Use in the academics to make the students familiar with.

To unveil the mysteries.

To highlight the phenomenon of nature.

To express the tradition, customs, institutions and lifestyle of people.

To inculcate the cultural and other such values among the people.   

 

Examples:

Greek Mythology, Irish Mythology, Roman Mythology and many more are there.....

Because of the influence of mythology, many literary figures refer to these Greek and Roman myths in order to incorporate meanings to their works.

 

For Example:- Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare) A Play

William Shakespeare uses some quotes in the play highlighting the Greek Mythology

                        No Second Troy (W. B. Yeats) A Peom

W B Yeats explores the crux of Trojan War and writes the poem and tries to bring similarity between the Trojan War and revolutionary and anti British activities of the Irish.

Paradise Lost (By John Milton) An Epic Poem

John Milton, in his poem Paradise Lost, plays out the Genesis story about the Fall of Man, and subsequent eviction, from the Garden of Eden.

 

 Friends, Myths are there in every society of the globe and these are the basic element and part of human beings and their lives. These Myths are there to teach us the moral lessons and to make keep us conscious about them.

It has been using in literature  to crate the same impression among the readers and people in the society and after all, myths and their symbols help for the creativity aesthetic touch to a particular piece of literature.

 

Thank You !