Caesar\'s Irony Verbal Irony Quote:

¶ … Caesar's Irony

VERBAL IRONY

Quote: "I can as well be hanged as tell the manner of it" (pp. 12, I, ii, 235).

Paraphrase/Context: Casca, after witnessing Caesar thrice being offered and thrice rejecting the crown, says this before relating the story to Brutus, Cassius, and others. The phrase literally means that he'll be just as well off dead as he is after the events he witnessed, which makes it likely that Caesar will be crowned Emperor.

This is ironic because he means the exact opposite -- he will not actually be well off in either situation. What the phrase really means is that Caesar's coronation would be a very bad thing for Casca, and it pains him to tell about it as much as it would pain him to be hanged. The word "well" makes the phrase ironic because the situation is anything but "well." This illustrates the widespread frustration with Caesar. The irony effects the characters present by drawing them closer into the conspiracy with hidden intentions rather than direct statements.

SITUATIONAL IRONY

Quote: "I do know but one / That unassailable holds on his rank, / Unshaked of motion; and that I am he" (pp. 43, III, i, 68-70).

Paraphrase/Context: Caesar says this as part of a speech in response to repeated requests from him for leniency towards another mere moments before his murder. He is saying that he cannot be reached or touched to be moved to change his decisions, and that he alone is this firm and reliable

Analysis: This is ironic because it is this very stance of his that causes the other senators to rise up against him in this same scene and kill him. His belief in his supremacy creates his downfall, making it situational irony. It is very important to the scene because it justifies the senators' subsequent actions in their own minds. The irony makes Caesar's fall similar to that of all tragic heroes in that it reveals his flaw before he dies, and makes it clear that this flaw is why he is dying.

DRAMATIC IRONY

Quote: "CAESAR: The ides of March are come. SOOTHSAYER: Ay, Caesar; but not gone" (pp. 40, III, i, 1-2).

Paraphrase/Context: Caesar is bragging to the soothsayer that the date he was warned about has come without any danger, but the soothsayer tells him there's still time. The soothsayer had previously warned Caesar to beware this day, but Caesar doesn't pay attention and thinks it's foolish.

Analysis: This represents dramatic irony because the reader/audience knows what lies in store for Caesar, but Caesar des not. The dramatic irony is heightened even more by the fact that Caesar is even told directly many times that something is going to happen, but he refuses to believe what the audience knows to be true. It is an important way to open the scene of Caesar's murder, and makes his death more bitter and tragic because it could have been avoided.

SARCASM

Quote: "And Brutus is an honorable man" (pp. 54, III, ii, 86 and 93).