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GCSE English Literature · key term
Language whose intended meaning differs from, or opposes, its apparent meaning.
Used by AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas
Paper 1
Language whose intended meaning differs from, or opposes, its literal meaning.
Revise: Act 3The repeated praise of Brutus gradually becomes verbal irony. If Caesar’s actions appear generous rather than dangerously ambitious, the audience must question the man who justified killing him. Antony’s rhetorical questions encourage the citizens to supply that conclusion themselves.
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A contrast between what a speaker says and what they mean, often used to mock or criticise.
Paper 2
The use of words whose intended meaning differs from their apparent meaning, often creating humour or criticism.
Revise: Mr and Mrs BennetHis verbal irony is entertaining because the reader understands what Mrs Bennet struggles to recognise. Yet the humour has an uncomfortable side: he turns her distress into amusement rather than addressing it. Later, Chapter 42 explicitly criticises his habit of exposing his wife to their children’s contempt.
Paper 1, Paper 2
Speech in which the intended meaning differs from the apparent meaning, often exposing a contradiction.
Revise: SheilaAfter doubts emerge about the Inspector’s identity, Sheila says bitterly in Act Three, “I suppose we’re all nice people now.” This verbal irony exposes the family’s mistaken reasoning: escaping an official investigation cannot turn their actions into good behaviour. “Nice” sounds especially inadequate after the cruelty they have admitted.
Language that appears to say one thing but implies a different, often opposite, judgement.
Component 1, Component 2
Language whose intended meaning differs from, or opposes, its apparent meaning, often used to expose something deserving criticism.
Revise: Power and kingshipIn Act 3 Scene 6, Lennox uses verbal irony to expose Macbeth’s explanations for the deaths around him. After discussing Macbeth’s killing of Duncan’s guards, he asks, ‘Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too;’ His apparent praise becomes bitter criticism when he explains that the guards might otherwise have denied their guilt.
Language whose intended meaning contrasts with its surface meaning, often exposing something through apparent praise.
Language whose intended meaning differs from its apparent meaning, often used to expose or mock an attitude.
Saying something whose intended meaning differs from, or opposes, its literal meaning.
