Tragic irony

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The tragic irony hangs like other forms of ironic with the adjustment together. It is expressed in tragedy , especially in ancient Greece . The term tragic irony itself was not used in antiquity, but is a creation of the early 19th century, where it was coined by the romantics in the course of the redefinition of the term irony .

In the case of tragic irony, in contrast to irony itself, the pretense is not exercised on purpose. Rather, it relates here to reality, since it takes on traits that let the hero fall into deception about the truth of the events and lead him to hybrid utterances and actions. By trying to avert the fateful fate, the protagonist conjures this up. The processes are inextricably linked with one another. There is thus a contrast between willed and achieved action. Since the reader or viewer has a knowledge advantage over the figure and knows about its fate, the actions of the protagonist produce an ironic effect on him.

An example of tragic irony can be found in Sophocles ' King Oedipus . Here the hero makes every effort to find his father's murderer, only to expose himself as the culprit in the end.

Even Max Frisch's The Fire Raisers is an exemplary work of tragic irony, in which the protagonist tries to amicably with three arsonists to arrange to give them at the end nor the matches, leading to the explosion leads his house and killing his family .