The word “irony” comes from the Greek character Eiron, who was an

underdog and used his wit to overcome a stronger character. The Greek word
eironeía derived from this character and came to mean “dissimulation” or
“purposely affected ignorance.” The word then entered Latin as ironia, and
eventually became common as a figure of speech in English in the 16th
century.
Irony is sometimes confused with events that are just unfortunate
coincidences. For example, Alanis Morrissette’s song “Ironic” contains many
events that are not ironic in any sense. She cites “rain on your wedding day”
and “a traffic jam when you’re already late” as ironic situations, yet these are
merely bad luck.

Types of Irony
Verbal Irony
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. Looking at Alanis Morrissette’s “Ironic” again, the one
true instance of irony comes when the man whose plane is going down says,
“Well, isn’t this nice.” Clearly, the plane crash is anything but nice, and thus
this utterance conveys the opposite of the man’s true feelings. Unlike
dramatic and situational irony, verbal irony is always intentional on the part of
the speaker.
Verbal irony can also consist of “ironic similes”, which are comparisons in
which the two things are not alike at all. For example, “as soft as sandpaper”
or “as warm as ice.” These similes mean that the thing in question is actually
not soft or warm at all. The author Daniel Handler (who writes with the pen
name Lemony Snicket) takes ironic similes to an extreme by qualifying them
so they actually become real comparisons. For example: “Today was a very
cold and bitter day, as cold and bitter as a cup of hot chocolate, if the cup of
hot chocolate had vinegar added to it and were placed in a refrigerator for
several hours.”

Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony occurs when the audience has more information than one or
more characters in a work of literature. This literary device originated in
Greek tragedy and often leads to tragic outcomes. For example, in
Shakespeare’s Othello, the audience is aware that Othello’s best friend Iago is
villainous and attempting to bring Othello down. The audience is also aware
that Desdemona has been faithful, though Othello doesn’t know this. The
audience can foresee the imminent disaster.
There are three stages of dramatic irony: installation, exploitation, and
resolution. In the case of Othello, the installation is when Iago persuades
Othello to suspect that Desdemona is having an affair with a man named
Cassio. Iago then exploits the situation by planting Desdemona’s
handkerchief, a gift from Othello, in Cassio’s room. The resolution is only after
Othello has murdered Desdemona when her friend Emilia reveals Iago’s
scheme.

Situational Irony
Situational irony consists of a situation in which the outcome is very different
from what was expected. There are contradictions and contrasts present in
cases of situational irony. For example, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the
citizens of the Emerald City assume that Oz is great and all-powerful, yet the
man behind the curtain is revealed to be an old man with no special powers.
Other types of irony:
 Cosmic Irony: Cosmic irony, also known as “irony of fate”, is present in
stories that contain gods who have different agendas than humans. These
gods, or the Fates, may play with the lives of humans for their own
amusement. The irony lies in contrast between what the humans expect
and what actually happens. Though this is most common in Greek
legends, it is also present in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles
where the immortals play with Tess’s life.
 Historical Irony: Historical irony relates to real events that happened
that, when seen in retrospect, had vastly different outcomes than
predicted at the time. For example, Chinese alchemists discovered
gunpowder when looking for a way to create immortality. The result of
their discovery was the opposite of what they were looking for.
 Socratic Irony: The philosopher Socrates would pretend to be ignorant
about the topic under debate to draw out the nonsensical arguments of
his opponent. This is particularly evident in the Platonic dialogues. This
technique is an example of dramatic irony because Socrates pretended to
have less information than he really did.
Difference between Irony and Sarcasm
Though there are many similarities between verbal irony and sarcasm, they
are not equivalent. However, there are many dissenting opinions about how,
exactly, they are different. For example, the Encyclopedia Britannica simply
explains that sarcasm is non-literary irony. Others have argued that while
someone employing verbal irony says the opposite of what that person
means, sarcasm is direct speech that is aggressive humor. For example, when
Winston Churchill told Bessie Braddock that “I shall be sober in the morning,
and you will still be ugly,” he was being sarcastic and not employing any
irony.