The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, contains multiple examples of dramatic irony and it's effects inside the plot of the story. Specifically, dramatic irony is defined as the "irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play." (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dramatic+irony). The reader can detect this kind of Irony inside Chekhov's play when he uses scene directions such as "puts a candy on his mouth" (Chekhov, 351) to create a dramatic irony inside the phrase "Gayev: (puts a candy into his mouth) they've said I've eaten up my entire fortune in candies...(Laughs)" (Chekhov, 351).With this in mind, Chekhov forces the reader to take special attention to the scene directions, because they make a simple phrase a complete example of a literary device such as dramatic Irony. Indeed, the reader has to take into consideration the fact that this little details may change the whole meaning of the story and the criticism this one implies. For instance in the example above, we see how Chekhov uses dramatic Irony to show how people know they are in an economic crisis, still, they unconsciously throw they're money away in vague things such as candy.
In conclusion, we can say that The Cherry Orchard is a clear example of dramatic Irony that in plays such as this one can be seen in small things such as the stage directions. This two things make Chekhov a great writer that forces the reader to look beyond the lines and the story.
Gabriela
