The modern tragedy, Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams,

published in 1947, and the farce Importance of Being Earnest use dramatic irony
within the play to satirize their time period. With a comedic approach, Wilde criticizes
the absurdities of the character’s courtship rituals, their hypocrisy, and their deceiving
nature. Williams employs irony to enrich the plot and provide the reader with insight
on Blanches´ past in order to create an atmosphere of impending doom. Streetcar
Named Desire and Importance of Being Earnest employ dramatic irony to criticize
society through the use of dialogue.
Williams presents Blanche in the opening scenes of the play as a symbol of
fragility and femininity in contrast to the decaying setting of New Orleans. This is
evidenced by dramatic irony as Blanche mentions to have taken a “streetcar named
desire” to “one called cemeteries” until she arrived at Elysian Fields, where her sister
lives. This irony foreshadows, through the linkage of the concepts death, symbolized
by the destination “cemeteries”, and desire” her tragic fate at the end of the play due
to her uncontrollable desire. The imagery of the “Elysian Fields” creates an
atmosphere of impending doom since it symbolizes the realities of life such as pain,
desire, love and abuse, which ironically contrast with the “heaven” Blanche thought
she would be arriving at. Furthermore, the dramatic irony portrays her impulsive and
uncontrollable desires as her tragic flaw, observed in the scene where Blanche lies to
her sister about her drinking problem, claiming that “one is her limit”. The effect of the
irony is to characterize Blanche as an untrustworthy and deceiving character which will
be amplified as the plot develops. The dramatic irony also works to convey hypocrisy
since, even though Stella criticizes Blanche for making excuses about her weaknesses
such as alcoholism, Stella excuses her husband´s violent nature by their sexual passion.
Williams employs irony to criticize the artificiality of relationships, which were founded
upon sexual desire and appearance.
Similarly, Wilde, through the use of irony, creates a web of familial relationships
that satirizes the upper classes during the Victorian era. By employing dramatic irony,
Wilde portrays the characters in a humorous light, originating from coincidental
situations and satirical dialogue. The title of the play itself, “Importance of Being Earnest”
is a social satire due to the double meaning behind the adjective “earnest”. Someone
who is “earnest” is honest or sincere with their intentions, however, ironically, both of
the male protagonists deceive the women they want to marry by claiming their name
is “Ernest”.