Orlando

Orlando Irony

Low Company (Situational Irony)

Despite being one of the Queen's favorites and being able to spend his time with noblemen and high born people, Orlando chooses the company of those who are below him" common people or people with a questionable character. This is ironic because the character that is always surrounded by the best people in society chooses to stay with those who are considered as being the scum of the earth and risks destroying his reputation in the process.

The Womanizer who Suffers for Love (Dramatic Irony)

Orlando is a character that likes to fool around with women. He likes to spend his time with beautiful women and he doesn’t seem to care whether they are high-class or not. At one point, however, he falls in love with the beautiful Russian princess, Sasha. They even plan to run away together, since Orlando is already in the process of getting married to a lady from the King’s court. Ironically, Sasha does to him what he probably had done to numerous women before: namely, she leaves him for someone else.

Shaping the Way We Think (Verbal Irony)

From the beginning of the novel, the narrator claims that she will try to be impartial and that she will not try to shape the way the reader thinks about the subject of her biography. Ironically, she does the complete opposite: she tries to convince the readers that Orlando’s actions are not as bad as they seem; instead of considering that his actions are immoral, the narrator hints that the reader’s judgment of those actions is wrong.

Nick Green (Dramatic Irony)

It is said that one should never meet one's idols. During the period when Orlando was obsessed with literature, he considered Nick Green, an influential writer from his time, to be an inspiration and role model. One of Orlando’s friends manages to make Green meet with Orlando so they could discuss literature. When the time comes, Orlando is disappointed to see that his idol is nothing like what he thought he would be. What is more, after spending many days with Orlando, Green writes scoffs at Orlando's writing and writes a parody based on Orlando’s personality that becomes famous.