Nina and Darrell (Dramatic Irony)
O’Neill’s play embeds dramatic irony in nearly every single utterance or thought his characters have, as the theatrical technique of the aside lets the audience know what they are thinking and how those thoughts differ from what they actually say. A powerful example is when Nina practically forces Darrell to admit he loves her, and we then hear his thoughts that he doesn’t actually, and then we hear Nina’s words and thoughts that she doesn’t believe him and thinks he is just saying that to say it. This reminds the audience that we never truly know what someone else is thinking and if they’re saying what they mean–a troubling thought.
Gordon's Father (Dramatic Irony; Situational Irony)
Nina cries out to her son Gordon not to hurt his “father” when the young man attacks Darrell at the end of the novel. Unfortunately and ironically, Gordon assumes she is using the term to suggest that Sam would be unhappy that he attacked his father’s friend, and feels immediate chagrin. Nina told the truth, but it was not received the way she accidentally intended it to be.
Sam Evans (Dramatic Irony)
There is explicit and extreme dramatic irony in practically everything that concerns Sam Evans. We know his lineage is cursed. We know Nina is pregnant with his child and aborts it. We know Gordon is Darrell’s child, not his. We know Nina has given up everything to keep him happy and placid. We know that when Sam dies, he dies ignorant and peaceful. Sam knows nothing, creating tension whenever the other characters interact with him.
Leeds (Situational Irony)
Leeds has a “natural tendency toward prim provincialism” (64) except when it comes to the Greeks and Romans that he studies as a Classics scholar. This is ironic in that the concerns of lust, sex, rage, and subterfuge are intrinsically human, and should be no less understandable or palatable in Leeds’ contemporary world than they were thousands of years prior.
