We know the cabin is part of an experiment, but the characters do not.

We know the body is in the chest but the partygoers do not. Here are some simple examples of dramatic irony: Of course, for dramatic irony to really be effective, we need to build sympathy for the characters and establish stakes that the audience will care about.

We lean in closer and our engagement increases. When the audience knows something the characters don’t, tension is created. What is Dramatic Irony Used For? Conceptual dramatic irony examples