Language, Individual & Society, Volume 9, 2015

Abstract: The aim of this paper was to discuss the role of irony as one of the stylistic means used for expressing either something different or opposite of what the speaker really thinks. Several key theoretical approaches to irony and its features were compared and analysed in the play of Oscar Wilde 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. The contribution contains examples proving that neither implicit nor explicit irony markers play significant role for the author; that most of the irony in this play is based on the situation or the context and that irony was mostly used to achieve humoristic effect.