Which literary device is apparent in the bolded lines of Viola’s speech to the captain in act II, scene IV, of Shakespeare’s Twe
lfth Night? VIOLA: Too well what love women to men may owe: In faith, they are as true of heart as we. My father had a daughter loved a man, As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman, I should your lordship.
This is an example of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience, or the reader, know something that the characters do not know. In this case, Viola is pretending to be a man, and she is describing how a woman loves a man, and how she would love a man if she were a woman. However, the irony is that Viola is in fact a woman and she is describing her own experiences with love.
