How is Juliet's meeting with Paris in Friar Lawrence's cell an example of dramatic irony?

Dramatic irony in a literary work occurs when the reader or audience is aware of something that at least one of the characters in a scene does not know. Dramatic irony is a key element throughout Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Because of the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, when Romeo and Juliet fall in love, the couple has to hide their relationship. Up until the very end, the only other characters in the...

Dramatic irony in a literary work occurs when the reader or audience is aware of something that at least one of the characters in a scene does not know. Dramatic irony is a key element throughout Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Because of the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, when Romeo and Juliet fall in love, the couple has to hide their relationship. Up until the very end, the only other characters in the play who know about the love between the two are the Nurse and Friar Lawrence. The audience, of course, also knows the situation.

In Act III, Scene 5, Lord Capulet agrees to marry Juliet to Count Paris. Capulet is unaware that his daughter has secretly married Romeo. At the end of that scene Juliet defies her father and refuses to marry Paris. She then seeks counsel from Friar Lawrence.

In Act IV, Scene 1, Paris has come to Friar Lawrence's cell to ask him to perform the marriage. Count Paris does not know that the Friar has married Juliet to Romeo only the day before. When Juliet shows up she tries to sidestep the issue with Paris. Paris, not knowing her true feelings, calls her his "wife" and his "love."

Unfortunately for Paris, he never knows the truth about Juliet, as he is killed when he confronts Romeo at Juliet's tomb in Act V.