How to Read Literature Like a Professor Revised

No, ’tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but ’tis enough, ’twill serve

In other words, every chapter in this book goes out the window when irony comes in the door.

irony works because the audience understands something that eludes one or more of the characters.

What irony chiefly involves, then, is a deflection from expectation.

The signified’s meaning stands opposed to what we expect.

however, is placed in a context where its conventional associations are upended

The signifier is stable.

In each case, the sign carries with it a customary meaning, but that doesn’t guarantee it will deliver that received meaning.

It’s a sign that’s used in a way other than the intended one. So are the others. What is a sign? It’s something that signifies a message. The thing that’s doing the signifying, call it the signifier, that’s stable. The message, on the other hand, the thing being signified (and we’ll call that the signified), that’s up for grabs. The signifier, in other words, while being fairly stable itself, doesn’t have to be used in the planned way. Its meaning can be deflected from the expected meaning.

You can pretty much do this with anything.