As You Like It: Dramatic Irony

"ROSALIND: I will speak to him like a saucy lackey, and under that habit play the knave with him. Do you hear, forester?" pg. 43

Throughout the last part of act 3 scene 2, Rosalind speaks to Orlando in her disguise as Ganymede. He does not know that it is the love of his life. However, the audience knows Ganymede's real identity. Shakespeare employs this sort of dramatic irony often to inspire excitement in his audiences. The suspense of Orlando not knowing that he is talking to the woman he loves almost makes the audience want to shout it. They just want to inform the character because they want Orlando and Rosalind to be together. It's frustrating that he is completely oblivious, but it also keeps the audience interested and drawn in. It makes them a part of the story even though they are inactive or unable to take any action. But this technique succeeds in making Shakespeare's audiences feel like the story is more real because they are a part of it.