""Acknowledgments""; ""Preface""; ""CONTENTS""; ""Introduction: A Working Definition of Irony in Relation to the Comic""; ""PART I. IRONIC DIALOGUE AND STRUCTURES""; ""1. Verbal Irony and Author�s Irony""; ""2. Paradox, Plot, and Outcome""; ""3. Breaking the Illusion""; ""PART II. MOLl�RE AND HIS CHARACTERS""; ""4. Tradition and Innovation""; ""5. Ideology versus Dramatic Structure""; ""Conclusion""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""