Dramatic Irony: Internal vs External Sounds

Some films contrast internal and external sounds in ingenious ways to tell a story. The King’s Speech visualizes vocal disability through visceral, dual perspectives. It frames its protagonist Bertie’s disability in aural as well as visual terms.

The film’s central character, Bertie, who suffers from stuttering, does not believe any therapy can ameliorate his condition. During his first meeting with his speech therapist Lionel Logue, Logue asks Bertie to read a text aloud and assures him that he can read without stammering even before treatment begins. He ventures to record Bertie’s speech on a Silvertone Home Voice Recorder—the latest technology of the time.

Bertie reluctantly gives in, only to be surprised when Logue puts headphones on his ears and plays music. The text in question turns out to be Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy. With music in the headphones, Bertie cannot hear himself, and the film puts the audience in his aural perspective as we hear the Overture from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro on the soundtrack. Visually, however, the film audiences take Logue’s perspective. The gap between hearing and seeing is highlighted by the dual visual and aural perspectives. The Overture drowns out Bertie’s recitation. 

Mozart becomes the internal sound for Bertie. Logue does not hear the music in Bertie’s headphone. Audiences, however, are put in Bertie’s aural perspective and hear the internal sound. The “to be or not to be” speech constitutes external sound, heard by both Logue and Bertie but not by film audiences! 

Unable to hear himself, Bertie assumes he has humiliated himself again with his stammer and decides to end the session, but Logue persuades him to keep the record even if they will not meet again. There is, of course, always a twist. After more frustrations with his stuttering, Bertie eventually sits down to replay the disc but is pleasantly surprised to find that Logue is right. Bertie’s recitation of Hamlet turns out perfectly fluent.