Dramatic irony is when the reader knows what is going to happen in the plot, but the characters do not. Another type of dramatic irony is when one or more characters in the story knows what is going on, and possibly the reader, but another character does not. The latter is the type of dramatic irony shown in Saki's short story "The Open Window." Vera tells Framton, a stranger to the Sappleton house, a chilling story about her uncles having gone missing while hunting a few years earlier. She leads Framton to believe that Mrs. Sappleton leaves the French windows open with the hopes that they'll return one day. When Mrs. Sappleton finally comes in to meet Framton, she is unaware of the tale and that her niece is playing a practical joke on the stranger. Mrs. Sappleton says, "I hope Vera has been amusing you?" Actually, Vera's been amusing herself at Framton's expense but the reader doesn't know this yet.

At this point, the reader only knows about the sad and creepy tale as Framton does--not that Vera is playing him for a fool. As far as the story itself goes, though, both Framton and Vera know about the hunting tale and the open window, but Mrs. Sappleton does not. Both situations constitute examples of dramatic irony because one or more characters knows what is going on and another one does not; and, the reader also knows about the tale, but Mrs. Sappleton does not.