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Imagery
Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Key Examples in Hope Leslie
Volume 1, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—All in the Family:
The first chapter of the novel describes Mr. Fletcher's star-crossed love affair with his cousin Alice: Alice's father prevents their marriage because Mr. Fletcher refuses to renounce his religious and political views. Situational irony strikes in Volume 1, Chapter 2, when Mr. Fletcher hears that Alice and her husband have both died:
["]Would to God I could have seen her once more—but,” he added, raising his eyes devoutly, “not my will but thine be done! The sister of Leslie, a Mistress Grafton, attended Alice, and with her she left a will committing her children to my guardianship. It will be necessary for me to go to Boston to assume this trust."
Related Themes:
Volume 1, Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Divided Loyalties:
In Volume 1, Chapter 3, Mrs. Fletcher asks Magawisca to interpret and clarify Nelema's somber prediction about her children. A sense of dramatic irony mounts as Magawisca nervously tells Mrs. Fletcher some but not all of what she knows:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“That which I may speak without bringing down on me the curse of my father’s race, I will speak. This,” she added, unfolding the snake’s skin, “this betokeneth the unseen and silent approach of an enemy. This, you know,” and she held up the rattle, “is the warning voice that speaketh of danger near. And this,” she concluded, taking the arrow in her trembling hand, “this is the symbol of death. [...] I have said all that I may say,” she replied.
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Volume 1, Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Vengeance Backfires:
In Volume 1, Chapter 7, Mononotto resists Magawisca's pleas not to execute Everell. In a twist of situational irony, Mononotto ends up injuring his own daughter instead of his enemy's son:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The chief raised the deadly weapon, when Magawisca, springing from the precipitous side of the rock, screamed “Forbear!”and interposed her arm. It was too late. The blow was levelled—force and direction given—the stroke aimed at Everell’s neck, severed his defender’s arm, and left him unharmed. The lopped quivering member dropped over the precipice. Mononotto staggered and fell senseless, and all the savages, uttering horrible yells, rushed toward the fatal spot.
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Volume 1, Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Neighborly "Witchcraft":
In Volume 1, Chapter 8, Hope writes a long letter to Everell. In this letter, she uses verbal irony to recount a cruel situational irony that unfolds concerning Nelema:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“It is as I expected: Nelema was sent, early this morning, to the magistrates. She was tried before our triumvirate, Mr. Pynchon, Holioke, and Chapin. It was not enough to lay on her the crime of curing Cradock, but Jennet and some of her gossips imputed to her all the mischances that have happened for the last seven years.["]
Related Themes:
Volume 2, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—A Woman (Not) In Love:
In Volume 2, Chapter 4, dramatic irony builds as Everell misinterprets Hope's feigned cheerfulness as happiness to be spending time around Sir Philip at Governor Winthrop's house. The dramatic irony hits its peak when Everell witnesses Sir Philip's ill-fated marriage proposal to Hope:
Unlock with LitCharts A+At this moment, when Hope stood stock still from surprise, confusion, and displeasure, Everell crossed the walk. The colour mounted to his cheeks and temples, he quickened his footsteps, and almost instantly disappeared.
Related Themes:
Volume 2, Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Saint Hope:
In Volume 2, Chapter 6, Hope evades capture by sneaking onto a boat that turns out to be manned by an Italian Catholic named Antonio. Dramatic irony helps facilitate Hope's escape: she lets Antonio believe that she is his patron saint, Petronilla:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Before she parted from her votary, she said, “I give thee my blessings and my thanks, Antonio, and I enjoin thee, to say nought to thy wicked comrades, of my visitation to thee; they would but jeer thee and wound thy spirit by making thy lady their profane jest. Reserve the tale, Antonio, for the ears of the faithful who marvel not at miracles.”
Related Themes:
Volume 2, Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Jailbreak:
In Volume 2, Chapter 11, when Hope orchestrates Magawisca's escape from jail, dramatic irony makes the scene both comedic and suspenseful. Hope and Magawisca must work together to stay one step ahead of Barnaby as they sneak Magawisca out in Cradock's clothing:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Hope was alarmed by the sudden increase of light—“lend me the lamp, Barnaby,” she said, “to look for my glove—where can I have dropped it? It must be somewhere about here. I shall find it in a minute, Master Cradock, you had best go on while I am looking.”
Magawisca obeyed the hint, while Hope in her pretended search, so skilfully managed the light, that not a ray of it touched Magawisca’s face.
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