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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
Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—The Window Tax:
When the Crawfords and Bertrams visit Mr. Rushworth’s estate and receive a tour from his mother, the narrator makes an allusion to the “window tax”:
Having visited many more rooms than could be supposed to be of any other use than to contribute to the window tax, and find employment for housemaids, “Now,” said Mrs. Rushworth, “we are coming to the chapel, which properly we ought to enter from above, and look down upon; but as we are quite among friends, I will take you in this way, if you will excuse me.”
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Explanation and Analysis—Mary Insulting the Church:
Before the Bertrams and Crawfords know each other very well, Mary goes on a rant in front of everyone about church—“the obligation of attendance, the formality, the restraint, the length of time,” and more. This is an example of dramatic irony because readers know—but Mary does not—that Edmund (her potential love interest listening in on this conversation) is planning to become a clergyman and takes church very seriously. When Julia reveals to the group that Edmund is soon to be ordained, Mary is “aghast” and Fanny pities her, highlighting the irony of the moment:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“My dear Edmund, if you were but in orders now, you might perform the ceremony directly. How unlucky that you are not ordained.”
[…]
Miss Crawford’s countenance, as Julia spoke, might have amused a disinterested observer. She looked almost aghast under the new idea she was receiving. Fanny pitied her. “How distressed she will be at what she said just now,” passed across her mind.
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Chapter 30
Explanation and Analysis—Henry Falls for Fanny:
Henry developing romantic feelings for Fanny is an example of situational irony because he was the one who set out to make her fall in love with him. Henry—and readers by extension—did not expect to genuinely want to make Fanny his wife. His sister Mary’s response to his declaration of love for Fanny captures readers' surprise as well:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The surprize was now complete; for in spite of whatever his consciousness might suggest, a suspicion of his having any such views had never entered his sister’s imagination; and she looked so truly the astonishment she felt, that he was obliged to repeat what he had said, and more fully and more solemnly.
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Chapter 32
Explanation and Analysis—Marrying for “Love”:
The situational irony at the heart of Mansfield Park is that, while most of the characters talk about the importance of marrying for love, marriage in practice is much more about strategy and socioeconomic advancement. This tension is particularly apparent in how the Bertrams respond to Henry asking for Fanny’s hand in marriage. In Chapter 36, Edmund centers the importance of romantic love in his reaction to the proposal by trying to convince Fanny that she will come to love Henry one day if she gives him a chance:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Edmund now believed himself perfectly acquainted with all that Fanny could tell, or could leave to be conjectured of her sentiments, and he was satisfied […] She must be used to the consideration of his being in love with her, and then a return of affection might not be very distant.
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Chapter 33
Explanation and Analysis—Lady Bertram’s Approval:
After ten years of neglecting and looking down on Fanny, Lady Bertram suddenly sees her as beautiful and approves of her as a family member, simply because a wealthy and desirable man (Henry) has proposed to her—an example of situational irony. Here the narrator captures Lady Bertram’s ironic internal thoughts on the matter:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Lady Bertram took it differently. She had been a beauty, and a prosperous beauty, all her life; and beauty and wealth were all that excited her respect. To know Fanny to be sought in marriage by a man of fortune, raised her, therefore, very much in her opinion. By convincing her that Fanny was very pretty, which she had been doubting about before, and that she would be advantageously married, it made her feel a sort of credit in calling her niece.
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Chapter 36
Explanation and Analysis—Fanny's "Friend":
In an example of verbal irony, the narrator refers to Mary as Fanny’s “friend” near the end of the novel—choosing to put the word in quotes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The promised visit from her “friend” […] was a formidable threat to Fanny, and she lived in continual terror of it […] Her displeasure, her penetration, and her happiness were all fearful to encounter; and the dependence of having others present when they met, was Fanny’s only support in looking forward to it.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Marrying for “Love”:
The situational irony at the heart of Mansfield Park is that, while most of the characters talk about the importance of marrying for love, marriage in practice is much more about strategy and socioeconomic advancement. This tension is particularly apparent in how the Bertrams respond to Henry asking for Fanny’s hand in marriage. In Chapter 36, Edmund centers the importance of romantic love in his reaction to the proposal by trying to convince Fanny that she will come to love Henry one day if she gives him a chance:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Edmund now believed himself perfectly acquainted with all that Fanny could tell, or could leave to be conjectured of her sentiments, and he was satisfied […] She must be used to the consideration of his being in love with her, and then a return of affection might not be very distant.
Related Themes:
Chapter 46
Explanation and Analysis—Henry and Maria’s Affair:
Henry and Maria having an affair near the end of the novel is an example of situational irony because readers are, by that point, convinced that he has given up his flirtatious, fickle ways in order to be faithful to Fanny. Fanny’s confused reaction to reading the newspaper clipping that revealed the affair captures the irony of this moment:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“It is a mistake, Sir,” said Fanny instantly; “it must be a mistake—it cannot be true—it must mean some other people.” She spoke from the instinctive wish of delaying shame, she spoke with a resolution which sprung from despair, for she spoke what she did not, could not believe herself.
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