Middlemarch: Irony 7 key examples

In an example of dramatic irony, readers are aware of the fact that Mr. Featherstone died with two wills, but most of the people of Middlemarch are not. While Mr. Featherstone’s family—particularly Fred—become excited at the reading of the first will because it divides Mr. Featherstone’s wealth up amongst known family members, they are shocked to learn of a second will and are alarmed by its contents (since all of his money goes to the unknown entity Mr. Rigg), as seen in the following passage:

And at the sound of the first "give and bequeath" she could see all complexions changing subtly, as if some faint vibration were passing through them, save that of Mr. Rigg. He sat in unaltered calm, and, in fact, the company, preoccupied with more important problems, and with the complication of listening to bequests which might or might not be revoked, had ceased to think of him. Fred blushed, and Mr. Vincy found it impossible to do without his snuff-box in his hand, though he kept it closed.

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In an example of situational irony, Mr. Brooke runs for office on a progressive platform (that includes tenants’ rights) even though he is an exploitative landlord. Mr. Dagley—one of Mr. Brooke’s tenants—communicates the irony of this in a conversation with Mr. Brooke:

“There's to be a Rinform, and them landlords as never done the right thing by their tenants 'ull be treated i' that way as they'll hev to scuttle off. An' there's them i' Middlemarch knows what the Rinform is—an' as knows who'll hev to scuttle. Says they, 'I know who your landlord is.' An' says I, 'I hope you're the better for knowin' him, I arn't.' Says they, 'He's a close-fisted un.' 'Ay ay,' says I. 'He's a man for the Rinform,' says they. That's what they says. An' I made out what the Rinform were—an' it were to send you an' your likes a-scuttlin'.”

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Dorothea falling in love with and marrying Will is an example of situational irony because she has been explicitly forbidden from marrying him by her late husband Casaubon (who was deeply jealous of his younger cousin Will). Part of the irony is that Dorothea did not even consider marrying Will until Causabon’s will forbade it, as seen in the following passage:

Then again she was conscious of another change which also made her tremulous; it was a sudden strange yearning of heart towards Will Ladislaw. It had never before entered her mind that he could, under any circumstances, be her lover: conceive the effect of the sudden revelation that another had thought of him in that light—that perhaps he himself had been conscious of such a possibility,—and this with the hurrying, crowding vision of unfitting conditions, and questions not soon to be solved.

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In an example of verbal irony, the narrator sarcastically explains how little Middlemarch residents support railway development:

In the hundred to which Middlemarch belonged railways were as exciting a topic as the Reform Bill or the imminent horrors of Cholera, and those who held the most decided views on the subject were women and landholders.

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Rosamond intentionally chooses to marry Lydgate due to the fact that he comes from a wealthy family (and she believes this could help her move up in rank) but, in an example of situational irony, she and Lydgate quickly end up in debt. Rosamond herself is aware of the irony, as is evident in the following passage:

Rosamond sat perfectly still. The thought in her mind was that if she had known how Lydgate would behave, she would never have married him.

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When describing the town’s reaction to the news that Raffles died on Bulstrode’s watch (and that Bulstrode had paid Dr. Lydgate a thousand pounds right around that time), the narrator uses hyperbole and verbal irony:

The business was felt to be so public and important that it required dinners to feed it, and many invitations were just then issued and accepted on the strength of this scandal concerning Bulstrode and Lydgate; wives, widows, and single ladies took their work and went out to tea oftener than usual; and all public conviviality, from the Green Dragon to Dollop's, gathered a zest which could not be won from the question whether the Lords would throw out the Reform Bill.

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In an example of verbal irony, the narrator describes Celia’s baby Arthur as “the infantine Bouddha”:

Mrs. Cadwallader, the Dowager Lady Chettam, and Celia were sometimes seated on garden-chairs, sometimes walking to meet little Arthur, who was being drawn in his chariot, and, as became the infantine Bouddha, was sheltered by his sacred umbrella with handsome silken fringe.

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