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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
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Pygmalion:
When Aylmer announces to Georgiana that he plans to remove her birthmark, he concludes his lengthy speech with an allusion to the character Pygmalion:
...what will be my triumph when I shall have corrected what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work! Even Pygmalion, when his sculptured woman assumed life, felt not greater ecstasy than mine will be.
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Explanation and Analysis—The Elixir:
In a bitterly ironic moment, the elixir destroys the very beauty it was created to protect. When Georgiana drinks it, the birthmark begins to disappear, but so does her life force:
Unlock with LitCharts A+As the last crimson tint of the birthmark—that sole token of human imperfection—faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight.
Related Themes:
