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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
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Aunt Beryl’s Hypocrisy:
In an example of situational irony, Aunt Beryl harshly condemns Kezia for associating herself with the lower-class Kelveys, when, it turns out, Aunt Beryl has herself been secretly spending time with a lower-class person. The irony comes across in the following passage, which occurs after Aunt Beryl has yelled at Kezia for inviting the Kelveys over and has “shooed” them out of the house:
The afternoon had been awful. A letter had come from Willie Brent, a terrifying, threatening letter, saying if she did not meet him that evening in Pulman’s Bush, he’d come to the front door and ask the reason why! But now that she had frightened those little rats of Kelveys and given Kezia a good scolding, her heart felt lighter.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Very Nice Company:
The narrator—who moves between the perspectives of different characters over the course of the story—occasionally channels the thoughts of the upper-class people in town. In the following passage, the narrator takes on this haughty and judgmental tone when discussing the Kelveys, using verbal irony in the process:
Unlock with LitCharts A+They were the daughters of a spry, hardworking little washerwoman, who went about from house to house by the day. This was awful enough. But where was Mr. Kelvey? Nobody knew for certain. But everybody said he was in prison. So they were the daughters of a washerwoman and a gaolbird. Very nice company for other people’s children!
Related Themes:
