The Red-Headed League
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Red-Headed League: Irony 1 key example

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 The Red-Headed League

Irony
Explanation and Analysis—The Innocent Assistant:

In an example of situational irony, the pawnbroker Wilson’s seemingly innocent assistant "Spaulding" turns out to be the criminal mastermind Clay. While Wilson believed that Clay helped him secure a job with the Red-Headed League because Clay cared about his boss’s financial well-being, it turns out that Clay made up the existence of the league to lure Wilson away from the office while he dug a tunnel toward a nearby bank in order to rob it from below.