After Chris—who has lost his memory in battle during WWI and forgotten about his marriage to Kitty—demands to see his former love, Margaret, Jenny goes to fetch her. Jenny explains that Kitty is aware of Chris's love for Margaret and is still willing to facilitate their meeting. Margaret, who cannot explain the situation to her own husband, responds by saying:
“Oh! [...] She must have a lovely nature!”
This is an example of situational and dramatic irony. Margaret interprets Kitty's behavior as evidence of her selflessness. In fact, Kitty, who has already derided Margaret to her face and behind her back, hates her. Readers know this, but Margaret does not. Knowing that poverty and hard work have eroded Margaret's beauty, Kitty is cynically betting that Chris will desert her once he sees how she's aged. Her willingness to arrange the meeting thus testifies to her narcissistic nature. The situational irony lies in the fact that Margaret has drastically misinterpreted Kitty's motivations. The dramatic irony lies in the fact that while Margaret is in the dark, Jenny and the reader understand Kitty's motivations all too well.
The credulousness Margaret displays here might easily seem silly or gullible in another character. But her optimistic assumptions about Kitty's behavior actually display her own innate goodness and selflessness, qualities that distinguish her from Chris's wife and force Jenny to reevaluate her beliefs about love and class. Ultimately, this moment of irony is part of Jenny's broader emotional transformation over the course of the novel.
