Irony is when we say one thing but mean another, usually the opposite of what we say. When someone makes a mistake and you say, “Oh! that was clever!” that is irony. You’re saying ‘clever’ to mean ‘not clever’.
Expressions we often use in an ironic fashion are:
- Oh, wasn’t that clever!/Oh that was clever!
- You have been a great help, I must say!
- You’ve got yourself into a lovely mess, haven’t you?
- Oh, very funny !/How funny!
We use a slightly different tone of voice when we use these words ironically. Read the play carefully and find the words and expressions Gerrard uses in an ironic way. Then say what these expressions really mean. Two examples have been given below.
Write down three more such expressions along with what they really mean.
What the author says - What he means
Why this is a surprise, Mr— er— → He pretends that the intruder is a social visitor whom he is welcoming. In this way he hides his fear.
At last a sympathetic audience! → He pretends that the intruder wants to listen to him, whereas actually the intruder wants to find out information for his own use.
What the author says - What he means
1. At last a sympathetic audience! → Gerrard means that his company is not a sympathetic audience because the intruder has got a gun in his hand.
2. You have been so modest. → Gerrard means that the intruder has been immodest in not having told anything about himself.
3. With you figuring so largely in it, that is understandable → Gerrard means that it is not understandable how anything about him is ‘surprising’.