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Hyperbole
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
Act 2
Explanation and Analysis—Divine Sanction:
In the following excerpt from the end of Act 2, Mrs. Warren interacts tenderly with her daughter, though mostly for her own reassurance. She looks to Vivie for confirmation that she was a good mother; then, in a moment of situational irony, she promptly seeks validation from God:
MRS WARREN [fondly] I brought you up well, didn't I, dearie?
VIVIE. You did.
MRS WARREN. And youll be good to your poor old mother for it, won't you?
VIVIE. I will, dear. [Kissing her) Good-night.
MRS WARREN [with unction] Blessings on my own dearie darling! a mother's blessing! [She embraces her daughter protectingly, instinctively looking upward for divine sanction.]
In the above excerpt, Mrs. Warren searches for a "divine sanction" for her daughter, "instinctively looking upward" after embracing Vivie. This wish for a "divine sanction" is ironic, considering Mrs. Warren's career choices and her own ill ease with Christianity. Despite eschewing the rules and regulations of polite society, Mrs. Warren cannot help but search for affirmation from God. She rejects morals and propriety, but she cannot avoid the pull of societal pressure to conform by looking towards religious figures for purpose and approval. In moments of upset or uncertainty, Mrs. Warren turns to what she knows, regardless of whether or not it aligns with her worldview.
Related Themes:
Act 3
Explanation and Analysis—Private Hotel:
In the following scene from Act 3, Crofts utilizes veiled language and verbal irony as he addresses Vivie, offering to share the truth of Mrs. Warren's profession with her. Though hesitant, Vivie relents:
CROFTS. I'll tell you all about it if you like. I don't know whether you've found in travelling how hard it is to find a really comfortable private hotel.
VIVIE [sickened, averting her face] Yes: go on.
CROFTS. Well, that's all it is. Your mother has got a genius for managing such things. We've got
two in Brussels, one in Ostend, one in Vienna, and two in Budapest.
Both Vivie and Crofts utilize verbal irony in this situation, speaking of Mrs. Warren's business as simply a trade in "comfortable private hotel[s]." Both characters know that what they refer to are much more than hotels, more akin to brothels; yet they speak in code, shrouding the perceived indecency of Mrs. Warren's work in irony.
This manner of speaking accords with what would have been appropriate in polite society at the time. For sensitive subjects like sex, it would have been considered improper to speak too directly on the subject matter. In this passage, Crofts and Vivie shroud their language in irony and indirectness, likely because it is ingrained in them to do so.
Related Themes:
