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Definition of Verbal Irony
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging outside and someone remarks "what... read full definition
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging... read full definition
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean... read full definition
Act 3, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—A Good Honest Trade:
When the moneylender Moses is introduced, Sir Oliver and Sir Peter inquire about the inner workings of his business practices. As they do so, the pair make thinly veiled antisemitic jabs at Moses and his profession through the use of verbal irony:
Sir Oliver: Hey!—what the plague!—how much then?
Moses: That depends upon the circumstances. If he appears not very anxious for the supply, you should require only 40 or 50 per cent; but if you find him in great distress, and want the moneys very bad, you may ask double.
Sir Peter: A good honest trade you’re learning, Sir Oliver!
Sir Oliver: Truly, I think so—and not unprofitable.
Moses: Then, you know, you haven’t the moneys yourself, but are forced to borrow them for him of an old friend.
[...]
Sir Oliver: He is forced to sell stock at a great loss, is he? Well, that’s very kind of him.
Although Sir Oliver and Sir Peter’s conversational tone is light and humorous, the meaning of their words is entirely different. Moses is repeatedly associated with the word “honest”—Rowley calls him “the honest Israelite,” while Sir Oliver refers to him as both “honest Moses” and “honest fellow." However, this label of trustworthiness is not actually meant to be taken as an indication of the man’s character. When Sir Peter tells Sir Oliver that Moses is teaching him a “good honest trade,” he is in fact using verbal irony to sarcastically deride the practice of usury. The pair’s over-enthusiastic discussion of Moses’s honesty transforms him into an exception used to prove the rule, problematically affirming their antisemitic beliefs that Jewish people are selfish and duplicitous. While elsewhere in the play, Sir Oliver and Sir Peter deride the other characters for their gossip and harmful words, in this scene, the two are blind to the ways that their own version of humorous, witty banter is actually far more insidious.
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