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Imagery
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
Chapter 16
Explanation and Analysis—Crusoe's Boat:
When the painting that the Primrose family has commissioned is completed in the middle of the 16th chapter, it turns out that it is too big to fit on any of the walls of their house. This instance of situational irony is captured by an allusion to the adventure novel Robinson Crusoe:
One compared it to Robinson Crusoe’s long-boat, too large to be removed; another thought it more resembled a reel in a bottle; some wondered how it could be got out, but still more were amazed how it ever got in.
In Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, the eponymous main character Robinson Crusoe is stranded on a desert island. Crusoe devotes several months to building a large and intricate boat to escape on. However, having built it far from the shore, he never considers how to get it into the water until he has completed it. At this point, he realizes that his carefully constructed boat is far too heavy for him to lift. He attempts to design other methods to get the boat to the beach, but ultimately has to give up. In the end, he is grateful for the experience because it humbles him. The failed boat teaches him that one must plan ahead before starting a large, time-consuming project.
By comparing the painting to Crusoe's boat, people suggest that the Primroses have behaved proudly and ignorantly. They desire a portrait in order to prove that they are on the level of—or ideally above—their neighbors the Flamboroughs, without ever stopping to consider whether they have room for such a portrait in their house. The incredible, rather comical result is that they can't even get the painting out of their home. Dr. Primrose reflects on how, instead of "gratifying [their] vanity, as [they] had hoped," the painting had the ironic effect of humiliating and humbling them.
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