How Does Jane Austen Use Situational Irony In Emma

Emma Literary Analysis

Jane Austen’s Emma is an intriguing novel. It is filled with wit, twists, and turns. Austen frequently utilizes all three classes of irony in the book: verbal, dramatic, and situational. Consequently, Jane Austen’s use of irony throughout Emma makes the novel all the better. All three types are used several times throughout the book, and that makes the book much more pleasurable and entertaining to read. Situational irony should be the first to be discussed. Jane Austen used this one the most. The first illustration shows the fiasco with Emma Woodhouse, Mr. Elton, and Harriet Smith. Emma and Harriet were friends and encountered Mr. Elton often. Emma noticed little signals from Mr. Elton as to an attachment to Harriet.

An example of verbal irony in Emma is the situation involving Harriet Smith, Emma Woodhouse, Mr. Knightley, and Frank Churchill. At the ball, Harriet sat in solitary because no one would dance with her when Mr. Knightley asked her to dance. He “rescued” her from her sadness and loneliness. Mr. Knightley arranged the remainder of her evening to be optimistic and entertaining. Later, when Harriet walked home from the dance, she was attacked by gypsies and could not run away due to a cramp that had recently occurred, but Mr. Churchill made an appearance and carried Harriet to safety. When she exposes this to Emma, she also mentions that she has fallen in love with her rescuer and that he is exceeding her social status. Emma assumes that she suggested Mr. Churchill, but soon Emma comes to understand that when Harriet mentioned falling in love with someone above her social status was not Mr. Churchill, it was Mr. Knightley. Therefore, this realization is a surprise to readers because Mr. Knightley and Harriet were a match no one would expect, and her “rescuer” was not Mr. Churchill because of what he did to get her away from the gypsies, but when Mr. Knightley danced with her when no one else would. Jane Austen, once again, cleverly uses irony, in this case verbal, to construct additional

An example is the time when Emma states she will never wed. It may seem closer to situational irony, but it is dramatic irony. The explanation is that at the story's beginning, Emma says multiple times that she will never marry, but then she begins displaying affection for some characters; she even voiced it at one point. Although, for a character who will never wed, saying you love someone will make readers suspect the opposite. Then at the end of the book, Emma marries Mr. Knightley. He was not the person she declared she loved, but still, when saying you have an attachment to someone and you will never marry— it seems peculiar. Therefore, the way Jane Austen used dramatic irony in this example was exceptionally cunning. Further, she utilized it so that the readers must conclude that Emma eventually will wed. Also, no other character, not even Emma herself, is aware she will ever marry. Hence, Jane Austen slyly used dramatic irony to make the readers themselves conclude that Emma would