Previous
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
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Eliza's Eccentricities:
Shaw creates extended dramatic irony by including the audience in the process of Eliza’s transformation. Three central characters—Eliza, Mr. Higgins, and Pickering—are allied in their attempt to trick members of high class society and help Eliza pass as one of them. Therefore, in multiple scenes, Eliza’s transformation, while clear to the audience, is being performed to other characters. Including the audience in this trickery has the effect of further investing them in Eliza. They watch her pretend to be high class, painstakingly adjusting her language and mannerisms in order to seem natural in a new environment. The audience’s perception of her is therefore informed by their knowledge of Pickering’s and Higgins’s involvement.
When Eliza fumbles, the extended dramatic irony creates humor as the characters around her are mystified by her mistakes. One example of this is a dinner scene with the Eynsford Hills. When Eliza enters the scene, she is exquisitely dressed, and she greets each person in the room in turn, saying "how do you do" over and over again. The audience understands her greetings as a memorized phrase, and watches her employ it over and over. The targets of her greetings lack context, however, and are therefore not as clued into her mannerisms. These moments of interaction set the stage for the scene to come, where Eliza’s eccentricities will have to be continually covered up and smoothed over. The audience is painfully aware of the moments of awkwardness, and witness the reactions of other characters with knowledge of the source of Eliza’s strangeness.
Related Themes:
Act 2
Explanation and Analysis—Higgins's Behavior:
In a scene in Act 2, Higgins’s lack of self-reflection creates a moment of dramatic irony. The audience’s perception of Higgins’s behavior does not match how he refers to himself. Mrs. Pearce tries to encourage Higgins to clean up his behavior around the house in order to set a better example for his new pupil Eliza, but Higgins is baffled by the implication that his behavior needs reigning in. After Mrs. Pearce exits, he communicates his confusion to Pickering, saying:
You know, Pickering, that woman has the most extraordinary ideas about me. Here I am, a shy diffident sort of man.
Higgins responds to Mrs. Pearce’s criticism by characterizing himself as shy and modest, someone who doesn’t need the suggested character improvements. His perception of himself is that of a man without need for improvement, someone who keeps to himself and doesn’t put on airs. However, the audience has a very different impression of him. So far in the play, they have witnessed his boastful intellectualism and snobbery, his cruelty toward Eliza because of her class status, and his bad manners. His response to Mrs. Pearce is a further example of the disconnect between his actions and his perception of himself. His ego allows him to believe that her criticism is unnecessary, even as he describes himself as a modest person. The irony of his statement is further exacerbated by his position of power within the play. Higgins is the supposed teacher of good manners and classiness, and his profession as a linguist has primed him to help Eliza. Despite this, he fails to exhibit those behaviors himself, a failure that becomes increasingly ironic as he boasts of his intellectual prowess.
Related Themes:
