IRONY AND EVALUATION
A trivial study for serious people.
…A brief introduction…



This group work aims to explain and analyse what
irony and evaluation are by using the skills we
acquired during previous years.
Using definitions and examples found in various
given texts, we try to explain what irony and
evaluation are and how they work and combine.
The text we chose is a classic of the English
literature: “The Importance of Being Ernest” by
Oscar Wilde, a well-known “comedy of irony”.
Three Definitions of Irony
From The Oxford Dictionary:
 The expression of one’s meaning by using language
that normally signifies the opposite, typically
for humorous or emphatic effect.
 Example:
‘Don’t go overboard with the gratitude,’ he rejoined with heavy
irony
A state of affairs or an event that seems
deliberately contrary to what one expects and is
often wryly amusing as a result.
 Example:
“There's plenty of irony in seeing one monopoly
accuse another monopoly of restricting users'
choices.”

(Also dramatic or tragic
irony) A literary technique, originally used in
Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of
a character’s words or actions is clear to
the audience or reader although unknown
to the character.
 Example:
The old-fashioned respect for the young is fast dying
out. Whatever influence I ever had over mamma, I lost
at the age of three.

Verbal and Situational Irony

On the grounds of the above definitions, we
distinguish two basic kinds of irony i.e. verbal irony
and situational irony. Verbal irony involves what
one does not mean. When in response to a foolish
idea, we say, “what a great idea!” it is verbal irony.
Situational irony occurs when, for instance, a man is
chuckling at the misfortune of the other even when
the same misfortune, in complete unawareness, is
befalling him.
Evaluation: how does it work?


The making of a judgement about the amount,
number, or value of something; assessment: the
evaluation of each method
Language is a mean of evaluation: when we talk we
usually assess something or someone, except in very
simple and straightforward exchanges of
information, as in: What time is it, Sir? It is nine
o’clock.
Irony and Evaluation


Evaluation is often related to irony: irony is used as
a subtle way to mock or offend someone who might
be unaware of it. Irony usually implies a negative
evaluation, as in the following extracts from “The
Importance of Being Earnest”:
JACK That, my dear young friend, is the theory that the corrupt
French Drama has been propounding for the last fifty years.
ALGERNON Yes; and that the happy English home has proved in
half the time. (First Act, Pag.20)
The Importance of Being Earnest: the
plot


Jack and Algernon are wealthy gentlemen.
Jack (known to Algernon as Ernest) lives a
respectable life in the country providing an
example to his young ward Cecily. Algernon
lives in luxury in London and has invented an
imaginary invalid friend (Bunbury) whom he
visits in the country whenever an unappealing
social engagement presents itself. Jack has
also invented a character - a wayward
younger brother called Ernest whom he uses
as pretext for going up to London and
enjoying himself.
Jack wants to marry Algernon’s cousin
Gwendolen, but must first convince her mother,
Lady Bracknell, of the respectability of his
parents. For Jack, having been abandoned in
a handbag at Victoria station, this is quite a
difficult task.

Algernon visits Jack’s house in the
country and introduces himself to
Cecily as Ernest, knowing that Cecily is
already fascinated by tales of Ernest's
wickedness. He further wins her over
and they become engaged. Shortly
after, Jack arrives home announcing
Ernest’s death. This sets off a series of
farcical events. Cecily and Gwendolen
have a genteel stand-off over which
of them has a prior claim on ‘Ernest’.


Jack and Algernon vie to be
christened Ernest. Eventually, Jack
discovers that his parents were Lady
Bracknell’s sister and brother-in-law
and that he is, in fact, Algernon’s
older brother, called Ernest. The two
sets of lovers are thus free to marry.
During these events the characters
of Canon Chasuble and Cecily’s
governess Miss Prism have also
fallen in love, and in the best
tradition of the well-made play the
story ends with all the loose ends
tied up and everyone set to live
happily ever after.
The Author’s Purpose

The whole play is built on witty dialogues, amusing
puns, misunderstandings and paradoxes which help
deal with the complexity of social and personal
identification; the title is a pun in itself: the name
Earnest (misspelling for “Ernest”) evokes the
adjective “ earnest, honest and sincere”, while none
of the characters is truthful.

The characters, used by the playwright to criticize
the Victorian prudery and exaggerated seriousness,
exist only because they take part in conversation.
What is important to them is not what they say, but
how they say it; thus Wilde’s social satire comes
from the ironic use of a solemn language in
situations that are utterly ridiculous and frivolous. In
this sense irony is a dominant feature of the
play rather than mere decoration.

LinguaIngleseIII-Irony-Extract.docx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ64jxRf_2E
Bibliography and Webliography




R. Carter; The Routledge History of Literature in
English: Britain and Ireland; London; Routledge;
2001
R. Carter, A. Goddard, D. Reah, K. Sanger, M.
Browring; Working with Texts. A core book for
language analysis; London; Routledge; 1999
A.Stevenson and C. Soanes; The Oxford Dictionary
of English; Oxford; OUP Oxford; 2010.
O. Wilde; The Importance of Being Earnest; London;
Penguin Classics; 2000.


M. Spiazzi; M. Tavella; Only Connect…New
Directions; Bologna; Zanichelli; 2009.
www.literarydevices.net
Federico Fabbri
Michela Fortuna
Matilde Maffei
Eleonora Paggetti