Use of Irony in “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Verbal Irony
Dramatic Irony
Situational Irony
Conclusion
Work Cited

Introduction

This paper will briefly discuss irony as used by Charles Dickens in “A Tale of Two Cities”. Irony can be said to be coincidences which are interesting but surprising at the same time. Ironical instances are contradictory in most cases. Irony as used in this work of art (A Tale of Two Cities) will be discussed in three forms: verbal, dramatic and situational irony.

Verbal Irony

Words can be used to express irony. This happens when words used do not mean the direct meaning but rather the opposite. The author (Dickens) used verbal irony in “A Tale of Two cities” quite well in many instances. In the book we see Mr. Lorry referring to himself as being business minded-he tells Miss Manette that he is one; “Miss Manette, I am a man of business” (Dickens 21). At this point Mr Lorry depicts a very different image of himself from what we see at the end of the story. At the end Mr. Lorry is not a business man as such but a very kind fellow who is very friendly. Another instance of verbal irony appears when the messenger refers to Jerry Cruncher as a honest business man; “it wouldn’t do for you, Jerry. Jerry you honest tradesman, it wouldn’t suit your line of business” (Dickens 12).

Reading further in the book Jerry Cruncher is not portrayed as a honest business man as portrayed in that statement above. He is seen lying to his son by not telling him what he does but just telling him that he goes to fish thus he does not disclose his business to his him. Another verbal irony comes out through Monsieur Marquis who claims that he can take care of his son. This is quite ironical because Monsieur Marquis cannot even take of himself. Monsieur Marquis ends up killing Gaspard’s child and he is killed by Gaspard because of that. Another verbal irony appears in the way Sydney Carton and Stryver are referred to. Stryver who is referred to as a fellow of delicacy is proved to a fellow of no delicacy at the end of the story while Sydney Carton who was referred to as a fellow of no delicacy is proved to be a fellow of delicacy at the end of the story. It should be noted that what Sydney Carton did for Darney proved him a fellow of delicacy.

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony is the type which comes out when there is a contradiction between what the reader thinks and the character knows. When the author writes about the French revolution the readers have the feeling that the revolution will bring positive changes. In actual sense the revolution is seen as reign which does not bring any good thing but terror.

Another instance of dramatic irony is displayed through the life of Carton. The reader is likely to view Carton to be drunk for the rest of his life. “It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known” (Dickens 364). Carton replaced Darney at the guillotine because they took after each other very much. Using the advantage of close resemblance Carton is able to save Darney from the guillotine by appearing in the court and then taking the guillotine.

Another dramatic iron occurred when Dr. Manette was convicted and sent to prison. This took place when the note he sent concerning Evermonde brothers landed on the wrong hands and instead of the brother going to prison for the crime of rape he instead was convicted and imprisoned for eighteen good years.

Situational Irony

Situational irony occurs when the end result is quite different from the expectations of the reader. The situation of Dr. Manette is a good example of situational irony. Dr. Manette brings revolution but dramatic turn of events has him locked up in the prison. At the end we see Dr. Manette being a father in law to a son of one of the Evermonde brothers. This is unexpected as Dr. Manette was imprisoned because of the Evermonde brothers. The desire of madam Defarge to kill Dr. Manette can also be viewed as ironical. Madam Defarge wishes to kill Dr. Manette because he had become a brother in law to one of the Evermonde brother who was involved in the crime of rape. This is quite ironical because in the real sense Dr. Manette was imprisoned wrongly.

Conclusion

Charles Dickens used irony so well to enhance the reading of the book. The author applied all the three forms of iron as discussed above to make the book quite interesting. Iron played an important role in bringing out suspension in the book. It is also used cleverly to keep the reader glued to reading the book. It is obvious that the author tactfully used the iron to make the book quite interesting.

Work Cited

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. New York: Macmillan, 1989. Print.

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Use of Irony in “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

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