A Study of Irony in Oliver Twist From Perspective of Stylistics

【Abstract】Charles Dickens works have been popular and significant in world literature， which draws the attention of both the readers and scholars. Oliver Twist is one of Charles Dickens masterpieces that applies irony as one of the main stylistic features， providing an appropriate choice for the present stylistic study. Irony achieves various effects， such as promoting the plot， building the characteristics， deepening the themes and so on， which gives a better understanding of the whole works.

【Key words】Oliver Twist； stylistics ； irony

【作者簡介】雷傲筠（1993- ），女，汉族，湖北随州人，辽宁大学外国语学院，英语语言文学，硕士生。

1. Introduction

Charles Dickens （1812-1870） is a great critical realist writers and famous for exposing and criticizing all the poverty， injustice， hypocrisy and corruptness he sees around him. He achieved a recognizable place among English writers through the use of the stylistic features in his fictional language. Oliver Twist is such a representative of his style providing an appropriate choice for the present stylistic study， in which irony is one of the main stylistic features elaborately applied to achieve various effects， such as promoting the plot， deepening the themes， etc.

2. Irony and its application in Oliver Twist

Irony is a literary technique and rhetoric device that has been used for many years in speech， art and everyday life. Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary defines it as expression of ones meaning by saying the direct opposite of ones thoughts in order to be emphatic， amusing， sarcastic，etc. Websters New World Encyclopedia defines it as a literary technique that achieves the effect of saying one thing and meaning another through the use of humor or mild sarcasm. Irony is a discrepancy between what is anticipated to be true and what is actually true and it can be divided into three types， verbal irony， dramatic irony and situational irony.

2.1 Verbal Irony

Verbal irony is a statement in which the meaning that a speaker employs is sharply different from the meaning that is ostensibly expressed. Its main feature is that it is used by a speaker intentionally. It can be further analyzed into overstatement and understatement.

Dickens described the workhouse where Oliver was born was “the most fortunate and enviable” place for a human being， which differentiates from the common sense. Actually， a workhouse as an institution provided by the parish to house and feed the destitute perhaps sees the most poverty， diseases， suffering and misery. Anyone who has a place to go or has a person to rely on will not appear there. In fact， it is asserting a truth that Oliver has no shelter， so even a workhouse is good enough for him. A baby should have won the unlimited love and attention of the whole family， but Dickens said Oliver would have been killed in no time， if he had been “surrounded by careful grandmothers， anxious aunts， experienced nurses， and doctors of profound wisdom”. Different from the literal meaning， the truth is that poor Oliver was cared by no one and struggled to survive by himself. Verbal irony performed here describes Olivers misery birth vividly， indicates his hard future life， creates suspense of Olivers identity， and criticizes workhouses dereliction of duty for the first time in the novel.

Soon， Oliver was sent to the branch-workhouse for authorities believed there was no female in the workhouse who could be impart to Oliver to provide needed consolation and nourishment. This situation seems be “magnanimously and humanely resolved”， however， readers know that sending away the child is just their hypocritical behavior to get rid of a burden between the lines. Life in the branch-workhouse was “without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing” described by Dickens， which actually means suffering hunger and coldness. The parental superintendence of elderly lady is credible only on one condition that a good parent will save the allowance of the children for her own use and let her children struggle in a misfortune living condition. Obviously， the author is uncovering the hypocrisy， flattery， irresponsibility， and even cruelty of the authorities and related superintendent in an ironic tone. Meanwhile， it makes Olivers destiny catch more attention and sympathy of the readers.

2.2 Dramatic irony

Dramatic irony is the device giving the spectator an item of information that at least one of the characters in the narrative is unaware of （at least consciously）， thus placing the spectator a step ahead of at least one of the characters. That is to say， readers or audiences know what the play has told， while the characters， some of them sometimes， do not know and continue their performances leading to contradiction. Naturally such performances will more easily attract the attention and interest from readers or audience.

The dramatic irony is applied in describing Olivers well getting along with Mr. Fagin and his pupils before knowing their real image. At the beginning， Oliver considers them as good， kind and hard-working people and feels grateful to what they did. Then everything makes sense： Oliver watches the merry old gentleman and the two boys play at a uncommon game and learns quickly what they do； after practicing for a long time， Oliver longs for “old gentleman to allow him to go out to work”； finally， Oliver finds his companions strange but still thought they “deceive the old gentleman”. Readers know that Mr. Fagin and his pupils practice the stealing skills by the odd game， and make a living by hanging out and stealing handkerchiefs， except for the innocent Oliver. He approaches to danger step by step in a trick， and he is involved in learning something he wouldnt ever do if he knows its essence. This dramatic irony attracts readers interest and makes them keep reading continuously and urgently. It also depicts the innocent， unworldly， and pitiful image of Oliver for the only warmness and care he receives are pretended with ulterior motives but he is enjoying his situation without awareness. Thus it foreshadows the surprise， anger and helplessness of Oliver after realizing the truth.

2.3 Situational Irony

Situational irony is a relationship of contrast between what an audience is led to expect during a particular situation within the unfolding of a storys plot and a situation that ends up actually unexpected later on. It is thus the result of a special sort of discrepancy in perspective that is not “moment-bound” in that in involves the contrast between what we knew in one moment with what we have come to know in another.

Without knowing the feeling of being full ever in workhouse， Oliver is selected to represent all the children to ask more food， unexpectedly resulting in his confinement and driving away. Its so ordinary and understandable for growing children to ask for more food in need of bountiful and large nutrition. But the series of reaction from the master to the board is furious： “the master aimed a blow at Olivers head with the ladle and pinioned him in his arm” “Mr. Bumble rushed into the room in great excitement” “the gentleman in the white waistcoat thought the boy will be hung”， making readers feel the unexpected and even a little bit ridiculous. This situational irony exposes the fact that the whole workhouse， whether the authorities or the clerks consider the children as a ungrateful burden rather than young lives by treating them badly and commanding them to be obedient. Through the irony， readers understand Olivers misery and workhouses corruptness in a better way.

The conversation about giving away the food to the poor between Mrs. Corney and Mr. Bumble is also a situational irony. As the matron of the workhouse and a beadle， they should have showed their sympathy and care to the poor in need of help， but they condemned them“as brazen as alabaster”， ungrateful and greedy over a cup of warm tea. Mr. Bumble described the death of a man in rage asking for relief in acrid and scornful tone in details， as if the man was an impenetrable villain who revenged the overseer， his benefactor on purpose at the cost of his life. Through the casual conversation， the author uncovers workhouses indifferent attitude towards life and lack of sympathy towards the poor， further condemning its cruelty and corruptness， realizing a stronger effect than the direct description and arousing readers resonance in an impressive way.

3. Conclusion

Charles Dickens literature works never fade in world literature due to his unique stylistic feature. Irony is an important and common stylistic device in his Oliver Twist， in which verbal irony， dramatic irony and situational irony are skillfully used in to realize different effects as promoting the plot， building the characteristics of the hero， uncovering the truth， arousing readers attention， etc. Analysis of the irony device in Oliver Twist is significant in giving a better understanding of the work and Charles Dickens writing style.

References：

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[3]徐有志.英语文体学教程[M].北京：高等教育出版社，2005.