Irony In Charles Lamb s Essays Of Elia
In Charles Lamb s Essays of Elia, one of the main literary devices he uses is irony,
which ranges from being extremely subtle to straightforward. This is significant
because the anagram for the pseudonym Elia was a lie . Therefore, this often
changed the meaning of the poem since its context was from a lie, which you could
often tell through the use of ironyand other literary devices within his essays. One
of his works that demonstrated this was his essay, Dream Children: A Reverie.
Throughout the essay, Lamb points to obvious themes of death, loneliness, and
melancholy. However, when examined closer, Lamb s use of irony shifts the
meaning of the poem to his sense of loss and regret. This underlying theme is
illustrated through the relationship of irony in Elia s dreamt children, Elia s dreamt
past life, and the actual life of Elia and Charles Lamb. In Dream Children: A
Reverie, Elia s fictitious children s dialogue play an important function in the
meaning of the essay. In the beginning of the essay, it says CHILDREN love to
listen to stories about their elders, when they were children; to stretch their
imagination to the conception of a traditionary great uncle or grandame, whom they
never saw (Lamb). Although, this is true in the beginning, the children begin
crying when Elia talks about the death of their uncle John L , pleading to tell them
some stories about their pretty, dead mother, which is the opposite of what Elia had
intended at the beginning (Lamb). This example of situational irony begins to mark
a drastic shift in the essay, considering that this was not a natural characteristic of a
normal child. This idea was reinforced by the daughter, Alice, gradually growing
fainter to my view, receding, and still receding till nothing at last were seen in the
uttermost distance, which is representative of his past hopes and dreams vanishing
(Lamb). Afterwards, the children without speech, strangely impressed upon me the
effects of speech: We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all. The
Children of Alice call Bartrum father (Lamb). The fact that the children let him know
this without speech, creates a shift to the realities of Elia s real life, while also
pointing