The Garden Party

Among the story’s most crucial and pervasive literary devices is irony, which occurs when a situation or utterance presents a surface meaning that contrasts with an underlying meaning. Therefore, while it can take many forms, irony always invokes a dual consciousness: an awareness of appearance (or expectation) versus reality.

The story’s most overt irony involves the Sheridan family’s reaction to Laura’s dismay. When Jose tells Laura not to be “so extravagant,” the narrative ultimately imbues Jose’s words with an opposite meaning: The party is the true extravagance—and so is Jose’s attitude. Her words, though they accuse Laura, are an unwitting self-indictment because they prove her self-absorption and commitment to indulgence. Likewise, when Mrs. Sheridan scolds Laura that “it’s not very sympathetic to spoil everyone’s enjoyment as you’re doing now” (8), the underlying truth is that Laura is indeed sympathetic, while Mrs. Sheridan is not.

Irony also exists in more subtle forms, some of which are perceptible only in retrospect. For example, even the story’s opening lines are ironic: “And after all the weather was ideal. They could not have had a more perfect day for a garden-party if they had ordered it” (1).