The Key Role of Irony in John Updike's Pygmalion and Robert Fox's A Fable

In “Pygmalion“ by John Updike, irony plays a critical role in deciphering the thoughts of the Pygmalion. Initially he is married to Marguerite, who bores him to some extent, always falling asleep right when they got to bed and enjoying his nightly back rubs. The one thing Pygmalion does enjoy about Marguerite is her impressions, which she expertly performs after the couple return from outings. Particularly, Marguerite imitates Gwen, not knowing that she is secretly having an affair with Pygmalion. We soon find out that Gwen becomes his second wife, and Marguerite too remarries.

Pygmalion is thrilled that his new wife is ‘lively in bed‘, compared to Marguerite who had been boring and only wanted back rubs, saying “What he liked about her was her liveliness in bed, and what he disliked about his first wife was the way she would ask to have her back rubbed”.

Throughout the story he tries to get Gwen to imitate people they meet, like Marguerite used to.

By the end, he has successfully gotten Gwen to do the imitations just like Marguerite had, which he is very pleased by. The story then ends with Gwen being tired and ready for bed, while Pygmalion offers her a back rub. The irony here is that he is bored by his first wife.

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finds a new wife that is more lively in bed, and manages to transform their relationship into the same one he had with Marguerite. By trying to get Gwen to be like Marguerite in regard to her impressions, Pygmalion ironically transforms her into his first wife. “A Fable” by Robert Fox shows irony in the mother’s changing opinions of the young man. The young man see a girl across from him on the train and immediately falls in love with her, The girl is with her mother, both of whom notice the young man staring at her.

The girl asks the mother for advice, to which she replies, “Nothing. He’ll try to talk to you. If he does, answer him. Be nice to him. He’s only a boy”. The young man does, in fact, make his eventual approach to the girl, and begins talking to her. As soon as he does, the mother tells the girl ”Don’t talk to him. Don’t answer him. I’m warning you. Believe me”. Ironically, the mother completely changes her opinion and tells the daughter to do the exact opposite of her previous advice. What I learned about writing from this story? From reading these stories I learned the power irony has to influence a reader’s impression of a story. Using this tool to convey ideas of the author is much more effective than coming right out and saying it. Verbal irony is something that greatly adds to a story, giving it a deeper meaning than appears on the surface.