‘Oh, no, I'm not hungry, you see, I don't eat luncheon. I have a cup of coffee in the morning and then dinner, but I never eat more than one thing for luncheon. I was speaking for you.'Who said this? What is ironical in this statement?
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Answer:
This is dramatic irony . It is based on the strong contrast between what the woman keeps saying and what she actually does . The narrator is fooled into taking the woman to the expensive Foyot's restaurant because he thinks she is telling the truth when she says , " I never eat anything for luncheon . " What is she thinking when she says this ? She must mean that she is trying to lose weight and has been sincerely trying " not to eat anything for luncheon . " She may be telling the truth , but , like many people who have a weight problem , when she actually does start eating she finds it difficult to stop . Foyot's was undoubtedly a tempting establishment full of the odors of rich food . Once the woman saw all the important people eating delicious and expensive delicacies , she could have easily have gotten carried away . Although she keeps repeating , " I never eat anything , " she keeps ordering more and more . And because she really believes she is a light eater , she orders everything a la carte , which makes everything more expensive . The other part of the dramatic irony is that the young man keeps smiling as she continues to order more delicacies , when the reader knows how much he must be suffering as the bill mounts higher and higher . What is the difference between " lunch " and " luncheon . " " Luncheon " sounds light , whereas " lunch " might be a full - course meal . Somerset Maugham may have meant the title of his story to be ironic when he called it " The Luncheon , " and it turned out to be something of an eating binge .