You can find irony not only in single sentences and expressions, but also in events. Situational irony occurs when events turn out quite the opposite of what you may have predicted, as Thomas Foster explains in several places in his book How to Read Literature Like a Professor:

Your character crashes his car into a billboard but is unhurt because his seat belt functions as designed. Then, before he can get it off, the billboard teeters, topples, and crushes him.

Everything changes when irony climbs aboard. . . . Irony trumps everything.

Irony take[s] our expectations and upend[s] them, make[s] them work against us.

Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “Richard Cory” is an example of situational irony in poetry. Read the poem carefully and look for clues that show how the speakers referred to as "We people" perceive the title character’s situation. Remember that in situational irony, what appears to be true may not be.

An image of a seemingly happy middle aged guy smiling with a tobacco pipe in his mouth.

Source: 20090704 – X-Day – GEDC0305 –
Wilhelm’s Bob Dobbs painting, ClintJCL, Flickr

Richard Cory

by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Answer the questions below to demonstrate your understanding of the irony in the above poem.

1. In the first stanza, Robinson emphasizes which characteristic of Richard Cory?

a. His depression

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b. His fame and good looks

Correct! Robinson emphasizes Cory’s fame in the first two lines by stating that when Cory came to town, the people took notice of him much like we might notice a celebrity on the street today. Cory’s good looks are also described with the words “clean favored” and “imperially slim.” “Imperial” suggests grandness and nobility.

c. His physical strength

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2. In the second stanza, Robinson emphasizes another characteristic of Richard Cory that doesn’t anticipate this character’s violent end. What is it?

a. His powerful position in the community

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b. His wealth

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c. His humility

Correct! Robinson illustrates Cory’s humility (his modest, unassuming nature) in the second stanza when the speaker says “he was always human when he talked.”

3. To “the people on the pavement,” Richard Cory’s life seems ideal and sets up expectations that are an important part of this poem’s irony. The poet illustrates their envy in which of the following lines?

a. So on we worked, and waited for the light

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b. But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

Try again.

c. In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

Correct! The speaker relates that the people “thought that he was everything” and they longed to be “in his place.” These lines indicate that people are envious of him.

4. In contrast to Cory’s ideal life, the “people” suffer on a daily basis. The poet illustrates this in which of the following lines?

a. And went without the meat, and cursed the bread

Correct! These lines illustrate that “people” went without enough food (“without the meat”) and swore irritably at the “bread” on which they were forced to survive.

b. But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good morning,”

Try again.

c. We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Try again.

5. Robinson makes the point that, despite his good looks, fame, and wealth, Richard Cory is suffering, too. The poet illustrates this in which of the following lines?

a. And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;

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b. And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Correct! Robinson ends the poem with Cory’s suicide to suggest that Cory’s looks, fame, and wealth did not bring him happiness.

c. He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

Try again.

Cory’s suicide was unforeseen by the people who thought he had everything they wanted. Cory’s demise comes as a surprise to the reader, too. Remember that with irony, if what happens is unexpected by the reader, situational irony is present.