Situational Irony that Mary Faucette forced her daughter into a terrible marriage
It is ironical that Mary, having been in a loveless marriage, auctioned her daughter into one with Lavien who appeared very wealthy. It is against the expectations of the reader that a mother who has experienced a horrific marriage would force her daughter into the same suffering. The readers would have expected Mary to warn her daughter against the marriage but rather she encouraged it.
Irony of Knox’s opposition of slavery
It is a situational irony that Knox, who was a church minister, opposed slavery in his church yet owned a number of slaves. It is expected that he should not have ownership of the slaves who labored in his fields if he was totally against the slavery in the eighteenth century. Knox should have set an example by freeing his slaves to further his agenda of being opposed to slavery.
Stealing from a grieving family
It is against the reader’s expectations that when Rachael, who was the mother of Alexander Hamilton, died, and Hamilton himself was very ill, members of the probate court came into their family home and stole the meager belongings that the family that left. One would have expected that they would come and offer a helping hand to the children whose breadwinner had just died rather than worsen their situation.
Lavien’s hope that Rachael would come back to him
It is ironical that even after Lavien took Rachael to court on the allegations of adultery where she was found guilty and jailed for a couple of months, he thought that after her sentence, she would come back to him as a submissive woman. Lavien had caused Rachael a lot of grief in the prison and he was still sure that she would come back to him. Therefore a situational irony that Lavien still held out hope for a better marriage even after he had caused Rachael a lot of anguish.
Irony on the injustice that existed in the eighteenth century against slaves
It is ironical that while all human beings are equal, the law in the eighteenth century held out that if a white person killed a black slave, there would be no consequences and if a black person only held out his hand in an attempt to strike a white person, he would be killed mercilessly after a lot of torture. The readers would have expected that the law be fair and not undermine the life of one race while favoring the other.
