The Irony of Acting "Better"
In Act 2, Scene 3, Roy encourages Coral to behave better while interacting with people, both at the school and on their impending holiday. In line with Roy's chiding, Coral then is able to acknowledge and talk to a truly wide variety of people at the hotel. Ironically, however, she does so by calling out the deep secrets and traumas that she can see in people's lives, even causing Leonie to break down in tears from talking with her.
The Irony of Tom's Illness
Harry and Vic know that Tom is dying of leukemia and choose not to tell him so that their son won't focus on it and can authentically enjoy his youth. In one of the central ironies of the play, however, Tom does in fact know that he is dying, and he feels his parents' subtle pressures on him more than they know. This causes him, ironically, to enjoy his remaining lifetime even less. A further irony comes in Tom's Act 4 conversation with Meg, when he parrots his parents by saying that he does not want anyone to tell his parents that he knows about his impending fate.
The Irony of Coral's Escape
In Act 3, Coral makes the decision to run away from Roy after he threatens her with electroshock therapy and institutionalization. Rather than escape to a place where Roy would not be able to find her, however, she ironically runs away to a beach where many people from Roy's school are vacationing. Moreover, it is through her interactions with these people she already knows that she is able to find herself again and, ultimately, return to Roy when he arrives at the very same beach.
The Irony of Gwen's Prejudice
Gwen is shown throughout the play to have a great degree of prejudice directed at those she sees as below her (i.e., people with little ambition, people of a lower social class, etc.). A great irony is revealed in the play, however, when we learn that Gwen acts this way as a means of compensating for her own past poverty. Rather than respect and sympathize with the difficulties others may be having (even those she likely experienced herself), she chooses to act superciliously and, honestly, rather hypocritically towards them.
