The Mystical/Religious Communion Found in the Sex Act (situational irony)
Baldwin ironically joins religious language with certain characters' sex life in Beale Street. Mary Fair Burks, in her contemporary review of the novel, refers to this ironic element of the novel as a "fraudulent form of religion, sex under the guise of Christianity, debased to the common denominator of lust" ("James Baldwin's Protest Novel: If Beale Street Could Talk").
It is most apparent that Baldwin is using the conflation of religious language and sex ironically when it comes to Fonny's descriptions of his parent's sex life: "and when he got her naked and got on top of her and she was still crying, Jesus! help me, Lord! my Daddy would say, You got the Lord now, right here. Where you want your blessing? Where do it hurt? Where you want the Lord's hands to touch you? here? here? or here? Where you want his tongue? Where you want the Lord to enter you, you dirty, dumb black bitch? you bitch. You bitch. You bitch. And he'd slap her, hard, loud" (16-7). This passage is ironic because it subverts the reader's expectations of what is going to be said—a reader wouldn't expect Mrs. Hunt, the most religious person of the novel, to allow her God's name to be used in such a way.
Adirenne's arrogance (Verbal and dramatic irony)
"She blew the smoke carefully and delicately into the air, and seemed to be resolving, in silence, that she would never again, for any reason, allow herself to be trapped among people so unspeakably inferior to herself" (67)
The irony of this passage stems from Tish's own interpretation of Adrienne's haughtiness. Even though she is describing what she believes Adrienne is thinking, Tish's tone tells us exactly what she, as the narrator, is thinking as well. In this way, she lifts Adrienne up while simultaneously knocking her down a peg. It is a perfect method to display a character's haughtiness without descending to their level or feigning to use language that feels authentic.
Ernestine's threatening "sweetness" (verbal irony)
"'Oh, sugar. From the very first day I laid eyes on your fine person, I got hung up on your Adam's apple. I been dreaming about it. You know what I mean—? When you get hung up on something? You ain't never really been hung up on anything or anybody, have you? You ain't never watched your Adam's apple move, have you? I have. I watched it right now. Oh. It's delicious. I just can't tell, sweetie, if I want to tear it out with my fingers or my teeth—ooh!—or carve it out, the way you carve a stone from a peach. It is a thing of beauty. Can you dig where I'm coming from, sugar?—But if you touch my sister, I'm going to have to make up my mind pretty quick. So'—she moved away from Adrienne—'touch her. Go on, please. Take these chains from my heart and set me free'" (71)
Here, Ernestine threatens Adrienne against hurting Tish, but does so under the guise of a thick layer of verbal irony. The irony cuts through to her listener without having to use truly vulgar language or words. Her fake sweetness cuts as deeply as real sweetness does. This passage shows irony because what Ernestine appears to mean on the surface—a sweet message—is the opposite of what Ernestine actually means underneath.
Reverant Blasphemy (Verbal irony)
"And you carry that message to the Holy Ghost and if He don't like it you tell Him I said He's a faggot and He better not come nowhere near me" (74)
This passage is ironic because even though Ernestine is displaying blasphemy by defaming God's name, Tish chooses to capitalize the pronouns used to refer to God when relating this encounter. Thus, there is a tension between what she says and what is implicitly assumed in this passage: even though Ernestine (and others, later in the novel) insults God, she still is wary of his existence, an awareness that Tish represents by making sure to use the proper capitalization.
