“Her Guardian Had disliked Him”
Radclyffe Hall explains, “Twenty-nine when they had married, he (Philip) had sown no few wild oats, yet Anna’s true instinct made her trust him completely. Her guardian had disliked him, opposing the engagement, but in the end she had had her own way. And as things turned out her choice had been happy, for seldom had two people loved more than they did; they loved with an ardour undiminished by time; as they ripened, so their love ripened with them.” Anna’s guardian’s disapprobation of Philip is ironic because Anna and Philip delight in the affection. If the censure were pertinent, then Anna would have not been blissful with Philip. The irony conjectures that it is imperative to conform to one’s instinct even when outsiders hold sentiments that are antagonistic to the instinctual outlooks.
“A Man-Child”
Radclyffe Hall expounds, “when the child stirred within her she would think it stirred strongly because of the gallant male creature she was hiding; then her spirit grew large with a mighty new courage, because a man-child would be born.” Anna was certain that she was going to deliver a boy. However, “But: ‘Man proposes—God disposes,’ and so it happened that on Christmas Eve, Anna Gordon was delivered of a daughter.” Therefore, the energetic stirring is ironic because in the end a lass is born. Depending on the stirring to envisage the child’s sex becomes vain ultimately.
Stephen’s Antipathy for Excursions
As Radclyffe Hall explains, “Sometimes Anna would drive Stephen into Great Malvern, to the shops, with lunch at the Abbey Hotel on cold beef and wholesome rice pudding. Stephen loathed these excursions, which meant dressing up, but she bore them because of the honour which she felt to be hers when escorting her mother through the streets, especially Church Street with its long, busy hill, because everyone saw you in Church Street.” A conventional lass would not loath dressing and going on day trips with her mother. Accordingly, Stephen’s aversion is ironic because it controverts the orthodox mannerisms that are observed in girls. The irony hints at Stephen’s peculiar sexuality which is not harmonious with her biotic sex.
