How does Jane Austen's Emma demonstrate the various forms of irony?

Like 's
other social satires, relies heavily on , especially situational irony.
Listed below are examples of the novel's use of the major types of irony.

1.
Situational Irony (coincidence; disparity between what one thinks
and what actually is)--Emma views herself as an excellent matchmaker with keen skills
in observation. However, she is too naive and imperceptive to be orchestrating others' private
affairs. In every instance--including her own love life--when Emma tries to assert her opinions
on whom someone should or should not marry, she fails miserably. She discourages her friend
Harriet from accepting George Martin's proposal; in the end, Mr. Martin is the best match for
Harriet. When Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill arrive in town, Emma completely misses the
tension between them and is flabbergasted when she discovers that they are secretly
engaged. Throughout most of the novel, Emma is unaware of her own feelings for Mr. Knightley
(until Harriet shows interest in him), and does not observe that he also has romantic feelings
for her. One of the most significant examples of situational irony is Emma's fixation on
Harriet's portrait. The portrait shows Emma's version of Harriet, but not who Harriet truly is.
It symbolizes Emma's idealistic view of the world around her, and she is often surprised when
the real world reveals itself to be completely different from her imaginary one. 

2.Dramatic Irony(the audience or reader has knowledge of important information to
which one or more than one characters are not privy)--InEmma,much of the situational irony
mingles with dramatic irony. The reader can tell early on that Emma's faith in her power of
observation is misplaced and, thus, predicts that Emma's meddling in others' love lives will not
go well. Similarly, the reader knows before Emma that Harriet is truly in love with Mr. Martin
and that he is a better match for her socially and economically than are any of Emma's picks for
her friend.

3. Verbal Irony (sarcasm, , play on words)--Although
Emma does not rely upon verbal irony as much as does ,
Austen still demonstrates her skill with understatement in this novel. When Emma is fallaciously
evaluating her relationship with Frank Churchill, she continues "to entertain no doubt of
her being in love him" (264). However, as Emma vascillates in regards to whether her
feelings are actually love, Austen plays around with the definition of
love. Emma might love Frank because she is constantly
thinking of him and likes to have letters from him, but Austen uses these thoughts to
demonstrate the fickle nature of many young women of her day, especially in regards to words
such as love and marriage.