Comment on the use of irony and humour in the story "The Luncheon".

Ans. "The Luncheon" is an interesting and humorous short story by William Somerset Maugham. The writer develops the story by using irony and humour.

Irony is a figur of speech in which the writer or the speaker says one thing when he means something different or opposite of his meaning.

Humour and ony in this story are found in the fact that the narrator is trying io appear sophisticated, urban and gallant,
where as he really cannot afford to entertain the lady guest in such an expensive restaurant as Foyot's. The author feels relived initially because the lady tells him hat she never eats anything
for luncheon, but then he is appalled when the lady orders some of the most expensive items of the restaurant. In fact she exploits the author mercilessly by pretending an interest in his writing
which she probably does not really feel. At the same time, the author describes the situation in just a few words.

"Foyot's is a restaurant at which the French senators eat and it was so far beyond my means that, I had never even thought of going there. But I was flattered and I was too young to have learned to say no to a woman."

Part of the irony and humour derives from the fact that the author has never dared to go to Foyot's by himself because he is living on a very small income and he has to watch his voracious and greedy guest taking one after another costly items of foods while he has to pretend to take only mutton chop and a glass of water.

However, in the end, the author fec!s that he has finaily had his revenge when he says, "But I have had my revenge at last. I do not believe that I m a vindictive man, but when the immortal guds iake a hand in the matter it is pardonable to observe the result with complacency. Today she weighs twenty-one stone."

A stone is equal to 14 pounds, so the voracious lady guest would weight 294 pounds-which is not at all surprising, considering her appetite and what she regarded as "never eating anything for lunchcon".

In fact humour and irony are characteristics of Maugham's personality and are to be found in neariy all his fiction and non fiction including "The Luncheon."