Irony
Irony is a statement or a situation which actually means the opposite of its surface meaning. An often quoted example of irony is " Brutus is an honourable man" from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Antony says this in his oration over dead body of Caesar. This appreciation of Brutus really means that Brutus who killed Caesar is an ignoble man. The first sentence of Pride and Prejudice is another example of irony
" It is truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
After reading the novel one, however, finds that it is not the rich man who needs a wife but, quite opposite to it, it is the lady who needs a rich husband.