Irony of windows
Both of Maurice's love affairs begin with windows, though the situations are the opposite of each other to create a sense of juxtaposed irony. When Maurice first confesses his reciprocation of Clive's love, Clive doesn't believe him, thinking he was just trying to comfort him. He says that he is simply glad that Maurice wasn't vindictive, stating "I'm thankful it's into your hands I fell. Most men would have reported me to the Dean or the Police." Thus, the relationship begins slowly, with both sides wary of each other and the risks that came with homosexual relationships, especially at a prestigious school such as Cambridge. Maurice is the one who breaks this distrust, in the passage where he climbs through Clive's window to kiss him. Their relationship is therefore initiated by Maurice, not Clive.
Maurice's relationship with Alec also begins with windows. Constrastingly, though, Alec is the one who pursues it. When staying at Clive's house, after the two are no longer romantically involved, Maurice calls "Come!" from his window, unsure exactly why. Alec, thinking that Maurice was calling for him, climbs into his window and sleeps with him, sparking their love for each other.
This is ironic in several ways: firstly, because Maurice was staying at Clive's house, it is through Clive that Maurice finds Alec - indeed, it is through Clive's window that Alec comes, directly parallel to Maurice climbing through Clive's window at Cambridge.
Secondly, when Clive breaks up with Maurice, the latter man is the more heartbroken due to the fact that he pursued Clive, and pinned all his happiness on him. Therefore, it is ironic that Maurice went from pursuing someone without equal reciprocation, to being suddenly pursued by someone much more fervent than himself, all sparked by the window incidents, which are both literal objects and figurative symbols of 'leaving oneself open'.
Irony of intimacy
Maurice and Clive's relationship remains solely romantic, without any sex and not much physical intimacy beyond kissing. When the hypnotist Mr Lasker Jones asks if Clive and Maurice have ever 'united', it is implied that they haven't. Near the end of the book, Clive also reaffirms this belief around physical intimacy, stating "But surely - the sole excuse for any relationship between men is that it remain purely platonic."
In this passage, Maurice also confesses his love for Alec to Clive, which repulses Clive immensely, making him actually whimper in disgust. Clive's belief in remaining 'pure' and not having any sexual relations is partly what makes the two men grow distant, when Maurice begins to grow disillusioned with the chaste relationship, and Clive begins to wonder why Maurice loves him, when he is growing less beautiful and charming to be with. Therefore, it is the lack of intimacy between the two, especially physical intimacy, that causes Maurice to be discontented with the relationship.
Thus, it is ironic that Maurice is nearly scared away from Alec because of the man's fervent and sudden intimacy. Their relationship is initiated by Alec climbing in through the window to have sex with Maurice, and from then on he wants more physical intimacy with him, which Maurice is fearful of due his chaste, secretive relationship with Clive, in which he initiated most physical intimacy. In Alec's letter, he says "I since cricket match do long to talk with one of my arms around you, then place both arms around you and share with you, the above now seems sweeter to me than words can say." This strong letter causes Maurice to lay low, and he nearly misses out on ending up in a relationship with Alec because of his fear of such intense intimacy.
Overall, there is much irony in the fact that a lack of intimacy made him draw back from his first relationship, but the intense intimacy in his second nearly overwhelmed him.
Irony of respectability
By the end of the novel, Clive is a respectable gentleman, while Maurice is in disgrace and self-exiled with Alec. This is ironic due to the fact that Clive was the one who originally made Maurice realize his sexuality - before that, he'd been a respectable young man, who had even entertained the idea of courting a woman, Gladys Olcott. When Clive admitted his love for him, Maurice expressed disgust and shock, stating, "Durham, you're an Englishman. I'm another. Don't talk nonsense. I'm not offended, because I know you don't mean it, but it's the only subject absolutely beyond the limit as you know, it's the worst crime in the calendar…" However, soon after this confession, he realizes that he really does love Clive, and is attracted only to his own sex. He describes this to Clive as them 'waking each other up'.
However, despite Clive's attraction initially being stronger, he is the one who breaks the relationship up, claiming he now loves women and wants to live a normal life. He then marries Anne, takes proper control of his estate, and begins campaigning politically; living the typical, respectable life of an Edwardian gentleman. Meanwhile, Maurice is deeply entrenched in homosexual life, and soon begins his relationship with Alec - shocking in itself, due to the major class difference between them. Clive, as mentioned previously, is shocked by this relationship, and Maurice rebuts this by saying "I was yours until death if you'd cared to keep me, but I'm someone else's now…[Alec] is mine in a way that shocks you, but why don't you stop being shocked and attend to your own happiness?"
Therefore, what Clive sparked in Maurice grew a life of its own, and in the end, Maurice happily went into self-exile with Alec, while Clive became the epitome of a normal upper-class man. This is ironic due to the opposite dynamic being true when they first began their relationship.
Irony of Cambridge
Clive and Maurice meet when they are at Cambridge University, which was considered a very prestigious university at the time. Clive is considered a top scholar there, and has a special affinity for the Classics. When the two men skip their lectures and run off together, it is stated that "No punishment was inflicted on Durham. He had been let off all lectures in view of his Tripos, and even if he had been remiss the Dean would not have worried him; the best classical scholar of his year, he had won special treatment." Therefore, Clive was obviously very much favoured at Cambridge due to his dedication to his studies.
It is thus ironic that Cambridge, considered a prestigious school, would have such a large amount of homosexual men, who were considered unworthy of respect, and certainly not prestigious, in the time period. Risley is a prominent example, as is Clive - both of whom were both involved in queer circles, as well as scholarly ones. Clive in particular was favoured there, and held up as an example of a good student - if the school knew about his homosexuality, they wouldn't put him on a pedestal in the same way.
Irony of the breakup
After Clive breaks up his relationship with Maurice, the latter man is miserable and lonely - he rested all of his happiness on his relationship with him. A passage in Chapter 26 states "Clive must love [Maurice], because his whole life was dependent on love and here it was going on as usual. How could he sleep and rest if he had no friend?" Therefore, we can see how codependent Maurice was with Clive, and that parting with him shattered his whole worldview.
It is ironic, then, that Maurice eventually finds his true, life-long love through this breakup, which initially seemed to be the end of his love. Because he still maintains the appearance of friendship with Clive, he visits the estate, Penge, often, and meets Alec, who is a gamekeeper there. Because Clive is so distracted with political campaigning, and no longer close to Maurice at all, he is able to talk to, and even sleep with Alec without Clive noticing. There is altogether much irony in the fact that Maurice found Alec, his final lover, through parting with the man he thought was actually his true love.
