John's Academic Work (situational irony)
The central belief expressed in John’s book and in his class is that education, rather than being a universal good, is often humiliating, frustrating, and unnecessary for the student. The irony of this belief system emerges in several ways during John and Carol’s interactions. Since Carol feels humiliated and frustrated by John’s class, she is a perfect example of the kind of student who John thinks should not attend college. Yet, she insists on the value of her education, while John argues that this is harmful. This puts John in the strange position of convincing a student that she should not be in his class. As the conflict between student and teacher escalates, John must defend his right to teach, and in doing so he uses his social and academic power as a professor—the same power that he has previously deemed unfair to students.
Violence (situational irony)
At the end of the play, John tells Carol that he “wouldn’t touch (her) with a ten-foot pole.” His implication here is that he would never assault her, as she has accused him of doing. The irony emerges in performance: as he utters these words, John is in the process of violently beating Carol. This metaphorical, hyperbolic statement reveals, for one thing, John’s shallow understanding of gendered power and of Carol’s accusation of assault. His statement affirms that he would not “touch” Carol in what is implied to be a sexual manner, revealing that he believes rape to be an issue of attraction and sexual intention. As a result, John can tell Carol that he has no desire to touch her, even while physically assaulting her, without seeing the irony in his own statement.
Academic Freedom (situational irony)
Carol mocks John during Act III for his professed attachment to “freedom of thought,” telling him that he wants freedom only for people already in power, such as himself. To an extent, this is true—John states that he values the status quo and enjoys his privileged position. At the same time, Carol’s attack on John in this moment is laden with its own irony. She tells him repeatedly that he does not value freedom of thought, though he may think that it is one of his values. In repeatedly insisting that she has a deeper understanding of John’s own values than he does, Carol, too, reveals that she does not have a particularly deep or consistent understanding of freedom of thought.
"Flunk me out of it" (verbal irony)
The characters in Oleanna speak in a somewhat stylized manner, with a disarming bluntness, which makes verbal irony rare. However, during Act I, a panicked Carol does tell John, “I failed. Flunk me out of it. It’s garbage. Everything I do.” Carol is not entirely sarcastic, since she is genuinely experiencing a crisis of confidence. Yet, by daring her professor to fail her, Carol piques his pity. This may be conscious or subconscious, and the actor playing Carol, in a staged version of the play, might decide for herself the extent to which these lines should be delivered in a deliberately sarcastic manner.
Academia and Inclusiveness (situational irony)
Both Carol and John resent and fight against certain academic institutions set up to harshly judge and evaluate them. Carol critiques the unforgiving grading system that keeps her and her peers in a state of anxiety, while John, who both critiques and makes use of that same grading system, fears and resents the tenure committee. Carol, meanwhile, uses the tenure committee to gain leverage against John, even though they represent a segment of academia that she believes to be elitist and dangerous. Ultimately, both characters criticize the academic world at times, while kowtowing to certain members or aspects of it at their convenience. The world of academia, in its harshness and ruthlessness, is portrayed here as more consistently harmful than either John or Carol. John and Carol simply buy into and reinforce that ruthlessness, even as they profess a distaste for it.
