The Irony of “Mariam’s Tears”
Alexandra asks Mariam, “What means these tears?My Mariam doth mistake/The news we heard did tell the tyrant’s end:/What weep’st though for they brother’s murd’rer’s sake?Will ever with a tear for Herod spend?” ( Act 1, Scene 2, Lines, 79-83). Mariam’s anguish over Herod’ probable demise is weird for he hardheartedly executed her brother. Typically, Mariam would have seen the act differently, for Herod’s passing suggests that her brother’s unwarranted assassination has been avenged.
The Irony of “Herod Murdering Hircanus”
Alexandra asserts, “My gracious father, whose too ready hand Did lift this Idumean from the dust:/ And he, ungrateful caitiff, did withstand/The man that did in him most friendly trust./ What kingdom’s right could cruel Herod claim” (Act 1, Scene 2, Lines, 95-99). Herod backstabs Hircanus when he plans his murder yet Hircanus has been compassionate to him. Herod exploits Hircanus trust in him to magnify his chances of inheriting the throne. His ironic actions depict him as a self-absorbed individual who is preoccupied with the throne.
The irony of “Salome’s disapproval of Graphina”
Salome addresses Pheroras, “To match for neither beauty nor respects./One mean of birth, but yet of meaner mind, /A woman full of natural defects— I wonder what your eye in her could find.” (Act 3, Scene 1 lines, 11-14). Pheroras affirms Graphina’s splendor when he avows, “Mine eye found loveliness, mine ear found wit, /To please the one, and to enchant the other:/ Grace on her eye, mirth on her tongue doth sit,/ In looks a child, in wisdom’s house a mother.”(Act 3, Scene 1 Lines 15-18). Pheroras’ rejoinder indicates that the relevant outlooks of beauty are definitely idiosyncratic.
