4.5.3　Commissive Irony

In commissives，the speaker promises to perform a certain act in the future.For commissives，the speaker acts as the doer of the promised performance，while for directives，it is the listener who will execute the coming act.The prerequisite of commissives is that the speaker is able to fulfill what he or she has promised.If the conversing parties know the speaker is short of ability or it is impossible for the speaker to execute the committed act，then ironic implications are attached to commissives.

Example 28

Mrs.Jennings sat on Elinor's right hand；and they had not been long seated，before she leant behind her and Willoughby，and said to Marianne，loud enough for them both to hear，“I have found you out in spite of all your tricks.I know where you spent the morning.”

Marianne colored，and replied very hastily，“where，pray？”

“Did not you know，”said Willoughby，“that we had been out in my curricle？”

...

“I am afraid，Miss Marianne，”said Sir John，“you have not been able to take your usual walk to Allenham to-day.”

Here，what Sir John said in the last paragraph is a commissive ironic speech act.Guessing Mr.Willoughby might fall in love with Marianne，Sir John intentionally wanted to make a joking about them.Obviously，his saying didn't suit the prevailing convention that women should not pay the original visit to a new house without the official introduction.By the way，Marianne's first visit to Willoughby's was in secret，so she didn't want anyone to know about it；surely she would not and could not go there frequently.So what Sir John said violates the convention and cannot be realized in practice.By using commissive irony，Sir John intended to joke about Marianne and Willoughby.