Irony is the use of words to express something different from and opposite to their literal meaning, and can be utilized with tone and style to create comical situations. The entire story and the idea of women having rape fantasies can be interpreted as ironic in itself from the basic knowledge that rape is a serious and brutal crime, yet the author seems to tastefully twist the terrible act of rape to reflect a satirical harlequin romance novel. In the short story "Rape Fantasies," almost every type of irony is presented and the author Margaret Atwood utilizes the various forms of irony, which include verbal, dramatic, situational and a touch of cosmic to add depth to the plot and make the story more entertaining.
Verbal irony is comprised of understatements, overstatements, and double entendres and is dependent on the interplay of words in that one thing may be said, yet quite the opposite is meant. Greta's rape fantasies incredibly understate the impact of rape by downplaying the chances of rape happening. This is emphasized by Greta's response to Darlene's overstatement that they should not go out alone at night with the nonchalant comment, "For Heaven's Sake, it's only Toronto." (Paragraph 10).
Chrissy and Greta's rape fantasies are examples of situational irony along with examples of understatements. Their fantasies are not what rape would truly be like but rather what they hope it would be like. Estelle commented about their fantasies by stating, "Those aren't rape fantasies. I mean you aren't getting raped, it's just some guy you haven't met formally who just happens to be more attractive- (Paragraph 24). In Estelle's first rape fantasy, Rapists are violent criminals that violate women physically, mentally, and emotionally. Estelle's would-be rapist is patient and understanding. "You're intending to rape me, right? And he nods, so I open my purse to get the plastic lemon, and I can't find it! So I ask him to hold out his hands, like this and I pile all this junk into them and down at the bottom there's the plastic lemon, and I can't get the top off.