groups with quiet humour He pretends to be neutral But his observations carry gentle criticism This is the irony He is both outside and inside society His silent position gives him power Irony in Imagined Roles Addison claims that he imagines many lives He does not say he understands them fully But he writes about all of them This method is polite but ironic In The Spectator's Account of Himself he writes I have made myself a speculative statesman soldier merchant and artisan He pretends to guess what others feel He takes their views kindly But he also sees their faults This is light irony He makes their errors seem small and common The style is soft and wise He never attacks Instead he presents faults as natural His tone keeps the reader calm and thinking Irony in Religious Practice Addison shows respect for true religion However some people only pretend to have faith He hides this truth in simple words In Sir Roger at Church he writes Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week The line sounds cheerful and positive But the word rust is ironic It means people grow dull weekly They attend church just for show Sir Roger is sincere and pious But his people lack real belief Addison smiles gently at minor faults His soft irony teaches sincerity not rituals The Irony in Sir Roger's Comic Simplicity Sir Roger is kind and honest but often unaware of his own silliness Addison uses comic irony to show this He writes Sir Roger will suffer nobody to sleep in it besides himself It means Sir Roger tells others not to sleep during sermons But he himself sleeps in the prayer This is a quiet and humorous contradiction The irony lies in his lack of self-awareness He tries to improve his people but fails to see his own faults Addison lets us laugh at this kindly It reflects human weakness in a gentle way Irony in the Quiet Death Announcement In Death of Sir Roger Addison writes simply Sir Roger de Coverley is dead The line is plain and quiet There is no drama or strong emotion The irony is that these simple words carry more feelings than loud ones Addison uses quietness to show how deep the loss is This is the opposite of what we expect for such a big moment To sum up Addison's use of irony is mild and moral He never insults but always instructs His irony hides the truth in gentle laughter He writes about real life not just ideas Through irony Addison became a guide and a reformer of society