Irony Scarletts self absorbed blindness to the truth of many situations leads to our seeing more than she does which in turn results in irony The chief irony of the novel is that Scarletts obsession with Ashley prevents her from appreciating that Rhett is the perfect match for her Paralleling this is the irony that Ashley only realizes how much he loves and relies upon Melanie when she is dying Similarly it is ironic that Scarlett hates and despises Melanie throughout most of the novel while Me