MISS TESMAN. Yes, Hedda, here I am, in mourning and forlorn; for now my poor sister has at last found peace. HEDDA. I have heard
the news already, as you see. Tesman sent me a card. MISS TESMAN. Yes, he promised me he would. But nevertheless I thought that to Hedda—here in the house of life—I ought myself to bring the tidings of death . . . . Oh, her end was so calm, so beautiful. And then she had the unspeakable happiness of seeing George once more—and bidding him good-bye.—Has he not come home yet? This passage is ironic because Aunt Julie _____. expects Tesman to come home, but does not realize he will never return thinks Hedda feels at home, but does not realize that Hedda longs to escape her life with Tesman intends to do Hedda a kindness, but does not recognize that her intrusion at this sad time distresses Hedda hopes Hedda's child will bring new life to the Tesman house, but does not know that Hedda's suicide will soon make it a house of death
because Aunt Julie hopes Hedda's child will bring new life to the Tesman house, but does not know that Hedda's death will soon make it a house of death.
The correct answer is the last one: "This passage is ironic because Aunt Julie hopes Hedda's child will bring new life to the Tesman house, but does not know that Hedda's suicide will soon make it a house of death."
In this play by Henrik Ibsen, Miss Tessman saw Hedda as the figure that would continue the family lineage - even talking about "the house of life" - but actually, by committing suicide she is responsible for ending the lineage.
This kind of literary irony is called situational irony, when there is incongruence between expectations of something to happen and what actually happens in the end.
