‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is considered to be Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece written in 1895. His work here involves mistaken identity, satire (social/class rankings), incredible wit and much more. It is theorised that this script was written in slight reflection of Wilde’s own life; he himself led a double life due to his sexuality.…
The satire that is portrayed in the play is very obvious, however today requires to match with the context of the times, Wilde’s satire is centered in the aristocratic lives of the Victorian social system, this is first recognised when Algernon first introduced, immediately posed as a hypocrite, eating cucumber sandwiches that he told Jack not to eat, Algernon is also narcissistic , when at the piano he states that “I don’t play accurately - any one can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression.” This shows how The Importance of Being Earnest supports Penny Gay’s view by instantly portraying the character as a self-centered aristocrat, by this point in the play there has been one stage direction, showing that Wilde was more interested in what the character said rather than how the character acted, this can be further seen when Algernon says to Lane “I don’t know that I am much interested in your family life, Lane.” Further showing Algernon’s self centered attitudes, however this is quickly changed when he meets Cecily, calling her “the visible personification of absolute perfection.” Showing the hypocritical nature of the characters. Wilde uses this as a way of creating comedy by showing the corrupt morals of Algernon and infact Cecily, who will only marry a man named Ernest. The satire is more comedic in comparison to most comedies that involved shrouding the narcissism of the main character, such as in Wilde’s The Picture Of Dorian Gray where the Dorian,…
The Importance of Being Earnest, composed by Oscar Wilde is a comedic screenplay set in the nineteenth century. Although the theme of the screenplay is comedic, the script does discuss some of the common issues that occurred during that time. Oscar Wilde portrays the concept of marriage, earnestness and …. Throughout his script.…
Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest provides a satirical view of the Victorian era, primarily focusing on Victorian standards of marriage and social expectations. Wilde builds his critique of Victorian morality through his humor and wit between the character’s banter, the hypocritical Victorian view of honesty.…
There are many possible endings for the play, but if I were to write the ending, I would have changed it so that, Romeo comes back and fights Paris and kills him. The fight takes so long that by the time Romeo reaches Juliet, she is about to wake up. When Romeo sees Juliet, he runs and goes hug her. Then Romeo looks at Juliet shockingly and sees the vile in her hand and asks her what had happened. Then Juliet looks at Romeo in a strange way and asks him if he had gotten the letter he had been sent. Then Romeo says that he hadn’t received any letter. Juliet then explains the plan that she had made with Friar and then they hug and kiss each other and cry in joy that they are both well and fine. Romeo then tells Juliet about killing Paris and they both agree that there’s no possible way that the Montegues and the Capulets will ever become friends and that there is no way that Romeo will be allowed to stay in the city anymore. So they decide to run away together. They both flee to Mantua and live there happily ever after. They get four kids, two boys and two girls.…
"The tone says life is fun. The undertone suggests life is a catastrophe. " How far do you agree with this model of comedy in relation for The Importance of Being Earnest?- Edward Braddock. The Importance of Being Earnest has been described in many ways, some believing that its dialogue is "wittily allusive and understated rather than downright comic" , whereas others believe it is simply a narrative driven by Wilde's deep roots in the Aestheticism movement. Despite the play being a comedy where the status quo remains when the curtain falls, the jovial and fun tones the play appears to have are paralleled by dark undertones- some more subtle than others.…
The play “The Importance of Being Earnest,” is one of the most perfect examples of satire in our culture. Although it is set in England, it makes fun of the upper class. The play uses dramatic irony to show how Oscar Wilde sees the upper class as too formal and snobbish. It is dramatic irony because the characters in the play obviously think that they are high class with their multiple houses and butlers even though the author thinks that the upper class is too snobbish.…
The Importance of Being Earnest was Oscar’s fourth comedy, and it was to be his last and most outstanding play. ‘The Trivial Comedy for Serious People‘ (in earlier drafts, ‘serious comedy for trivial people’) was first produced by George Alexander at the St James’s Theatre on 14th February 1895 in London. The play was reduced from four to three acts (Raby 161-163).…
Wilde’s Advocacy for Change in Victorian Culture People have the tendency to judge situations and matters according to how society judges the same situation. Oscar Wilde, the playwright of The Importance of Being Earnest, takes these preconceptions in and inverts the practices that we perceive to be true in order to advocate social and political change. By emphasizing these discrepancies in marriage and the social aristocracy, Wilde satirizes Victorian traditions and ultimately advocates change. The Characters in The Importance of Being Earnest melodramatize unlikely matters concerning society and class, which illustrate Wilde’s advocacy for change in these areas of Victorian culture.…
‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ draws on components of absurdity and melodrama in order to provide humour and hence conceal the darker meaning of concepts. Wilde’s use of frequent comedic features, in addition to witty paradoxes stated by characters allows forms of deception to appear as amusing and superficial while still holding much darker alternate meanings and subtexts which allows him to draw upon and mock the flaws of Victorian society. The idea of deception through leading a double life is central to the play as it is personified by the idea of ‘Bunburying.’ By Wilde’s use of exposition, mainly during Algernon’s questioning of Jack, the audience learn that ‘Bunburying’ refers to leading a double life while still appearing to have…
It can be argued that Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays (2000) explores in depth the idea of satire on the hypocrisy of ‘polite’ British society. Wilde uses dramatic language to amplify the satirical nature of the play; by using irony and satire he is able to mock the polite Victorian etiquette. The play is set in middle class Victorian London, and was written in 1895. Wilde was renowned for being a dandy and somewhat of an extravert, and so the fact he wrote ‘a trivial comedy for serious people’ (2000, p.291) can be seen as satirical due to his frivolous nature and attitude towards…
Importancehe Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personæ in order to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Contemporary reviews all praised the play's humour, though some were cautious about its explicit lack of social messages, while others foresaw the modern consensus that it was the culmination of Wilde's artistic career so far. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play.…
Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is a satire of the stifling conventions of Victorian England, a time when a serpentine code of behaviour governed everything from communication to sexuality, and when class was the sole dictator of relationships. With a witty, humorous delivery, the play explores the central themes of materialism, gender roles, marriage and the ignorance of the upper class. Passage one opens with a series of hyperbolic questions posed with Jack, building in rhythm and accessorised with ornate language like ‘reckless extravagance’. With the expectation of an increase in importance, the dialogue contrarily falls to an exaggeration of absolute triviality, depicting the inverted priorities of the class. This is further accentuated as food becomes a source of conflict.…
In true definition of farce, Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest incorporates unlikely and improbable situations, extravagant characters, and the occasional mistaken identity. Wilde’s farce relies on creating absurd situations that characters approach in means they find entirely logical in his parody of high society. His protagonist, Algernon is the only character aware of the absurdities of Victorian high society, and responds by taking absolutely nothing seriously-leading a double life as a “Mr. Bunbury.”As he recognizes his brother practicing the same mischief, Algernon shares his “enlightened” philosophies about Bunburying with Jack through outstanding hypocrisy, paradox and epigrams, to create what Wilde deems “trivial comedy for serious people.”…
Oscar Wilde in many ways was far ahead of the Victorian society that he found himself in. Wilde’s homosexual lifestyle and focus on sensuality were so frowned upon in the Victorian society that they were actually illegal, which led to his eventual imprisonment and downfall (Bastiat 2). It is almost as if Oscar Wilde’s life itself was a satire, because these aspects of himself that were illegal and frowned upon were what made his play The Importance of Being Earnest so successful. Wilde’s play was intended to not only entertain his spectators, but also try to change their attitudes in a passive, yet meaningful way.…