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
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Passivity Vs. Passion The Perks of Being a Wallflower is by no means a typical narrative. Taking the form of an epistolary novel presented as a series of letters from a boy who calls himself Charlie‚ but notes that he will change names and minor details so for the sake of his anonymity‚ the short novel tackles themes such as pedophilia‚ drug use‚ depression‚ abortion and many more complex issues. Stuck in the middle of the mix is a young boy who certainly is not the archetypal protagonist‚ the
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What comedic conventions does Wilde use in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’? ‘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 incongruity theory is applied in this script throughout. At the beginning an
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower‚ Part I - The book opens in 1991‚ when Charlie writes a letter to some unknown person who "didn’t try to sleep with that person at that party" even though they could have. He tells us that he will call people by different names‚ so as to reserve his anonymity. I like that he opens the book like this because it gives us a hint as to the moral center of Charlie. I also‚ personally‚ believe that he is writing to another male‚ which is interesting in itself. - One
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The Importance of Being Earnest’ is used to represent a contradictory and hypocritical society. Oscar Wilde uses the text to reflect his own experience with an ignorant society; Oliver Parker does not replicate this in the 2002 film version of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ as he does not have the emotional influences that Wilde had. Therefore Parker does not produce an accurate representation of Wilde’s play; he only provides a comical historical representation of the milieu for a modern audience
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The Importance of Being Earnest Act 1 The play begins with Jack (Ernest) entering the room unexpectedly where Algernon is. He comes there to propose Lady Bracknell’s daughter‚ Gwendolyn. Algernon is surprised by a cigarette box‚ which his friend Ernest left in a past visit. Inside the box it said “from little Cecily to dear Uncle Jack”‚ therefore Ernest ends up admitting that his real name is Jack and not Ernest. Jack also tells that he pretends to have a brother called Ernest to justify his visits
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One of the most memorable quotes for the book Perks of being a Wallflower is from Charlie’s teacher‚ Bill. He gives Charlie some valuable life advice after he is informed that Charlie’s sister was hit by her boyfriend. That advice is‚”...we accept the love we think we deserve”(24). Charlie does not understand this at first‚ but I think throughout the book he begins to understand more what Bill meant when he said that. There are many types of love to experience in life. It can be anything from loving
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to the Bible‚ “The love of money is the root of all evil.” There is fine line between loving the money or character of a person. The root of all evil starts when one doesn’t notice the difference. Lady Bracknell‚ an antagonist in The Importance of being Earnest‚ is a powerful‚ pompous and pontifical person who values money more than love and comprehends marriage like business deals in terms of allusions‚ connections and irony. Lady Bracknell’s character is revealed by allusions throughout the play
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The Importance of Being Earnest Play/Film Comparative Essay Oliver Parker’s (2002) film adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is sadly completely consumed by the romantic comedy style‚ masking Wilde’s key concerns and detracting from important comic elements of the play. This can be observed through the varying representations of characters‚ the film’s lack of contextual jokes‚ the more prominent sub-plot between Dr Chasuble and Miss Prism‚ the addition of music and
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Explore the use of Duplicity and Deception in the Importance of Being Earnest The themes in Oscar Wilde´s “Importance of Being Earnest” such as hypocrisy‚ manners‚ dual identity‚ duplicity and deception are all closely linked throughout the play. One can see that the use of witticisms and hyperbole‚ combined with the themes Wilde commonly associates with Victorian lifestyle subtly‚ lightheartedly deride the audience. The effect of the theme duplicity and deception is essentially the criticism
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