in The Importance of Being Earnest “Ignorance is like an exotic fruit…” writes Oscar Wilde as he sets the literary table with a rich display of Victorian satire (Wilde). Born in Dublin to affluent parents‚ Wilde experienced a social advantage that gave him more than a taste of indulgent upper class life to ridicule. He attended Oxford on a scholarship and was considered a genius. Wilde was characterized as humorous‚ frank‚ and showy. Writing novels‚ poems‚ and essays as well‚ The Importance of Being
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where men and women were women” to the highest degree‚ a woman being head of household‚ controlling social obligations‚ managing finances‚ and taking on the stereotypically paternal role of deciding possible spouses for children. Such scenario has only been widely accepted in the past handful of decades‚ never mind a time when women had very little control over when they could leave their home‚ yet in The Importance of Being Earnest‚ such a world exists. Oscar Wilde introduces a world in which women
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Susanna Huth Gender Roles In The importance of Being Earnest In The Importance of Being Earnest‚ the question of each gender’s role in society often centers on power. In the Victorian world men had greater influence than women. Men made the decisions for their families‚ while women worked around the house. Wilde raises interesting questions about gender roles in The Importance of Being Earnest‚ by putting women (like Lady Bracknell) in positions of power and by showing that men can be irresponsible
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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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“The Importance of Being Earnest” follows the story of Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff‚ two Victorian era gentlemen who practice the habit of “bunburying” – the act of inventing a friend whose needs are so compelling that nobody will question the need to visit that friend for an extended period of time on short notice. In addition to this double-life motif‚ the themes of marriage‚ death and “the dandy” are explored in Wilde’s melodramatic Victorian play. The play is trivial in the sense that
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Algernon Moncrief in Oscar Wilde’s "The Importance of Being Earnest" is quite simply a child at play. Algy‚ as he’s known to his friends‚ is a young bachelor not yet in his thirties living the aristocratic life of a Victorian gentleman. He has an underdeveloped sense of morality and of the world beyond him. Algy has an excellent skill for wit and as an "Oxonian"‚ his education is also rather noticeable. You might also surmise him to be unhappy if he were eating muffins as if there was no tomorrow
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Does the "Importance of being Earnest" Movie live up to Wilde’s original play? Oliver parker made a play adapted movie from Oscar Wilde play‚ “The Importance of Being Earnest”. This movie turn out to be a funny‚ light hearted romantic version of Oscar Wilde’s play. However the original play was a satirical‚ romantic comedic play. The play most importantly was a satirical work that criticised the upper class of the victorian society as a whole. It pointed out the flaws in marriage‚ social classes
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the money‚ give orders‚ and have more power than women. This was present in the Victorian Era and is still present today. Gender is a social construct. It has been shaped‚ or constructed‚ by society to follow certain stereotypes. In The Importance of Being Earnest‚ Oscar Wilde uses gender role reversal and stereotypes to criticize gender roles in society. In a traditional Victorian Society‚ it is usually the man who controls the life of his wife. During the time period this play was published
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Charlie Kendrick 6th March 2014 Miss Prism and Chasuble are products of society in the way that they are both plot tools for Wilde satirizing the Victorian era in the sense that Chasuble should represent a man of the church who is moral‚ but isn’t whilst Miss Prism is distinctly unattractive who represents the boring nature of education in those times. Chasuble uses sexual innuendos in his speech‚ to represent how he is fighting his passion for Miss Prism and doesn’t represent a moral man of
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Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest. Through the various characters like Jack and Cecily‚ it is clear to see common traits that appear to group the woman and the men into their two distinct categories. This belief that is shown in the play is explicitly written about in “The Women of England: Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits.” In this essay‚ Sarah Stickney Ellis maps out all of the expectations for women to act in that society. She not only states the apparent importance of it‚ but then
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