Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ A Trivial Comedy For Serious People is a play about two friends Jack Worthing and Algernon (Algy) Moncrieff. In order to get away from their lives the two men invent fictitious characters to explain their absence (Jack invents Earnest while Algy invents Bunbury) from the country in Jack’s case and town in Algy’s. To complicate matters the two men then fall in love Jack with Gwendolen‚ Algy’s cousin and Algy with Jacks ward Cecily. Both women believe
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The Importance of Being Earnest is a serious comedy about trivial matters The Importance of being Earnest is a play that satirizes the Victorian upper classes. In the play‚ Oscar Wide makes fun of the upper class in many ways. Most commonly‚ Wilde does this by using comic irony‚ humor‚ and witty statements. However‚ if we look deeper into the text‚ a lot of the trivial matters characters discuss have a serious side to them. Wilde uses these matters to satirize the Victorian upper even more. The
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Samantha Soto Gilchrist AP English IV 28 October 2012 The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance of Being Earnest is a play by Oscar Wilde that can be viewed as a satire on the moral compass of people living in the Victorian era. The moral standards of the time held the ideas of sincerity and honesty on a high pedestal. To be Earnest would most likely fall between the two ideals; the first definition of the word earnest is “Serious in intention‚ purpose‚ or effort” and this can be a trait
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In Oscar Wilde’s play‚ The Importance of Being Earnest‚ the conversations between characters reveal a lot about their relationships and create a language. The relationship of Earnest and Gwendolen is primarily based on a surface characteristic; his name. Gwendolyn is only attracted to Earnest because of his name‚ because she is so consumed by what others will think. Cecily is portrayed as the wholesome girl in this play who is attracted to the devious and mysterious Algernon. However‚ their relationship
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In his play‚ The Importance of Being Earnest‚ Oscar Wilde portrays his beliefs by satirizing the beliefs and values of his society. Within Act I‚ Algernon states that “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Wilde’s witty epigram projects a major theme within the play. It attacks the perception of fixed truth. The major target of Wilde’s scathing social criticism is the hypocrisy that society creates. Often in Victorian society‚ its participants acted in overly sincere‚ polite ways while
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Sonia Kaur Professor McLaughlin ENG 102 TH 7 C Topic: Research Paper on The Importance of Being Earnest Essay 4 How does Oscar Wilde satirize Victorian society in his play The Importance of Being Earnest? What is the genre of the play? Sure‚ it is a comedy‚ but where does Wilde put the emphasis on? Social satire. Social satire is a weapon using comedy in order to take a subject‚ in this case the Victorian Era‚ and ridicule it. In this sense‚ comedy is not only to entertain but also educate. Thus
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Lauren Skarupsky English III Honors Summer Work The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde Reading Questions 1. Explain how Wilde uses satire to critique Victorian society. Throughout the entire play Oscar Wilde critiques the Victorian society through each of the characters. The characters represent the Victorian era but have twisted views on the major emotions love and marry that are mentioned in the play continuously. Wilde depicts the society in which the characters live in as superficial
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Discuss the use of duplicity and subterfuge for comic affect in The importance of being earnest. The importance of being Ernest written in 1899 by Oscar wild is a comedy of manners which was first shown to the Victorian society. Being a comedy of manners‚ the play includes many features of a Victorian melodrama including confusion‚ mistaken identity and a final happy ending. However subterfuge and duplicity is inherent in all characters and is the main source of comic value within the plot. We see
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The Importance of Being Earnest Questions Themes (Feel free to see the questions related to the themes at http://www.shmoop.com/importance-of-being-earnest/) Lies and Deceit Marriage Respect and Reputation Society and Class Gender Versions of Reality: Romance Love Foolishness and Folly Epigrams Define an epigram. What do the following epigrams say? Keep track of epigrams in the play. “Education is an admirable thing‚ but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing
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Teacher’s notes LEVEL 2 PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde Act 1‚ pages 1–6 (line 8): The play begins in the sitting room of Algernon Moncrieff ’s flat in London. Algernon is expecting a visit from his aunt‚ Lady Bracknell. Before she arrives‚ his friend‚ Jack Worthing‚ visits him. Jack declares that he intends to marry Lady Bracknell’s daughter‚ Gwendolen. Algernon points out that Jack has overlooked the problem with another girl called
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