WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 4 ANALYSIS OF HUMOR IN THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST The Importance of Being Earnest is replete with two elements: pun and paradox. These two are played up immensely to present a very humorous approach to cultural criticism. In essence‚ it is a satirical comedy on the aristocratic class during the Victorian Era. The text is full of epigrams that expose the characters’ views on lying‚ marriage‚ reputation‚ society‚ gender‚ romance and love. Additionally‚ the play keeps
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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. Wilde view of Victorian society is illustrated through his wit and humor embedded in the characters’ dialogues. For example‚ Jack and Algernon live double lives as lowlifes
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The Importance of Being Earnest “The Importance of Being Earnest” is a play written by Oscar Wilde in the late 1800s. The story takes place in late Victorian England‚ where two young gentlemen take on the same pseudonym “Earnest” in order to escape reality when needed and to satisfy their lovers. It is a humorous story about how the fake personalities clash with each other and cause complications. A central theme and topic in the play is love and marriage. It is a primary force motivation the plot
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Gwendolen’s father‚ Lord Bracknell‚ never appears in the play‚ yet Lady Bracknell mentions him often. What picture of his life and marriage do we get from the things she and Gwendolen say about him? In ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’‚ Lady Bracknell’s offstage marriage is one of the play’s running gags‚ and Lord Bracknell is an instrument for Oscar Wilde to joke about marriage and the roles of the sexes. In the following essay‚ we shall examine Lord Bracknell’s personal life and marriage based
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identity. The play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is a clear example of when individuals find that their identities are being suppressed by society and‚ therefore‚ find ways to express who they want to be or who they are in different‚ more creative ways. Two factors that influence a person’s identity the most are circumstances and society. Circumstances influence a person’s values‚ morals‚ and ideals‚ while societies‚ specifically strict societies such as the Victorian era‚ suppress
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The Importance of Being Earnest is a play that trivializes many things: the Victorian society‚ the nature of marriage and especially the concept of human identity. While identity is typically considered to be something concrete‚ the characters within the play are constantly in flux. This is especially evident in Jack‚ whose forms his identities as he goes through life. He transforms from a nameless baby in a handbag‚ to Jack the thriving member of the countryside bourgeois‚ then further on to become
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The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is regarded by many as one of the wittiest plays in the English language. However‚ it is not simply a “trivial comedy‚” as its title proposes‚ but also a cutting satire appraising the conventions of Victorian society‚ chiefly the upper class. Much of Wilde’s social commentary is portrayed through the speech of the dictatorial Lady Bracknell‚ who embodies Victorian upper class conventions. Having ascended to her current high social
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Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest The Novel The Importance of Being Earnest was more enjoyable to me than the film. The reason for this was‚ while my imagination pictured the story and the visuals of the people and the settings quite similar to the on-screen portrayal‚ my mind’s images were more enjoyable. The differences portrayed on film were distinctive in the characters‚ scenery‚ and mostly the soundtrack I had not envisioned while reading the play. While they absolutely worked
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and the private sphere. Men were to handle public affairs and women were to take charge of domestic life” (Meijers 7). In The Importance of Being Earnest‚ Oscar Wilde employs a reversal of gender roles‚ including a shift in power that predates this movement‚ effectively challenging traditional Victorian views. He does so by giving his female cast‚ notably Lady Bracknell‚ Cecily Cardew and Miss Fairfax‚ power over Lord Bracknell‚ Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing‚ respectively. These men lose power
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ESSAYS • Deception- who‚ how‚ why? what happens as a result of the deception? o Importance of being Earnest (Oscar Wilde) → Mr. John/Jack Worthing pretends to have a brother named Earnest that he has to go visit in the city. When he is in the city‚ he pretends to be his brother Earnest. Mr. Algernon Moncreif lives in the city and pretends to have a friend named Bunburry that he has to visit whenever he wants to escape a social engagement. He goes to visit John Worthing in the country and
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