Earnest Challenge Constructions of Sexuality? Oscar Wilde; the renowned Irish writer is most commonly known for his famed social comedies‚ including: Lady Windermere’s Fan‚ A Women of No Importance and of course The Importance of Being Earnest. Regrettably this period of fame was followed by his fall into public disgrace and time spent in Reading Gaol after the critical libel suit from the father of his lover; Lord Alfred Douglas. While Wilde is now known for his relatively remarkable sexual preferences
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Satire is defined to be the use of humor to ridicule faults and vices. The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde is a social satire‚ using irony and paradoxes to insinuate the problems and faults found in the Victorian society. The Importance of Being Earnest is set in the late Victorian Era during a social reform. The class system was defined by the animosity between classes‚ the upper class treating the lower class with disdain and disgust. The upper class was rigidly controlled by
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Fowles’ views of women in ’The French Lieutenant’s Woman’‚ in light of the view that Oscar Wilde has a more sympathetic view of woman in his time. In this essay I will be comparing Oscar Wilde’s play ’A Woman of No Importance’ to John Fowles’ novel ’The French Lieutenant’s Woman’. I will be exploring their differing views of woman in Victorian society. Generally‚ woman were viewed as inferior to men‚ yet Wilde shows compassion for them in his writing‚ this can be seen through his kindness to Mrs Arbuthnot
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Tobenkin AP Literature‚ Period 4 7 December 2015 The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde is definitely an odd character and this is present in his play‚ The Importance of Being Earnest. Throughout the play‚ Wilde uses puns and unusual situations so that it could make the play humorous and enjoyable for audience. Each character finds themselves in peculiar situations which becomes unusually strange. Wilde uses comical dialogue to mock society and the higher class. Although it is a very farce
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According to Oscar Wilde and the titles of his works‚ being earnest is far more important than being a woman. Like Wilde and the suggested assumption that can be made by his titles‚ both works struggle to realize what is truly important in life. The Importance of Being Earnest and A Woman of No Importance have common themes of moral versus superficial values‚ societal expectations‚ and relationship complications‚ which can be seen in multiple instances throughout the works. The Importance of Being
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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’ 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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marriage and were always a popular topic in Victorian plays‚ and one that interested Wilde‚ who was married to a woman but sexually involved with men. During the Victorian period‚ marriage was about protecting your resources‚ and keeping socially unacceptable impulses under control. This is shown within The Importance of Being Earnest‚ when Lady Bracknell and Jack have a conversation about his eligibility
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Gray to these settings‚ Wilde is able to emphasise the difference of the lifestyles between these two ends of London. Within the first nine chapters of the novel‚ the Theatre - where Dorian first lays his eyes and bids his farewell to Sibyl Vane - is a prominent location. ‘A tawdry affair’‚ Dorian‚ Lord Henry and Basil stand out amongst the crowd in their ‘horrid little private box’ overshadowing the people ‘in what [Dorian] suppose[d] they called the dress circle’. As Wilde uses Dorian himself to
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is an accomplished parody of the conventions of comedy‚ containing the main attributes of a comedy of manners. It is easy to view simply as a frivolous farce‚ laced with witty dialogue‚ contrived situations and sarcasm. However‚ upon closer look‚ Wilde uses his protagonists and the situations caused in the play to target many of the hypocrisies that Victorian society created. Exposing manners‚ false sincerity and how marriage is little but a social tool‚ all add to the comedic value of the play‚
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