contains an element of seriousness; a joke is never just a joke.” Related to this quote‚ in ‘Earnest’‚ l think there is a moral message‚ mocking the Victorian society‚ aimed towards the Upper class and their disregard for social conventions. In act 1‚ Wilde uses burlesque and double acts to show how marriage was treated as less important and used only to further one’s wealth. Jack: I am in love with Gwendolen. I have come up to town expressly to propose to her. Algernon: I thought you had come up for
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Discuss Wilde’s use of comedy in The Importance of being Earnest. One technique that Wilde uses to comic effect is allowing bits of information to be revealed and withheld. In the scene where Algernon asks “why does she call herself little Cecily?” and then “But why does your aunt call you her uncle?” suggests that Algernon actually knows the truth‚ but he’s actually trying to get Jack to confess it himself. Not only does it suggests that Algernon knows the truth‚ it also suggests that he knows
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What was the impact of the Oscar Wilde case on attitudes to crime and punishment? A negative view was held towards homosexuality going as far back as 1553 when ‘The Buggery Act’ came into place instructing that the act of buggery was a capital offence‚ it was thought of as a sin against nature and therefore should be banned from taking place in society. However‚ many people had a tolerant view to homosexuality in the idea that as long as it was behind closed doors then it could be ignore‚ but
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pretentious British upper class. Characters trade smart remarks‚ but they seem oblivious to the humor and absurdity of their statements. In The Importance of Being Earnest‚ the satire of an upper-class Victorian society can also be interpreted as Wilde humorously treating serious issues and conflicts that existed within Victorians to highlight the disadvantages of having such a posh society. The issues that arise in The Importance of Being Earnest‚ apply to the author‚ Oscar Wilde’s‚ personal life
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A Trivial Comedy for Serious People Oscar Wilde mocked his audience while he entertained them. Perhaps his most loved and well-known work‚ The Importance of Being Earnest‚ satirises the manners and affections of the upper-class Victorian society. Satire is a literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness‚ usually with the intent of changing or correcting the subject of the satirical attack. The play focuses on the elite‚ while making fun of the ludicrousness and extremity
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speculating on marriage and the need to have an excuse to get away‚ the two agree to dine together at the fashionable Willis’‚ and Jack enlists Algernon’s assistance in distracting Lady Bracknell so that Jack can propose to Gwendolen. Analysis Wilde sets the tone for hilarious mischief in this first scene. The many layers of meaning work together to entertain and to provoke thought. He makes fun of all the Victorians hold sacred‚ but in a light-hearted‚ amusing wordfest. His humor has multiple
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Importancehe Importance of Being Earnest‚ A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James’s Theatre in London‚ it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personæ in order to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London‚ the play’s major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage‚ and the resulting satire of Victorian
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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 seriousness of death is taken light-heartedly in the play. Rather than associating death
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although other factors were very important in conveying his attitudes and ideals; especially when it came to people making the connections between Wilde and the characters in his plays. The character of the Dandy was an important addition Wilde made to the style of play and is noticed in characters such as Algernon- who would to a degree be based on Wilde; a wealthy‚ well dressed character. Algernon also exercises a sense of social superiority over characters through his unusual and rather excentric
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roots in the Greek myth of Narcissus‚ as told by Ovid in The Metamorphoses. Narcissus fell in love with his reflection in a pool of water and eventually this lead to his demise‚ along with his patrons. Similarly The Picture of Dorian Gray‚ by Oscar Wilde is a story about physical beauty and the power that it can have with its protagonist‚ Dorian Gray being a narcissistic. The novel is an adaptation of the myth of Narcissus as they have similar plots‚ both including extreme accounts of vanity‚ love
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