...Theme of death in The Importance of Being Earnest It is obvious from the very first conversation in the play (between Algernon and Jack) that the characters are lackadaisical in their actions and views. This theme continues through the play, evident in the ridiculously comical and odd comments they make, their eccentric and aloof mannerisms and their general air. Many might look at The Importance of Being Earnest and see it as a play wrought with frivolities and meaninglessness, including author Oscar Wilde himself, who described it as "A trivial comedy for serious people." However, the play does contain a few serious undertones which are subtle enough that most readers (serious people or not) fail to notice them. One of the most noticeable of these is the trend of death. Death is mentioned several times throughout the play, in the form of flippant comments and offhand jokes. The initial thought one might have when realising the frequency with which death is mentioned in the play is that this was added to give the play dimension and a bit of dark humour. That may be true, but at the same time it highlights and compliments the lighthearted and flippant theme that is so evident throughout. Since the characters in Being Earnest* do not act in a manner that is appropriate or socially acceptable in modern times, it would make sense that their view on death, as a group, is exceedingly callous. The subject is handled with less gravity than most other issues (such as the consumption...
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...Satire Within The Importance of Being Earnest Comedy is normally intentioned to be engaged in theatrical plays to develop a significant message. In witty, comical plays like “The Importance of Being Earnest”, the author, Oscar Wilde’s key objective is to create comedy in a number of situations creating ridiculous occurrences and absurd characters. Wilde presents the character(s) in the comedy play to obtain weaknesses, conceits, and lack of insight so that their acts can be easily compared between real life and form a sense of humor within the audience. Comedy of matters is a category of play suitable to uncover the superficial values of the dominant class in society written in a satirical but natural way. Wilde satirizes the values of the Victorian higher class using the characters Jack, Gwendolen, Algernon, Cecily, and Lady Bracknell. There are many examples from “The Importance of Being Earnest” that depict comedic and satire elements through themes like marriage and triviality. The nature of marriage, critique of marriage as a social tool, is a theme that is portrayed throughout Wilde’s play. It is also the most valuable during the Victorian era and to most of the characters especially to Lady Bracknell. She represents the predictable fascinations of the Victorian name such as social class, income, and an acceptable character. She views marriage as a financial business and does not approve of Jack to marry her daughter, Gwendolen, and simply because he is an orphan....
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...“Wilde empowers his female characters but also undermines them”. To what extent do you agree with this view? Wilde’s comedy of manners play, The Importance of Being Earnest, holds a satirical outlook on Victorian life. Wilde uses both satire and farce in his play written and set in 1895 to depict a slightly exaggerated version of society as it was, with all its forms of hypocrisy, double standards and repression of women. Wilde chose to invert the usual gender roles in Victorian literature by portraying the women with a position of power and influence in their relationships and the men as fairly passive. However, as Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff “Bunbury” about the women they love, they appear to dominate not only their facades but the women’s own lives and relationships. In addition, Wilde uses comedic effects throughout the play when presenting Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew, allowing them to be seen collectively as foolish and incredibly naïve. Lady Bracknell is first and foremost a symbol of Victorian earnestness. Initially, we see that she is powerful, arrogant, conservative, and proper. In many ways, she represents Wilde's negative opinion of the Victorian upper-class, their power and conservative and repressive values. Lady Bracknell's authority and power are extended over each and every character in the play. Her decision about the suitability of both marriages in the play provides the conflict of the story. She tells her daughter quite...
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...Comparison Essay The literary works Pride and Prejudice and The Importance of Being Earnest are interpreted as “comedies of manners.” Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde use satire to criticize their own respective societies in their work. Both works were written around the same time period, leading to correlations between the novel and play. However, both works are distinctly different from each other. The commonalities and differences between them consists of: the author’s perspective of their respective society, themes, and relevance to the society of today. The perspective of society plays a significant role when evaluating how Austen and Wilde viewed their respective societies. In each evaluation, both authors share a fair bit of commonalities...
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...The importance of being earnest essay "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People," The Importance of Being Earnest jokingly criticized Victorian manners and morals and attacking the society of the rich and luxurious. Oscar Wilde incorporated his own beliefs and ideology into the play by alluding to Victorian society "lets duplicity led to happiness." It is this "happiness" Wilde's play focuses on by concentrating the theme of the play on marriage. Alluding to marriage, The Importance of Being Earnest begins with the witty and selfish Algernon. It is Algernon who is the amoral bachelor and has not one problem with that because he believes that "divorces are made in heaven" and is utterly against marriage as viewing marriage a waste of time (118). The reasoning for Algernon's views is a stand in for Wilde's own beliefs. The aristocratic Victorians valued duty and respectability above all else. Earnestness a determined and serious desire to do the correct thing was at the top of the code of conduct. Appearance was everything, and style was much more important than substance. So, while a person could lead a secret life, carry on affairs within marriage or have children outside of wedlock, society would look the other way as long as the appearance of propriety was maintained. For this reason, Wilde questions whether the more important or serious issues of the day are overlooked in favour of trivial concerns about appearance. Gwendolen is the paragon of this value. Her marriage proposal...
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...is obvious from the very first conversation in the play (between Algernon and Jack) that the characters are lackadaisical in their actions and views. This theme continues through the play, evident in the ridiculously comical and odd comments they make, their eccentric and aloof mannerisms and their general air. Many might look at The Importance of Being Earnest and see it as a play wrought with frivolities and meaninglessness, including author Oscar Wilde himself, who described it as "A trivial comedy for serious people." However, the play does contain a few serious undertones which are subtle enough that most readers (serious people or not) fail to notice them. One of the most noticeable of these is the trend of death. Death is mentioned several times throughout the play, in the form of flippant comments and offhand jokes. The initial thought one might have when realising the frequency with which death is mentioned in the play is that this was added to give the play dimension and a bit of dark humour. That may be true, but at the same time it highlights and compliments the lighthearted and flippant theme that is so evident throughout. Since the characters in Being Earnest* do not act in a manner that is appropriate or socially acceptable in modern times, it would make sense that their view on death, as a group, is exceedingly callous. The subject is handled with less gravity than most other issues (such as the consumption of cucumber sandwiches versus buttered bread or...
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...Summary of “The Importance of Being Earnest” In Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Jack Worthing, the play’s protagonist, is a young man who shoulders many responsibilities as a respectable citizen of Victorian society. In Hertfordshire, he is appointed the role of guardian to Miss Cecily Cardew, by the deceased Mr. Thomas Cardew, who adopted Jack when he was found abandoned as a baby. He also carries the title of Justice of the Peace and controls a large country estate. As such, he invents an alter ego for himself whom he calls Earnest. Earnest possesses all the qualities Jack pretends to disapprove of; he is exciting and irresponsible. Whenever Jack seeks freedom from his responsibilities he goes into London and tells Cecily he must take care of his brother Earnest who is always getting into trouble. In truth, Jack is posing as Earnest in London and Jack in the country. In Act I, Jack goes into London to tell Algernon Moncrieff, his friend, that he intends to propose to Gwendolen Fairfax, Algernon’s cousin. Algernon, who has begun to suspect Jack’s alter ego, asks Jack why he has a cigarette case addressed to “Uncle Jack” with the inscription, “From little Cecily with her fondest love.” Jack explains that his true name is Jack Worthing and that he takes the name Earnest in London whenever he wants to indulge in certain pleasures. Algernon confesses that he too tries to escape the boundaries put on him by pretending he has a fictitious...
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...The Importance of Not Being Earnest In a society where intricately developed double lives and irrevocable obsessions with ideals and fantasies are the norm, there is bound to be mass confusion and colliding paths. As a result, two significant questions arise: What is truth and who verifies its legitimacy? Oscar Wilde states in regards to his play, “We should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality” (1829), which perfectly exemplifies the overall mindset of the characters in The Importance of Being Earnest and provides a broad template for reinterpretation. A focus on the seriousness behind the irony and epigrams within the play could be followed, or contrastingly...
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...The Importance of Being Earnest—Oscar Wilde Plot Summary: 1. Mr. Earnest Worthing (Jack) enters Algernon Moncrieff’s flat in the Mayfair section of London’s Went End claiming to be visiting in town for “pleasure”. When Algernon informs him that Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen will be coming by, Jack, delighted, confides in Algernon of his intentions to propose to Gwendolen. 2. Jack and Algernon have a debate over whether the subject of marriage is of “business” or “pleasure” which eventually leads to Algernon confronting Jack about the “cigarette case Mr. Worthing left.” 3. Algernon forces Jack to explain the inscription on the inside of the case: from “little Cecily” to “her dear Uncle Jack”. Jack admits that his name is not Earnest but rather Jack, claiming that he is “Earnest in town and Jack in the country.” 4. Jack tells Algernon about the false brother he created as an excuse to get out of the country. Algernon tells Jack that he has invented a friend call Bunbury whose sudden illnesses give him Algernon a chance to get away to the country. 5. Jack tells Algernon that if Gwendolen consents to marry him then he will “kill off” his imaginary brother Earnest, as “little Cecily” is getting too interested in Earnest. Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen arrive. 6. Algernon tells Lady Bracknell that due to the illness of his friend Bunbury he will be able to keep their dinner appointment. Lady Bracknell replies by voicing her irritation about Bunbury’s...
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...Introduction * The Victorian Period in English literature is roughly taken from between 1830 and 1900, approximately running parallel with the long reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), in England. The age is well known for its seriousness, hypocritical morality and artificial sophistry. Living a double life was apparently quite a common practice of the period. The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) provides a mirror image of the late Victorian upper class life. Oscar Wilde criticizes against the hypocrisy and snobbery of the upper class society, of the late Victorian England. However, one can also see, Wilde positively viewing the elite class as only valuing history, heritage, lineage and the continuity of their family line, which can be understood. This contrast in thinking brings up the question, to whether or not ‘The Importance of being Earnest’, celebrates the Victorian upper class more than criticises it? Criticism * Lady Bracknell has been used by Wilde to represent the high society of the Victorian era. Wilde has mirrored her thinking, with what upper-class families in this period believed to be correct. The elite believed that they were born to rule through divine right and they wanted this right to continue. Upon hearing that Jack has proposed her daughter, Lady Bracknell’s attitude and handling of the situation make it quite clear that she has serious and negative opinions on the matter of intermingling among the social classes. She, however, is not entirely...
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...The Importance of Being Earnest Draft The opening scene of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ establishes the play as a Comedy of Manners as Wilde as immediately introduces some of the key ideas behind his satire of the middle classes, for example triviality and a lack of moral values. The setting of a flat on Half Moon Street immediately gives a sense of affluence. The description of the furniture with the adverbs ‘luxuriously and artistically’ deliberately focuses on aesthetic and makes no reference to substance or function, which reflects the superficiality of the upper classes whom Wilde will be satirising throughout the play. This introduces a sense of decorous pretence, which creates the perfect mood for Wilde’s comedy of manners. Algernon’s initial dialogue is a conglomerate of puns which immediately establishes him as a comical character and the archetype of the upper class bachelor. This is essential as Algernon is central to Wilde’s comedy of manners as he exemplifies the frivolity and hypocrisy of the upper classes, which Wilde will be satirising throughout the play. ‘…I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte.’ The use of the word ‘forte’ here is punning and ironical, as it can mean both a speciality, and a technique used by musicians in which the volume is increased to emphasise emotion. While Algernon did indeed play loudly, he claims ‘sentiment is my forte’, which is a reversal of the purpose of the musical...
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...‘The tone says life is fun. The undertone suggests life is a catastrophe’. To what extent do you think Eric Bentley’s comment about the dramatic genre of comedy is relevant to Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest? The philosopher and literary critic Sigmund Freud agreed with Bentley’s statement on the dramatic genre of comedy, agreeing that ‘every joke contains an element of seriousness; a joke is never just a joke’. Wilde uses many aspects of comedy to back this opinion. The character of Lady Bracknell was created as a comic tool by Wilde to generate fun for the audience; her dialogue is essentially a way of creating humour, despite her domineering nature which is made absurd and ridiculous to mock the upper classes. This creates a light hearted tone. However, Wilde also uses the character of Lady Bracknell to express the undertone of catastrophe through her unwittingly funny comments on serious subjects. As soon as Lady Bracknell enters in Act one Wilde uses her as a tool to mock marriage. She talks about Lady Harbury who has recently lost her husband and, Lady Bracknell comments, ‘she looks quite twenty years younger’. Lady Harbury looking well is certainly due to the restraints of her strict Victorian marriage being broken, so she can now live ‘for pleasure’. In the 21st century if your husband died you would mourn his death, because modern marriages are mainly for love, not to gain status and money. This is part of the tone which Wilde has set of frivolity...
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...tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles. As a spokesman for aestheticism, he tried his hand at various literary activities: he published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on the new "English Renaissance in Art", and then returned to London where he worked prolifically as a journalist. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversation, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). The opportunity to construct aesthetic details precisely, and combine them with larger social themes, drew Wilde to write drama. He wrote Salome (1891) in French in Paris but it was refused a licence for England due to the absolute prohibition of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Unperturbed, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late...
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...which approaches satirical observations, literature and performance in a humorous and lighthearted manner, and Juvenalian satire, which focuses on specific verbal or literary attacks on corrupt ideals or individuals (Weisgerber). I view Horatian satire as clever and humorous and find that it generally mocks others. Horatian is not negative; it aims to make fun of human behavior in a comic way. In a work using Horatian satire, readers often laugh at the characters in the story who are the subject of mockery as well as themselves and society for behaving in those ways (Thomas). One example of Horatian satire in literature is The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (Weisgerber). This play criticized characteristics of England at the time in areas such as class, countryside, marriage, love, women, and education (RachiRa). In The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde mocks...
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...The British Victorian Era, 1837 to 1901, can be classified as being the era of sharp criticisms of Victorian class structure, social hypocrisy, and marginalization of women. Throughout many novels, some particularly based on World War I, postcolonial times, the morality of the Victorians, etc., there is quite an elaborations for these allocations. During this time period, social class systems and the apportionments pre-defined a specific class “ladder” that many people had been either born into and stayed in that specific class or tried to work into a harder class. Some of the connotations of this era were seen to be “prudish”, “suppressed”, and “primitive”. First in the novel Regeneration, the author, Pat Barker, demonstrates the stubborn class divides of English society through the interactions of the officer ranks (typically upper class/ nobles) and private soldiers (almost entirely working class or poor) in its military during WWI. This is the best illustrated through the character of Billy Prior, a working class man who achieves the rank of captain and often reflects upon the tensions in the British army that result from class prejudice. For example, class distinctions were exhibited through English society, especially in the military. The military is "structured” around class and have many ways recreated the British class system in: aristocratic generals, middle-class officers, and a working class rank. This particular structure made the military more augmented...
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