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Oscar Wilde Satire

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In the classic play The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde ridicules men and women in love and the pursuit of marriage in Victorian society to create a comedic and drama filled play.

Oscar Wilde makes fun of love in Victorian society by adding comedic techniques to his writing. First off, Lady Bracknell makes it quite clear Gwendolen will never marry Ernest, leading Gwendolen to reassure Ernest nothing her mother says “can alter my eternal devotion to you” (139). Jack and Gwendolen are in love, but Lady Bracknell does not approve. Gwendolen tells Jack that even if she marries another man, she will always fall back to him. Oscar Wilde satirizes over statements, in the form of admitting wholeheartedly you can love only one person for …show more content…

Although Algernon and Jack have two different viewpoints on marriage and bunburying, Jack makes it clear to Algy that if he were to marry Gwendolen, he would “not need to know Bunbury” (124). Jack and Algernon are both bunburyists, no doubt about that, but we see how Jack is willing to give up his double life to marry the girl he loves. He even talks down Bunbury a bit, and Wilde jumps at this opportunity to satirize belittlement. When Cecily and Gwendolen find out the truth about Jack and Algernon’s funny business involving Ernest, they still wonder where “Ernest is at present” (168). We as the readers know Jack is Ernest and vice versa, and we know that Gwendolen and Cecily are both engaged to Ernest. This scene with Gwendolen, Cecily, Jack, and Algernon is a comedic one, with the gentlemen realizing they both told some form of a lie. Gwendolen, being older and more mature than Cecily, asks Jack where “Ernest is”, leading Jack to reveal himself about not having a brother. Although Cecily hates “waiting even five minutes for anybody” (182), Jack tells her she must wait until she is 35 years old to marry Algernon, seventeen years from now. Seventeen years are a long time to wait for marriage, and Cecily makes that quite clear when asking Jack to give his blessing for the marriage. Cecily is a venturesome girl who wants to be free from school work and lessons. She wants to live the stories she reads about, and she believes she can if she marries Algernon. Although marriage can be a rocky relationship, Wilde makes it seem like an adventure by taking us on a journey through the lives of two soon to be couples in the late

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