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Satire In The Importance Of Being Earnest

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From 1837- 1901s, Queen Victoria took her reign in British history. Living under the rigid and strict social moral standards, Victorian upper class seems to emphasize the importance of their manners and the vital of pursuit the most serious and sincere intense conviction in their life. However, in reality, Victorian upper class conceals the morally questionable behavior and their flaws through certain writers in Victoria Era. They criticize hypocrisy and dishonesty of characteristic so that emphasize the needs for change and social reform taking place in the society. In the play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses the comedic convictions of exaggeration, understatement, and irony to achieve a satirical portrait of Victorian …show more content…

When Gwendolen meets with Cecily in the first time, she tells Cecily that “Something tells me that we are going to be great friends...My first impressions of people are never wrong”(34) However, when Gwendolen and Cecily believe that they are both engaged to Ernest, they are jealous each other in the tea service. Attempting to take control of the situation, Gwendolen says to Cecily that “From the moment I saw you I distrusted you... My first impressions of people are invariably right.”(38) The food fight mix with a series of class bias and romantic jealousies between Gwendolen and Cecily in the Victorian Society through their attitude changed. Later, after Gwendolen realize that they have both been fooled, she embraces Cecily and calls her “sister”. From the rapid change of Gwendolen’s words in the conversation, Wilde uses verbal irony to highlight hypocrisy, arrogant and pretentious among the upper class. Gwendolen’s contradictive words also show her vulgar nature and manners against the moral code. Wilde further mocks the idea that Gwendolen and Cecily are engaged in the name rather than the characteristic of a person in the marriage. This is also a dramatic irony since they do not know that they are engaged to two different men who are pretending to be same Ernest but the reader can correctly understand the situation. It is silly to embrace the ideal of the name and determine their marriage based on a name. In the end of play, Jack finds out his real name and states that “I have now realised for the first time in my life the vital importance of Being Earnest ”(54) Wilde applies the situation irony to point out that Jack’s Christian name is Ernest and he has been telling the truth all the time even if Ernest is his Bunbury at first. Eventually, Jack

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Another prominent broad subject of mockery throughout the play is women. Specifically, Wilde jokes on the supposed “morals” that women claim to have and their tendency to be easily deceived and manipulated. For example, women’s principles during this time states that they were supposed to have religious motivation for their courtships. However, both Gwendolyn and Cecily only wanted to marry their man if his name was Ernest. This comical situation demolishes the morals that women claimed to have in their relationships and expressed that as shallow, clueless, and untrue to their word.

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As it is mentioned in the course reader, in comedy, the laughter usually comes from a deviation from the norms. To analyze why the plot in a comedy is funny, we should focus on the inappropriate behaviors of characters in this comedy. In The Importance of Being Earnest, the first deviation I find is a deviation from linguistic norms. In the whole play, Oscar Wilde names the main character as “Ernest”. Due to the title of “Earnest”, which is only one-letter different from the character’s name, the audience may automatically think that Ernest should be a person who is serious and sincere.

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Eventually Jack feel

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I. Oscar Wilde uses food as a source of conflict between social classes and constructs in “The Importance of Being Earnest.” a. By using food he light heartedly makes conflicted scenes slightly comedic. b. In his play, Oscar’s two main characters Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, both have a made up double identity. c. Jack uses the name Ernest when he goes into town, and his real name, Jack when he is in the country.

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In the plays by British playwrights, the idea of the love triangle is often interwoven into the framework of the entire play itself. This is a concept that is demonstrated in the dramatic works of John Gay and Oscar Wilde. In Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera and Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, both playwrights situate the plot of their respective plays around the idea of the love triangle in a subtle, yet clever method that is entertaining to audiences and readers alike. However, the presence of the love triangle is not merely included for entertainment, but also to serve a greater dramatic purpose.

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In the “Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde, Wilde uses humor in order to point out the narrow-minded views of society during that time. He does this by using comedic techniques in his text in order to satirize the institution of marriage and love throughout the story. In the story, love is seen to be superficial and Wilde uses it in order to show how outward appearances and certain qualifications had to be met for each of the characters in order for marriage to happen. Love and marriage was seen more as a business and a goal rather than actually being sincere and truthful.

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Oscar Wilde’s satirical play The Importance of Being Earnest, set in the late Victorian era, London, is a portrayal of British upper class society and its conventions surrounded by a strict code of conduct. In 1890’s class society, earnestness was desired; to follow the moral code and social obligations in order to keep up one’s appearance. Besides, there was a huge gender disparity between men and women. In the play, Wilde criticizes the social inequality and Victorian upper class standards. He characterizes Victorian personae making fun of their qualities; hypocrisy, arrogance and absurdism, ultimately the very vital state and lifeline of not being earnest at all in Victorian society.

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Social etiquette,mannerisms, and formalities often define a society or time-period heavily influencing their customs. Social behaviors of such influence nevertheless going to face criticism and saterzation from those who find trivality within them. This concept endures thorough explanation in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, as the triviality of social conflicts relies heavily on the implausible behavior of characters and events to ultimately establish and resolve the ongoing conflict within the play The often ironic and erratic behavior of Lady Bracknell establishes a social conflict at the beginning of the play, delving into the critical view Oscar Wilde has developed on the Victorian value of marriage. Lady Bracknell seeks for the epitome of the

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Oscar Wilde’s Victorian melodramatic play The Importance of Being Earnest opened on February 14, 1895. Wilde used this play to criticize Victorian society through clever phrasing and satire. Throughout the play The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde displayed the themes of the nature of marriage, the constraints of morality, and the importance of not being earnest. One of the themes that Oscar Wilde includes in the play is the nature of marriage.

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The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde is an excellent play which has many underlying themes and suggestions especially with regards to the Victorian era, during which this was written. Many themes within the play are reflective of Wilde and his life, including his secrecy and supposed “double life,” his interest in aestheticism, his life pertaining the mannerisms and social etiquette during his lifetime. Today, Oscar Wilde is often remembered in part due to his well known homosexuality trial of 1895 (Linderd, 1), but his “second life” per se had been speculated on for years prior to it, in fact many of his plays contain subtle yet effective implications towards a possible piece of his life kept hidden from the public eye. The Importance of Being Earnest mirrored this double life through the utilization of Jack and Algernon's “Bunburying,” and their motives for lying to the ones whom they love.

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Victorian culture was, as we see in the play, very proud and dignified, and as such a direct assault on their core values would be incredibly offensive. Despite the intent of criticizing the Victorian culture, Wilde was able to create a production that could serve his

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The aristocratic matriarch in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell, harshly enforces the necessity of a profitable marriage, minimizes the role of women, and forces others to adhere to tradition. Her perfect embodiment of these strict Victorian Era England standards precisely illustrates the effects of the standards of the time on her character. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, as seen in the Norton’s Anthology of English Literature, encapsulated strict, traditional Victorian standards within a single character known as Lady Bracknell or Aunt Augusta. Lady Bracknell, the matriarch of her family, acted as a tyrannical queen, ruling over all those she encountered.

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Since both men pretend to be Mr. Ernest Worthing around other characters in the play and neither one of them really are Ernest, Wilde sets up the perfect plot full of dramatic irony and humor. Dramatic irony scenes, including those with the name of Ernest, Bunburying, and Jack’s background, all

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Late Victorian poet, playwright, and novelist Oscar Wilde is most remembered for his flamboyant nature, sharp wit, aestheticism in the extreme, his imprisonment due to his homosexuality, and his humor. Unfortunately, because of his reputation as being an absurd comic, the deeper aspects of his works often go overlooked or are dismissed altogether. This sad fact does not only apply to modern readers of his works, but to some of his contemporaries as well. In fact, Wilde 's fellow countryman George Bernard Shaw once ridiculed what would become, perhaps, his most well-loved play, as being “all froth and no pith.”, meaning that it was, although amusing, of no real substance. The play about which Shaw was speaking, The Importance of Being Earnest,

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On the other hand, there are many striking and funny moments in this play. For instance when Gwendolen tells her mother that, she is engaged to Mr. Worthing, her mother replies “Pardon me, you are not engaged to anyone. When you do become engaged to someone,I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact that. An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be.” (Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest Act I, P 16)

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