The Importance Of Being Earnest Paradox Analysis

Danyil Vlasov

Dr. Keri Barber

COMP111

1 March 2018

Epigrams and Paradoxes in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde Oscar Wilde "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a play marked by the greatest variety of comic speech means. Focusing only on verbal paradoxes, then an elementary calculation of them convinces us that by the number of paradoxes this comedy considerably exceeds the previous one. To note that among the characters of this play there is no written aphorist-paradoxical, serving as the only mouthpiece of author 's wit. Paradoxes occur in the speeches of many different characters, and as a result, the effect of the self-centeredness of wit that is visible in a number of scenes of previous

Each of Oscar Wilde 's writings unique and different in dialogues and language, and "The Importance of Being Earnest" is not an exception. The play" The Importance of Being Earnest " is rich in stylistic expressive means, but especially on puns, neologisms and metaphors. Easy to notice the main and punning works in the title of the play itself. The name of the comedy is "The Importance of Being Earnest". In the comedy two women Cecily and Gwendolen in love with Earnest and Earnest as the adjective "serious", are pronounced identically, which leads to a paradox. There are a lot of epigrams and paradoxes in the play. Using these techniques, Wilde describes Lady Bracknell (Aunt Algernon) as a bright representative of English high society of the late XIX century. Owing to epithets and metaphors, Wilde manages to give the text a new semantic nuances, sharpness and brightness. Also in the play are used such expressive means as a comparison, hyperbole, irony, etc. Oscar Wilde 's work can be attributed to the New drama, where special attention is paid to the actual problems of society. However, Wilde went even further - in his works he defined timeless issues that excite people. The external conflict of the comedy "How important it is to be Earnest" is manifested in problems such as attitudes toward marriage and women 's emancipation. For example, it 's possible to see a clear contrast between the images of Gwendolen and Cecile. Gwendolen is a girl of the "new format",

In the internal conflict of comedy, one can note the aesthetic as well as the philosophical views of Oscar Wilde. Here the author notes the importance of creative fiction in human life. The fictional character of Earnest helps all the characters to find happiness in the end: John can have fun in the city, Cecile falls in love with Earnest. It turns out that the fantasy of one person turned the life of everyone, which confirms the thesis "life imitates art." We can say that Oscar Wilde is a representative of the philosophy of the unreal. For example, by compare the two main characters - Jack and Algernon, the involuntary author defends more the position of the latter, since he represents a certain dandy hero who has a high social position; he has refined manners, delicately thinks and likes to try on new masks. Unlike the down-to-earth Jack, whose guesses have always remained just conjectures, Algernon, through frivolity and ease, has never been mistaken in predictions. Here, Wilde defends the contemplative life of Algernon as the key to a right and happy life. By exposing to the forefront external topical social problems, Oscar Wilde does not forget about the timeless aspects of the spiritual life of society. After reading the play "How important it is to be Earnest" it 's simple to find some kind of ethical inconsistency, but one should not take it seriously. Always keeping in mind the aesthetic program offered by Oscar Wilde (beauty as the defining