Sarcasm In The Importance Of Being Earnest

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. In addition, making the girls so stuck on the name of a person highlighted the illogical impression that religious purposes were the only reason women chose to marry a certain man and depicted it as rather foolish. Sarcasm is the primary technique used here as Wilde jokes on the “morals” of women during that period. Once again, Wilde doesn’t provide any solution to his opinion on women or the standards of religious purposes. Instead, he exposes the flaws and leaves the audience to question the

This in turn jokes on the entire foundation of the character and nature of women. In the end of The Importance of Being Earnest, both Gwendolyn and Cecily claim to be furious with their men and that they won’t be speaking to them. Then, they proceed to speak to them any ways. After Algernon and Jack present their case, which is clearly fake, the girls immediately take them back and forget their anger and how they had been mistreated. They demolished everything they claimed they stood for just because they received an insincere apology. It’s easy for the reader to see the obvious manipulation that is occurring. Wilde uses situational irony given that the reader expects the women to stay angry based upon their harsh tones but surprises the reader by having the women suddenly feel complied to