Analysis Of ' The And The Agent '

Jez Butterworth’s ‘Jerusalem’ creates a comic vision focusing on the ambiguities, turmoil and hypocrisies of the society presented on stage. Butterworth focuses on the characters’ degeneracies in which the form of humour tends to be the exposure of their unruly behaviour and their reluctance to conform to social norms. “The most basic difference between comedy and tragedy lies in its central characters, who are not heroes, and often, as with Shakespeare’s Falstaff, are anti-heroic” The key character Johnny

However, I believe the opposite. This play makes a statement about shallowness, the partnership of a married couple and what virtues are truly valuable.

By having Everyman interact with these conceptualized characters, the author externalizes his inner conflict. Perhaps this technique seems too obvious or almost condescending to our more literate age, but whatever the case, it effectively conveys the central message of the play.

By using funny descriptions and puns within his diction, he creates a satire that is both entertaining and political in nature. For example, the imagery he uses when describing the flatulence scene is both vulgar and timeless. He writes of Nicholas and Absolon’s interaction, “This Nicholas anon leet fle a fart,/As greet as it had been a thonder-dent,/That with the strook he was almoost yblent;/And he was redy with his iren hoot,/And Nicholas amydde the ers he smoot” (lines 3806-3810). Chaucer manages to compare the sound of Nicholas’s passing gas to thunder and says that it was so toxic that it almost blinded Absolon. The way Chaucer words this selection is so matter-of-fact and simply stated, that it increases the hilarity of the whole incident. Although Chaucer is entertaining his audience, he is also seeking to show the immorality of the every day people who surround him. This satirical use of language sets a tone that is both jovial and constructively

During the play Cyrano de Bergerac there are often very deep and depressing moments and to pick the audience up Edmund Rostand used humor. This is seen in all of the acts throughout the play and is one of the main uses of humor in the play. This is not the only use of humor in this play it is also used by Cyrano to hide his insecurities. Throughout the play, Cyrano makes fun of his own nose to make it seem like he is comfortable with it and so others can not make fun of it. Humor definitely plays an important role in Cyrano de Bergerac and through this essay, I will be examining the role of Humor in the play in depth.

Themes common to both works include social hypocrisy, the nature of marriage, the proper upbringing of young women, the “natural” superiority of the English over the French, questions of inheritance, the nature of a true gentleman, and debates about the proper role of the church in society, of the imagination, and of writers of novels. Wilde’s play offers very different ideals. In fact, it offers no ideals at all, except its paradoxical commitment to doing without them. As Wilde himself noted, “it has its philosophy . . . that we should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality” (Hart-Davis 196).

changing attitudes toward life and the other characters in the play, particularly the women; and his reflection on the

In the play, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, there is a lot of humor that can be found. Specifically, developed behind the characters in this play that display many instances of irony and how important it was to fit into the “status quo” of this time period. There are specific behaviors from the characters of Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen, and Algernon that portray Wilde’s opinion of society during the Victorian Age. The attitude of these characters is snobbish and their manners display double standards and superiority. The play’s use of mockery and irony of these satirical situations is meant to publicly ridicule the self- loving attitude of the upper class while exposing their true absence of intelligence which causes their absurd social behaviors

"Nowadays the plays' meaning is usually blurred by the fact that the actor plays to the audiences hearts. The figures portrayed are foisted on the audience and are falsified in the process. Contrary to present custom they ought to be presented quite coldly, classically and objectively. For they are not matter for empathy; they are there to be understood and politely added

In the present context many of Wilde’s contextual jokes in the play may not be as humorous in the present context, thus it is understandable why Parker has placed more emphasis on the farcical jokes, which would appeal to a wider audience. When Wilde wrote the play it was at a time when literature was becoming more widely available for all citizens, wealthy or poor. This gave Wilde room to write as he did, making a mockery of the upper class, as the lower class would enjoy it. However that was over a century ago, and in the modern context people may not find this as relevant or quite as amusing. However, the farcical elements of the play, such as the plot, are the kind of jokes that can be understood in either context. Therefore, Parker has not focused on the contextual jokes, and instead on the farcical jokes. It is the farce nature of the plot that Parker has constructed his romantic comedy around. While this enables the film to be appreciated by a wider audience, it no longer embodies Wilde’s criticisms of the upper class, which was the crux of Wilde’s play. However, Parker not only stops at one overembellished farcical plot, but he does the same with an extended sub-plot.

Nearly every character in the play at some point has to make inferences from what he or she sees, has been told or overhears. Likewise, nearly every character in the play at some point plays a part of consciously pretending to be what they are not. The idea of acting and the illusion it creates is rarely far from the surface -

Elinor Fuchs sees the play as a world that passes in front of the critic in ‘time and space’; one that has elements that must be understood (Fuchs, 2004, p 6). These elements closely resembles Aristotle’s six elements of a play- plot, character, thought, diction, music and spectacle- elements that are clearly identifiable in Oscar Wilde’s 1895 play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’.

The main purpose of this theme is to stimulate laughter from the audience. Wilde is able to satirize the upper classes by placing this play in an upper class social setting. This “…requires the audience to accept the world presented on the stage as a real world, a possible world; and its human foibles, even if heightened and exaggerated in the play’s satirical exposure of them…” (Foster 19). Then he fills the characters language with sayings, which make them seem ridiculous. The characters constantly contradict the basic values in their speech. This works to Wilde’s advantage because he wants his play to be funny and not offensive. Raby states “… [i]n his political and aesthetic theory Wilde was both romantic and cynical. In his drama he was both sentimental and satirical” (Raby 26). He could manipulate the audience to think that the play was just a storyline but in reality it was mocking them. Which includes the theme of the irrational upper class; the question arises: what is the importance of being earnest.

Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest (.1993.) is an enlightening epitome of social class in the Victorian era. The satire is driven by the frivolous behaviour, superficial lives and artificial norms within the Victorian aristocracy. Incorporating his own opinion into the play, Wilde continually attacked and mocked their hypocrisy, views on marriage, and their mannerisms. Throughout the play, Wilde used an abundant range of literary techniques to reinforce his opinion. Irony, paradox and hyperboles, as well as witty epigrams and aphorisms were used astutely and were ubiquitous throughout the play. This contributed to the satirical style and tone of the text, and enabled Wilde to effectively communicate his critical perspective on social class in Victorian England.

Primarily through dramatic irony established from Lady Chiltern’s prudent dialogue, Wilde depicts her stagnant pride highly tuned from societal conventions to dramatise the hypocrisy of Victorian English strictures as it negatively impacts the relationship between Lady Chiltern and Sir Chiltern. In Act 1 Scene 6, Sir Chiltern hints at his pastime indiscretions to observe Lady Chiltern’s reaction where her replying dialogue stresses that one’s past is what one is and that would be the only way people should be judged (1.6) and thus ironically conveys her Victorian English morality when the audience already have knowledge about Sir Chiltern’s political misdemeanours. This is further noted in her dialogue where she will “love him always” (1.6) but only because he will always “be worthy of her love” (1.6) rather than