Analysis of Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'

In The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde revealed that animalistic traits can tint a character’s intellectual attributes. All of the characters possess an overwhelming desire which seems to diminish their morality. Wilde uses Jack Worthing’s animalistic behaviors to reveal that his animal self is damaging his intellectual self. The play is presented to show that the characters retain an exaggerated pleasure with food, which shows their pleasures in inanimate objects. Every character in the play is drawn into lustful relationships, thus mutilating their psychological self. By embracing their animalistic traits the characters in The Importance of Being Earnest begin to blemish their intellectual character which inhibits their overall

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is truly a satire. In The Importance of Being Ernest, Wilde mocks the society in Britain, and the rules it followed in the 1800s. He uses satire in the description of every character and other themes like marriage, intelligence, morality, and lifestyle primarily aimed at the upper class of the time. At the turn of every page the use of satire proves again and again to be ideal when questioning the morals and values of people.

Oscar Wilde’s play entitled “The Importance of Being Earnest” illustrates the concept of dual personality, fantasy, love, and lies. Jack, Algernon, Gwendolyn, and Cecily all live in lies. They are manipulated by their fantasies and desire for perfect relationship and love. Jack, the protagonist in the play, is the root of lies because of his imaginary brother named Earnest. Algernon uses the name to win Cecily, while Gwendolyn and Cecily are both fascinated by this name because it expresses strength and perfection of manhood. Due to their search and desire to have Earnest, the male and female characters escape from the reality. Therefore, Wilde in The Importance of Being Earnest portrays a gender doubled

One of Oscar Wilde’s most notable works, The Importance of Being Earnest, showcases Wilde’s bizarre and arguably backwards take on the literary device known as an aphorism. Most commonly, aphorisms are used in a didactic context and tend to reflect some form of ethical guideline or universal truth. It is easy to write off Wilde’s utilization of the device as ironic, as the aphorisms used in the play demonstrate values that are diametrically opposed to those we recognize in the real world; however, due to the aforementioned fact that aphorisms are typically meant to point out a universal truth, it can be argued that Wilde’s use of the device is quite proper in the sense that the specific universe created in the work just happens to be different

Act III offers happy resolution to the problems of identity and marriage that drive much of the humor in the previous acts. Wilde continues to mock the social customs and attitudes of the aristocratic class. He relentlessly attacks their values, views on marriage and respectability, sexual attitudes, and concern for stability in the social structure.

Throughout much of the play and especially the beginning, Wilde satirizes the setting in which both the characters as well as his audience live in. This satirization specifically requires that the audience be thoughtful whenever Wilde makes a joke, resulting in the thoughtful laughter which makes a true comedy. “The Importance of Being Earnest” is set during the late 20th century in Britain, a time period known as the Victorian Era, in which the British Empire was at its absolute peak. The dominance of Britain in world affairs resulted in a sense of

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

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.

It is a well known phenomenon that many authors' lives are reflected through a character in their work. In Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, the double life, or double identity, can be seen as the central metaphor in the play, epitomized in Algernon's creation of "Bunbury" or "Bunburying". As this term is the only fictitious word employed throughout the text, it is crucial to critically analyze not only its use and implications, but more importantly, the character who coins the term; Algernon Moncrieff. In addition, it is also significant to note the marked differences between Algernon and Jack's perceptions of the notion of bunburying, as it further develops Algernon's character within the text. But perhaps the single most

During the victorian era, traditional roles were considered to be significant. Women displayed as a face to be admired by the society while men are valued for their intellectual capabilities. Having written The Importance of Being Earnest during that period, Oscar Wilde knew that the gender roles were noteworthy that he decided to focus on one’s roles. While a lot say that the main role switch were given to women, I beg to differ. Wilde challenged the traditional views of gender roles in the play because of how he reciprocated what is expected of both genders by giving the men freedom to act out of morality and by granting women intellect and power.

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’.

Every line, every character, and every stage direction in The Importance of Being Earnest is set on supporting Oscar Wilde’s want for social change. The Importance of Being Earnest was written during the late period of the Victorian era. During this period social classification was taken very seriously. It could affect working and living conditions, education, religion, and marriage. Wilde explores the issues of social class and turns it into a comedic play. He humorously criticizes Victorian manners and attacking the society of the luxurious life. The audience becomes self-aware as the characters reflect on themselves. Plays such as this become successful because of the backgrounds the writers come from and the experiences they have had.

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.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, premiered in London in 1895 when Wilde was in the peak of his career. During this time of the Victorian Era, society was very moral and chaste, at least on the surface. There was a very specific code of behavior that governed almost everything, but focused mainly on the topic of marriage. This affected Wilde first-hand as he was married to a woman but also involved with men which was forbidden at the time. Using the themes of dualism and marriage, Wilde is trying to show the audience the ridiculous nature of Victorian society. Through the reoccurring theme of dualism, Oscar Wilde uses sizable amounts of satire to not only mock the trivial Victorian society, but more specifically to ridicule

The Importance of Being Earnest is a satirical play written in 1895 by renowned author Oscar Wilde. This play has been reviewed by many critics, two of which being John Drinkwater and Bernard Shaw. Drinkwater views Wilde’s plot as a masterpiece, in the sense that it has a way to captivate the audience using passion; however, Bernard Shaw has his own harsh views on the way the whole storyline is weak and needs a lot of improvement.