How Does Oscar Wilde Conform To Society

In ‘The Important of Being Earnest’, Oscar Wilde's ridiculing representation of Victorian Society comments on the ridiculous behavior of the Victorian Society’s inability to recognise the difference between important and unimportant issues. Therefore, Oscar Wilde subverts Victorian values to mock and imply triviality and superficiality. Wilde forces the audience to rethink the importance of their life and how they act while also scrutinizing the ignorance of the characters in upper class society through mocking their morals and obsessive fascinations. Wilde's uses the inversion of what isn’t serious and what is to ridicule Victorian Society. Despite this, Wilde wanted to create something beautiful and superficial. Hence, it would be more

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.

       In the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Oscar Wilde focused on the Victorian Age by mocking the Victorian principles and ideals. Wilde utilized satire and mockery through the character to make fun of their culture, principles, behaviors, and morals of the Victorians. Wilde also used the characters in the play to demonstrate the political, social, and religious views in the late 1900’s.

Wilde grew up in an unconventional family, was a homosexual in a place where it was taboo, and was an upper class Victorian man. All of these influences the way that he wrote, such as in The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde growing up in an unconventional family made him appreciate wit and humor. Wilde being homosexual meant that he to pretend that he was somebody that is not which he criticizes. Wilde being an upper class Victorian man meant that he wanted to satirize the way that they act. The Importance of Being Earnest demonstrates each three of these

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

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.

The play, The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde was written during the Victorian Era, characterized for its moral values. Throughout the play, Wilde used satire as comical relief to show his deviance from the social order by making ridiculous the ideas of standards, morals and manners. Oscar Wilde criticizes the superficiality of Victorian marriage and courtship through the character Lady Bracknell and the name Earnest. Lady Bracknell is presented by Wilde as the true definition of a satirical character.

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

Oscar Wilde is known as one of the best playwrights and poets of the Victorian era. His works withstand the test of time, managing to be relatable to audiences now. He often used the figurative freedom of poetry to express his sexuality. His infatuation with Catholicism is reflected in much of his poetry. His struggle with his sexuality in the context of the Victorian era and his interest in Catholicism influenced his poetry. The recurring themes of religion and aesthetics display his struggle with the

In Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”, the characters each try to pass themselves off as something they’re not in order to gain social status. Wilde’s story bears many similarities to his own life, from the way he wrote his characters to the fact that he himself was passing as something he wasn’t. Wilde lived in the Victorian era, where people would dress in an exotic manner with many obscure fashion statements to appear as though they had money. Wilde was one of the more notable members of this subculture of people, and knew many others like him. His personal experiences led to his writing of “The Importance of Being Earnest”, made evident through his ability to give his characters their distinct personalities.

Born in Ireland a playwright, writer Oscar Wilde spent most of his years in England, where he was seen as a homosexual. Wilde was facing judgement, risks, and trail as well as many other people that fit in the category of being homosexual during the Victorian era. Oscar was a practicing homosexual at the wrong time in history. In England of the 1890s, this practice was not only illegal, but was considered to be so despicable that no one of substance would even speak to a known homosexual” (). Wilde’s play “ The Importance of being Ernest” corresponds to his life of wanting to be someone else other than being someone that follows the role of the upper class he wanted to pursue a life of having the ability to be someone where he won’t be judged by his actions he took. His theatrical work talks about how some people are fortunate to be born into an upper class, but aren’t always quite satisfied with their lives, therefore people pretend to be someone else other than themselves with different personalities, and characteristics. They concealed their identity to be able to live in a different life where one could be whomever they want to be and be with the ones they love because the Victorian society did not accept any kind of actions that would break the law. Even though they wanted to have different lives to be able to live a happy life they knew that nothing could get in the way, especially for love, or a “class” that determined peoples’ lives. Wilde’s play “The Importance of