Matrimony In The Importance Of Being Earnes

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, Oscar Wilde’s last and most famous play, debuted in London on February 14, 1895. Throughout the play, one major theme seems to override the others. That theme is the role of marriage; the question of whether marriage as an institution is “pleasant” or “unpleasant” comes up repeatedly. It seems as if every character has a strong stance on the role of marriage and how it affects them, no matter how futile or unreliable that opinion may be. As a whole, The Importance of Being Earnest embodies a complete criticism of the role of marriage, representing both sides of the argument; by taking a

During the Victorian Era, both men and women searched for their ideal type based on the expectations of the Victorian society. However, due to the high demanding standards, many individuals were forced to deceive the people around them and engage in a double life in order to fulfill the desire of their potential partner. If the man or woman were unable to meet the standards of the Victorian society’s expectations, they would be labeled as unsuitable for their partner and would receive no consent from their partner’s family. In the play, the Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde analyzes the effects of society’s expectations on individuals.

Being one of the most famous plays written by Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest is a romantic comedy that makes good use of the conflicts of characters to deal with themes such as marriage, social class and hypocrisy. There are two different types of conflict to drive plot and capture audience attention in a story: internal and external conflict. The former concerns a character’s emotional, moral or ideological dilemma within his own mind; the latter concerns a character’s struggle against an opposing view from another character, society or the nature. In fact, in The Importance of Being Earnest, by increasing the story’s tension and enhancing character development, the internal and external conflicts of Jack Worthing contribute

The Importance of Being Earnest appears to be a conventional 19th century farce. False identities, prohibited engagements, domineering mothers, lost children are typical of almost every farce. However, this is only on the surface in Wilde's play. His parody works at two levels- on the one hand he ridicules the manners of the high society and on the other he satirises the human condition in general. The characters in The Importance of Being Earnest assume false identities in order to achieve their goals but do not interfere with the others' lives. The double life led by Algernon, Jack, and Cecily (through her diary) is simply another means by which they liberate

A power struggle often arises as aspects of society change. With feminism entering the limelight, one predicts there to be uproar from the male gender. Unexpectedly, In Act II, the cattiness is unleashed when Cecily and Gwendolen discover they share lovers. As one of the most comedic events in “The Importance of Being Earnest,” this scene contains hidden symbols. Drama climaxes as snacks are being served with these statements:

Gender roles are an important theme placed in The Importance of Being Earnest. “The feminist movement has already been in full swing. Women already moved in the path of education. With the considerable level of education, women have already started toward the direction of freedom.” (Bachelor and Master). In the play, Cecily has a governess hired by Mr. John Worthing educating her to become more successful on her own. “Wilde presented Lady Bracknell talking about the position of men. She says, in her talk with Gwendolen ‘house is the proper place for man.’ . . . This bit of conversation reveals women have also begun to move freely in the occupational world.” (Bachelor and Master). Prism is used by Wilde, in the play, as an awakened woman who serves as a governess to Cecily, who writes novels. Wilde averted to see the limitations of the feminist movement. Feministically awakened and educated women to cling to more job of governess. (Bachelor and Master). Miss Prism is used as a symbol of feminism used by Wilde in The Importance of Being Earnest to show that women were on the move in life advancements. “In the play, Cecily and Gwendolen discuss changing their gender roles in their conversation about male domesticity, indicating that their belief that ‘homes seems to be the proper sphere for the man.’ Marriage, however, remained most women’s primary goal and occupation. Arranged marriages had been on the decline since the late eighteenth century, but were not unknown among the Victorian upper class.” (Bachelor and Master). “LADY BRACKNELL.

Viewing the play of The Importance of Being Earnest from a feminist perspective portrays the men in the Victorian Era to be misogynistic. A perpetuated stereotype in this play is that women should be protected from the truth. “Jack:[In a very patronizing manner] My dear fellow, the truth isn't quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl. What extraordinary ideas you have about the way to behave to a woman”(29)! The belief that women are fragile and unable to handle anything serious is present. Furthermore, when Algernon discovers that Cecily is convinced that they had met before and had had many romantic encounters, she is presented as mentally insane. This perpetuates the belief that women depend on men and could not be satisfied without one in their life. In addition to this, Gwendolen and Cecily are the ones being deceived by Jack and Algernon. This shows that women are stereotypically submissive to men and can be taken advantage of. Through evaluating The Importance

The play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde is set in England during the late 19th century during the rule of Queen Victoria and features two bachelors, Algernon Moncrieff and John Worthing, and their struggle to impress the women they want to marry while remaining their true selves. Wilde presents the theme of superficiality through the approach to names in the play and the importance of appearances. (or looks? Gwen and Cecily fight plus dandy).

The mid-18th century has complicated the process of marriage wherein the mere aspect of is absent in some marriages. In 1895, Oscar Wilde, created the play The Importance of Being Earnest. The play highlights a young couple trying to marry, with the suitor going by a false name due to some misunderstandings, however complications arrive when Lady Bracknell, the mother of Gwendolen, one of the spouses-to-be declines her suitor’s proposal. Throughout the play, Wilde causes more instances of chaos and hilarity between the characters, such as his friend, Algernon faking the same name, a quarrel between two ladies, and drama involving birthrights. Finally, Wilde resolves the play and everyone happily engaged. Pearson, writer of The Life of Oscar Wilde, states, “Perhaps the inspiration from the play comes from how dull his married life had become with Constance Lloyd” (Pearson, 1954). In Oscar Wilde’s, The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde challenges the public on the triviality behind marriage through conflicts between the main cast and growth in characters to stress how there is no need to create a complicated marriage, just love.

The Importance of Being Earnest is one of Oscar Wilde’s crowning masterpieces. The acclaimed comedic play tells the tale of Jack Worthing and the mischief he causes when he and his best friend, Algernon Moncrieff, assume double identities. When analyzing the play from various critical perspectives, the reader can divulge into the various historical roots and gender roles that the author uses to promote his message and criticize the Victorian upper class.

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.

“The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde, political play, satirizes the beliefs in the Victorian Era such as; women not thinking, people only conversing from within their social class. A fine example of the strict conventionalism would be the character Lady Bracknell, lady of the house, the mother of Gwendolyn Bracknell and wife of Lord Bracknell. Lady Bracknell was like every upper class mother in the Victorian Era. She was looking for a man with a wealthy title and family, however, the man Gwendolyn loved was not very wealthy and had no title or family. Because of Lady Bracknell’s lack of knowledge of the man, she conducts an interrogation. During the examination of the man’s life, Lady Bracknell’s values come into focus. She believes

It was highly moral for a man to have a family and to be current in marriage; it boosts up his image and role in society. A man, who has been out of marriage for too long, is seen as idle. Wilde presents two characters, Algernon and Jack, who have a dispute whether marriage is silly or not. It suggests that not every Victorian man were keen on the idea of marriage. In the Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde displays a

Furthermore, Wilde emphasizes the triviality of marriage through the meeting of Cecily and Algernon. The two never having met each other before, plan to get married that day. Algernon declares to Cecily that when he first looked upon her, he dared to love her “wildly, passionately, devotedly, hopelessly” (Act 2, line 370). From this quote one can infer that