Satire In The Importance Of Being Ernest

Wilde uses satire especially with the idea of marriage. In the society that he lived in, marriage is seen as a business arrangement. When Lady Bracknell questioned Jack to determine if he is suitable for her daughter, she

Possibly more so than other plays, The Importance of Being Earnest is driven by an exceptionally vivid and diverse cast of characters who all, to some extent, treat matters differently to one another. In the play, Algernon almost obsesses over his clothes and style of fashion while Jack takes great responsibility in serving the proper customary snack of cucumber sandwiches to Lady Bracknell. Each character has their own serious priorities and treats personal things with triviality. “Yes, but you must be serious about it. I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them.” On the other hand, Algernon treats the serious matter of marriage with complete triviality and rather refer it to as ‘business’ over romance. “I am in love with Gwendolen. I have come up to town expressly to propose to her.” “I thought you had come up for pleasure? I call that business.” Though Algernon’s thoughts on marriage are individual, other characters share similar views, creating a separate theme of the trivialisation of marriage that further expresses Wilde’s beliefs throughout the play just as characterisation

During the mid 1800’s, commonly referred to as the Victorian Period, social hierarchy was an enormously profound aspect of European societies. Therefore, arranged marriage and the desire to “move up” on the social ladder was a common pursuit. Throughout the text, it becomes apparent that Wilde strongly opposes this concept, as he includes several power-struggles between Lady Bracknell and the younger generation based on their conflicting desires. To expand, Lady Bracknell insists that “An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself” (Wilde 16-17). This quotation reinforces the fact

Some people felt trapped by society and some needed a fuse to unwind. In Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, the character Jack Worthing is a upstanding member of his society. He is a responsible and respectable man and the guardian to a young girl named Cecily. He is considered to be a very dependable person. However, Jack would grow bored of his role and wanted to escape for a little fun, creating his irresponsible younger brother, Ernest. Who he use to escape to London to “bail” his brother out of trouble. Jack pretends to disapprove of his bother’s behavior to keep up his responsible and respectable look. Jack represents many of the Victorian values: He is a man of duty and honor, but becomes a hypocrite as he flouts those notions.

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

I call that business,”(Wilde, 15). As for Lady Bracknell, she becomes a contradiction claiming, “...when I was married to Lord Bracknell I had no fortune of any kind,” (Wilde, 64), yet she proposes an immense inquisition towards Jack regarding her wanting Gwendolen to marry rich. Wilde’s diverse usage of character's moralities in the play allots for the depiction of Victorian conversation, behavior, and responsibility. Oscar Wilde’s masterful use of allusion, the neologism of the word “Bunbury” and the mockery of Victorian society establish the theme of duality embedded throughout the play, The Importance of Being Ernest.

The play, The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde was written in the Victorian Age of England. During this time morality was connected with sexual restraint and strict codes of conduct in public. This play hilariously critiques Victorian moral and social values while the characters in the play try to figure out the meaning of “earnestness”. Wilde uses humor and irony to publicly ridicule the self-aggrandizing attitude of the Victorian upper classes, as well as to expose their duplicity and hypocrisy in regards to their social behaviors.

Oliver Parker’s (2002) film adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is sadly completely consumed by the romantic comedy style, masking Wilde’s key concerns and detracting from important comic elements of the play. This can be observed through the varying representations of characters, the film’s lack of contextual jokes, the more prominent sub-plot between Dr Chasuble and Miss Prism, the addition of music and the way in which dialogue, while remaining true to the play, has lost meaning in the film.

In the town, he was Earnest, a well-respected upper-class citizen while in the town, he was Jack, a man with no family and a poor social status. He was greatly influenced by Victorian ideals such as a perfect reputation. In the book, he lies about his name in order to be viewed as a greater man and so his lover, Gwendolen, will marry him. She believes that she could only ever be married to a man named Earnest. A major theme in The Importance of Being Earnest is social status.

Later, when Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen enter, two more ideas of marriage are brought to the forefront. Lady Bracknell portrays the aristocratic Victorian view of marriage but to a more extreme extent. According to Ziegenfuss, marriage in the Victorian era was not romanticized or fairytale-like. Love actually played a very minor role in the majority of matrimonies that took place. Engagement was entered into as one would approach a business deal, with rules and guidelines (Ziegenfuss). This is blatantly obvious when Lady Bracknell interviews Jack to see if he’s fit to marry Gwendolen. She attacks Jack with questions about family, fortune, and even place of residency and his answers need be appropriate for a union between the two families. (Kupske, Souza, 122). Even when Algernon wants to marry Cecily, Lady Bracknell voices, “I think some preliminary inquiry on my part would not be out place.” (Wilde, 46). Gwendolen, however, has the same view of marriage as Jack but, still has strong ideals about social protocol. This is seen when Jack tries to propose, she replies, “Of course I will darling…I am afraid you have had very little experience in how to propose!” (Wilde, 11)

"What is your income" (pg. 17), "What number in Belgrave Square" (pg. 18), "Where did the charitable gentleman, who had a first-class ticket for this seaside resort find you" (pg. 19). Even when asking where he was found as a baby, she still adds in "first-class ticket" just because the man would have had a lot of money and that intrigued her. With stage directions like "sternly" (pg. 18) and "with a practised smile" (pg.51), it can be concluded that she is a strict and proper lady who isn;t always sincere in her actions. Jack and Lady Bracknell eventually get over their dispute when they discover that Jack is her nephew and she says he is worthy to marry

Oscar Wilde's final play The Importance of Being Earnest was first performed in 1895, near the end of Britain's Victorian Era. As was common in Wilde's previous works, the play lightheartedly documents (and often mocks) Victorian society and explores a number of universal themes such as marriage, gender, and social class. One element in particular that Wilde repeats throughout the play is the superficiality of his characters. For them, appearance takes precedence over all else. This superficiality can be found in each of our main roles, whether physical or social in nature.

Her haughty aunt, Lady Bracknell, deems Jack unworthy of marrying of Gwendolen because he is an orphan with no knowledge of his parents. Algernon Moncrieff Jack's friend, and nephew of Lady Bracknell, also assumes the Ernest identity in an attempt to woo Cecily, Jack's ward who is a woman who also dreams of marrying a man

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

In the play version of “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Wilde describes two places, Jack’s country house and Algernon’s apartment. As mentioned in the play: “Morning-room in Algernon’s flat in Half-Moon Street. The room is luxuriously and artistically furnished. The sound of a piano is heard in the adjoining room” (I.i.1). All the scenes of the three acts are developed in these locations. However, in the film version, the scenes are presented in different places. The film starts in a cabaret, where Algernon and Jack seem to be at a party or social function. Another place added in the film is the tattoo shop, where “Gwendolen played by Frances O’Connor, gets a tattoo with the name of Earnest” (Parker). In a film review made by Stephen Holden, he points out that “But the extra visual accouterments have a profoundly distracting effect. They interrupt the rhythm and retard the momentum of brilliantly silly banter that could be described as incisive nonsense” (Holden). Despite what Holden thinks, the addition of other locations and accessories allows the public to perceive in a deeper way the social life and customs of the time.