Oscar Wilde was an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet who lived an unconventional life during the Victorian Era. Oscar Wilde is lauded for his works, trademark wit, and the way he carried himself around. Arguably, his most famous piece of work is The Importance of Being Earnest, which is about two people who make up a person that lives in another part of the country in order to escape burdensome social responsibilities. The Importance of Being Earnest is an example of a satirical piece of literature
The Importance of Being Earnest Character Analysis: In Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde is mocking the Victorian society as a whole. In a society where affirmed progress was key, it was critical for artists like Oscar Wilde and the Ozark Actors Theatre to have a clear-cut expression of the incomplete perception of life in the nineteenth-century England. Wilde's onslaught on the conduct of the current times is an effort to accomplish the author's revelation that art has the capability
Maverick Yabut Professor Tina Regan ENGL 200 June 18, 2017 Satire in the Importance of Being Earnest Introduction Throughout Oscar Wilde’s play “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Oscar Wilde routinely uses satire throughout the story amongst character dialogue and actions to scorn the Victorian society audience. Oscar uses satire to mock love, and the concept of marriage as well as the Victorian-aristocratic class system and society mentality. The play is described as “A trivial comedy for serious
It is clear to me that throughout Oscar Wilde's life there was a degree of personal uncertainty he bestowed upon himself. This was very much reflected in his social lifestyle, personality and dress sense; but above all through his many dramatic works that reflect his often contrasting attitudes toward himself in his extravagant and highly esteemed approach to his writing of classic English literature. This is true for drama: the playwrights who write plays often incorporate aspects of their own
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
Feminist Perspective As seen in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, men and women live in a society of inequality between the two sexes as conveyed through double standards. For instance, there is a double standard regarding men and women flirting as seen when Algernon says “She will place me next to Mary Farquhar, who always flirts with her own husband across the dinner-table. That is not very pleasant.” While women are shamed for talking to men whom they are married to, men such as
The class system during the Victorian Period played a significant role on people’s lives. The class a person belonged to played an important role in that individual’s future. In Victorian England, class diversity and class placement either hindered or enhanced people’s lives. One work of literature that comments on class distinctions in Victorian England is “The Importance of Being Earnest”, by Oscar Wilde. In “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Wilde expresses the concern with the Victorian people
This source is an essay examining how Wilde shows “the impact of Victorian society’s unrealistic expectations of the individual” in both The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray. In the article, she talks about gender roles and societal expectations along with the ways characters in the play conform to or reject them. Although the essay is written by a student at McKendree University, the writing is not difficult to understand. This essay is well-documented and seems unbiased
Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance, written and published in 1893, a witty melodrama that challenges morality, piety, and depicts gender inequalities in the Victorian Era. Critics deemed A Woman of No Importance as being on the, “weakest of the plays Wilde wrote,” 1 of the 19th Century because was described as being very shocking and unpleasant to theatergoers of this time for questioning the gender inequalities of the era. Moreover, this play is characterized as being a sentimental comedy where
This concept has come to be the brick and mortar of the wry play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The significance of the notion of being earnest is contradicted in the play, through Wilde’s clever use of words, characters digression of societal normalcy, and triviality of Victorian concepts. Cynical character Algernon asserts that women of Victorian society reinforce the importance of orderly money as a type of social contract. On page 3, it is quickly established the type of