The Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde

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

It has been said that ‘comedy, beginning in turmoil but ending in harmony, celebrates life.’ This relates well to ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ where Wilde proves that this comedy of manners does conform to this model since it traces the movement from distress to happiness. In this comedy of manners there is a movement from distress to happiness, even though some characters such as Algernon do not learn any lessons and stays ‘bad’.

A comedic work of literature is often just one that was meant as pure enjoyment for the reader. Other times, comedy is meant to shed light on a serious situation or instance the public refuses or is uncomfortable talking about in a non-comedic setting. However, the greatest type of comedy is one that makes the reader think, one that provokes “thoughtful laughter” from them. “The Importance of Being Earnest”, a satirical play written during Victorian Era Britain by Oscar Wilde, is such a piece literature. By poking fun at the time period in which his characters live in during one particular scene, as well as illustrating the unsubdued hilarity of a character during that scene, Wilde is able to elicit thoughtful laughter from his audience, ultimately showing them that life is far too serious and needs to be taken more lightly.

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

Wilde satirizes the idea that in marriage it’s wrong for women to flirt with their husbands which in a normal relationship that would be normal, but Wilde shows in his play that in the Victorian age it wasn’t

In the Importance of Being Earnest, dramatic irony is throughout the play which leads to many humorous events. Dramatic irony is a type of irony where the audience fully understands the situation while the character is unaware of it. The lack of knowledge the character has about their situation is amusing in the play.

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

Wilde interchanged gender roles in the play by giving freedom for the men, Algernon and Jack,

The play follows two male characters that deceive their respective love interests to earn their hands in marriage. While there are certainly instances in Wilde’s play, where female characters conform to their gender roles,

Food is a crucial part of everyone’s lives. It gives people energy and nutrients to essentially grow, move, work, play, think and learn and most importantly, to survive. It is the one thing everyone in this world knows despite its shape, form or smell. In Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest, food and eating are constantly being presented. Wilde uses the character’s constant consumption of food to emphasize the overeating, excessive consumption and self-indulgence of the upper-class members of the Victorian society. The necessity of food becomes a euphemism for all the things pleasurable yet is also used as a way to suppress emotions. With the outbreak of the new era for women, food introduces Wilde’s playful yet snub opinion on the freedom of women, while still referring to the struggles of being accepted in society.

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

A satire is a genre of literature that uses humour, irony, and/or exaggeration to criticize or show a character’s stupidity or vices. In this case, the literature is a play by Oscar Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedic, satirical play that shows ridicule and mockery of the characters through the use of repetitions and parallels to ultimately show the real meaning of being earnest. Wilde’s play is a satirical play because two important characters named Algernon and Jack are living double lives under the same identity. The two characters live double lives in order to escape from reality and live life with no responsibilities. Although, in the end the two characters are caught and live more fulfilling lives under their christian names. This act of living a double life is a repetition presented throughout the play. Another action that is in the play which is linked to parallels, is Gwendolen and Cecily. Gwendolen and Cecily are parallels in that they say similar lines throughout the play and they both will only fall in love with a man named Ernest. The last idea that is linked with repetition is the marriage between Algernon and Cecily and the marriage between Jack and Gwendolen. Wilde’s play is a satisfactory example of a satire because of the irony, repetitions, and foils of each character.

As the curtains open, the audience sees a ‘luxurious and artistically furnished’ room of Algernon’s flat located in Half-Moon Street in London. The room takes up the entire stage. During the initial scene of the play, Algernon’s servant, Lane, is present in the room. Lane is ‘arranging afternoon tea on the table’. Sound from a piano can be heard in the adjoining room. The adjoining room is offstage; when the music stop, Algernon, the owner of the flat and the man playing the piano, ‘enters’ the stage. Knowing that Algernon is wealthy and of the ‘upper-class’, evident by the facts that he has a servant and owns a piano, several assumptions can be made of the setting. It is confirmed by the phrase “Algernon: (Inspects them. Takes two, and sits down on the sofa)” that the room has a sofa set; Algernon sits on the sofa after receiving the salver from Lane. There might be fancy lamps, teapoys and plants placed around the room. Additionally, numerous showpieces, most of which must be historical, might be present to represent Algernon’s ‘upper-class’ stature. The window must be open to let the bright sunlight enter the room. An intricate rug might cover the wooden floors. Books, paintings, and other decorative objects might be present to give the audience a sense of Algernon’s economic well-being.

Gender identity and its roles in 17th and 19th century England were regarded as rigid fact — definite and unyielding. The adherence to these social protocols was of utmost importance. Masculinity was viewed as being dominant, assertive, and bold, whereas femininity involved beauty, obedience, and chastity. The theatre became a method of challenging this rigid social concept. Both William Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest explore these public values through their characters. Wilde and Shakespeare’s use of gender reversals satirize the traditions of social order, marriage, and gender responsibilities at the time, thereby revealing that gender is not absolute.

bunburying is related to berging – “the disguise of homosexual material in literature” (Green 70).