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

“England is bad enough I know, and English society is all wrong” (Wilde, 145). The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Ernest are both ingenious literary works by the witty Oscar Wilde. The lead roles Dorian Gray and Jack Worthing are the perfect examples of how the Victorian society was phony. Although one is tragic and the other comedic both works by Oscar Wilde offer a social comment on the hypocrisy of the Victorian Era. Through the protagonist’s superficiality, deception and consequence of living a double life such comments are presented. While their superficiality and ability to deceive people are quite similar their consequences for their actions differ a great deal.

In order to fully comprehend the significance of dishonesty throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, it is important to understand just how strict the Victorian

The life of the Victorian people was a time in which people were prude because of their repression. Many of the people of that time had a lot of pent-up emotions, there was a time and a place for something and it solemn did any good for anyone, depending on your class you had to have a curtain way of carrying yourself, many of which was not the must enjoyable of ways and lacked some fun that many need in their life. This forced many to split their Public life from the Private one. Written in the Victorian Era, the works of The importance of being earnest by Oscar Wilde, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson ,and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley displays how

   Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, explores the themes of influence, corruption and conscience. “The obvious influence of Lord Henry upon Dorian shows how one may corrupt another to such an extent that one's own conscience withers and dies”(Weintraub 116).

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

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

During the Victorian Era, the people wanted outsiders to think that they were moral when in fact they were not. These people kept their outwardly appearance civil and moral, but in reality they were debauchery and not ethical at all. The Victorians had temptations that were immoral and unethical at the time and to cover up for their temptations, they would make themselves look good on the outside. Two good literary examples of Victorian ethics coinciding with temptation are “The importance of Being Earnest” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray” both by Oscar Wilde. Lord Henry from “Dorian Gray” says that temptation takes place in the brain and therefore out world, and one cannot do without it.

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

In the novel The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Wilde quotes, “I hope [he] has not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.” Wilde’s quote is indirectly connected to the idea of moral ambiguity that The Scarlet Letter portrays. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel The Scarlet Letter depicts the actuality of romance, sin, and revenge rooted in the 17th century American society. Strong Puritan beliefs of the characters in The Scarlet Letter created many different forms of moral ambiguity that can be described as illustrating both good and evil. Among the characters in the Scarlet letter with such moral struggle, Dimmesdale is presented to the readers as an outwardly honorable man who is constantly clashing his desires to be honorable and his other evil ambitions. Hawthorne is able to use Dimmesdale 's moral ambiguity in The Scarlet Letter to demonstrate human frailty, ultimately suggesting that hypocrisy results indescribable guilt causing failure to reach salvation.

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.

In the play, “The Importance of being Earnest,” Jack and Algernon use deception to live two separate lives and avoid what they believe to be unpleasant situations. Jack creates his brother “Ernest,” so that he can leave the country, where he is guardian over Cecily, when he wishes to visit the city. Algernon creates his friend “Bunbury,” so that he can leave the city when he does not care to participate in family dining and activities. The play also has a few other characters that live a life with a secret past, that play an important role in the ending. Although Jack and Algernon use deception to live a separate life outside of their normal life, they use it to win the hearts and become engaged to their loves. What about other characters’ deception?

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.